ASTRO: Request Advise , Imaging - 1 attachment

..
....last 2yrs my scope has been in hibernation, work & conditions
have conspired against me.. anyhow resently i ran accross a deal
on an AO-8 i couldnt refuse.. so i'm requesting advise on choosing
a ST-series astro cam.. currently i have a Meade 7'' Mak (2670/f15 ,
1682/f9.4) with a TV-Pronto (480/f6.8 , 302/f4.3) which i may also upgrade
to something like a Sky90, with my current config and living in the DF/W
area of N.Tx what would be your suggestions.. i understand the limitations
on the LX200 mount and hope to also upgrade the mount wihin nxt coupla yrs,
i'll never get rid of the Mak tho, but possibly add something like a fast
newt, i would appreciate your suggestions given my current and planned
upgrade path...TIA
..
IIIDaemon

Joseph Schmosovich wrote:
.
...last 2yrs my scope has been in hibernation, work & conditions
have conspired against me.. anyhow resently i ran accross a deal
on an AO-8 i couldnt refuse.. so i'm requesting advise on choosing
a ST-series astro cam.. currently i have a Meade 7'' Mak (2670/f15 ,
1682/f9.4) with a TV-Pronto (480/f6.8 , 302/f4.3) which i may also upgrade
to something like a Sky90, with my current config and living in the DF/W
area of N.Tx what would be your suggestions.. i understand the limitations
on the LX200 mount and hope to also upgrade the mount wihin nxt coupla yrs,
i'll never get rid of the Mak tho, but possibly add something like a fast
newt, i would appreciate your suggestions given my current and planned
upgrade path...TIA
.
IIIDaemon


Nice Jupiter, I can see why you won't be getting rid of that Mak.

There's so much you don't say it is about impossible to make a
suggestion. ABG vs NABG, Mono vs one shot color, what are your imaging
goals? etc.

Imaging deep sky from that light dome would seem to be rather limited to
bright objects and emission nebula suitable for narrow band filters.
That would pretty much dictate a mono camera and narrow band filters
unless you plan on traveling a ways from that light dome. but that
negates the AO-8 as not enough light would get through the filters for
it to work. I assume this is to help with the LX200's tracking issues.

For the Mak you'd likely want a 9 micron pixel camera with the reducer
binned 1x1 or a smaller one say 6.8 microns binned 2x2 for it without
the reducer. Both would give about a 1.1" pixel, 1.14" and 1.05"
respectively. Imaging speed would be about the same as well. Just
depends on which gives the better image at the corners with that scope.
Not seeing many deep sky imagers using it (none in fact) I don't know
which is best.

I have no idea what the usable FOV of that scope is with or without the
reducer. Be sure it is sufficient that the guider chip still sees
light. I've heard of some Mak and SCT users finding the guider can't
see stars as the FOV was too small for its distance from the image center.

If going NABG mono then the venerable ST-8 or ST-10 would seem the way
to go depending on whether you use the flattener. Both are commonly
seen on the used market as users move on to larger chips. Be sure it is
a ME camera with USB and internal guiding chip. I've seen a few ads not
making this clear. I bought both my cameras used and have been very
happy with them plus saving lots of money.

For wide field refractor work the tracking issues of the mount wouldn't
likely be an issue so going narrow band would be the way to go.
Separate guide scope would get around the filter issue. ABG isn't much
of an issue with narrow band which brings me back to the same two
cameras. Whichever better fits the FOV of the scope.

Rick