$US 5,000 to spend

I seek this groups assistance.
I have about $5,000 to spend and would like to get the groups opinions on
choices for a scope, mount and CCD camera set-up.

My interests are general, and portability not essential (rool off roof
observatory.

I would like to have a set-up capable of both planetary CCD imaging but also
able to image the deep sky stuff as well.

The Meade LX-200 series immediately comes to mind, but I would appreciate
the opinion of others.
I have used 3.5" questars, 13.1 Oddessy dobs, a 6" reflector, and a Meade
10" LX-10 in the past so am fairly knowledgeable - just intimidated with all
the choice. I am a total ignoramus with respect to CCD imaging however.

Steve Bolton

"Stephen Bolton" wrote in message
...
I seek this groups assistance.
I have about $5,000 to spend and would like to get the groups opinions on
choices for a scope, mount and CCD camera set-up.

My interests are general, and portability not essential (rool off roof
observatory.

I would like to have a set-up capable of both planetary CCD imaging but
also
able to image the deep sky stuff as well.

The Meade LX-200 series immediately comes to mind, but I would appreciate
the opinion of others.
I have used 3.5" questars, 13.1 Oddessy dobs, a 6" reflector, and a Meade
10" LX-10 in the past so am fairly knowledgeable - just intimidated with
all
the choice. I am a total ignoramus with respect to CCD imaging however.

Steve Bolton


The LX200 is a good choice, in my opinion. The 12" LX200 will burn up about
$3,300 of your budget (but what a bargain), and a camera will take care of
the rest. Now my recommendation for a camera is a little unusual. I don't
think you would want the best of the best of CCD cameras, as one of these
will cost you more than your total budget anyway. However, some off the new
digital SLRs will give you fantastic results and are a lot easier to use
than most CCD astronomy cameras. The off the shelf digitals have arrived.
At the moment, the best digital SLR (which is excellent for astronomy use)
is the Canon 300D or the Canon D10. Moreover, these cameras are stand
alone...don't need a computer to act as a driving engine. Additionally, the
Canon can pull double duty, as it's used at the family picnic as well as at
the end of a telescope. If you would like to see some images taken with
these cameras, just enter "Canon D10" on Google, and you will be very
pleasantly surprised. By the way, I own a D10 and I also own a Starlight
Xpress. For several reasons, I prefer to use the Canon.

Al

"Stephen Bolton" wrote in message
...
I seek this groups assistance.
I have about $5,000 to spend and would like to get the groups opinions on
choices for a scope, mount and CCD camera set-up.

My interests are general, and portability not essential (rool off roof
observatory.

I would like to have a set-up capable of both planetary CCD imaging but
also
able to image the deep sky stuff as well.

The Meade LX-200 series immediately comes to mind, but I would appreciate
the opinion of others.
I have used 3.5" questars, 13.1 Oddessy dobs, a 6" reflector, and a Meade
10" LX-10 in the past so am fairly knowledgeable - just intimidated with
all
the choice. I am a total ignoramus with respect to CCD imaging however.

Steve Bolton


The LX200 is a good choice, in my opinion. The 12" LX200 will burn up about
$3,300 of your budget (but what a bargain), and a camera will take care of
the rest. Now my recommendation for a camera is a little unusual. I don't
think you would want the best of the best of CCD cameras, as one of these
will cost you more than your total budget anyway. However, some off the new
digital SLRs will give you fantastic results and are a lot easier to use
than most CCD astronomy cameras. The off the shelf digitals have arrived.
At the moment, the best digital SLR (which is excellent for astronomy use)
is the Canon 300D or the Canon D10. Moreover, these cameras are stand
alone...don't need a computer to act as a driving engine. Additionally, the
Canon can pull double duty, as it's used at the family picnic as well as at
the end of a telescope. If you would like to see some images taken with
these cameras, just enter "Canon D10" on Google, and you will be very
pleasantly surprised. By the way, I own a D10 and I also own a Starlight
Xpress. For several reasons, I prefer to use the Canon.

Al

Another consideration is this..

Spend most of your money on a good telescope, roll off roof observatory, decent
eyepieces etc etc....

Then just spend say 1k give or take for a ccd camera system (or buy a used
older one for just a fraction of that).....

By the time you get everything set up and you've actually learned to take good
pictures and push the capabilities of the camera/telescope system you have and
are starting to get bored with it ....that will be 1 to 4 years down the road
depending on many variables....

And THEN you'll be able to plonk down another thousand dollars or so for a MUCH
better CCD camera that would cost many thousands of dollars today....

Also, do ALOT of research on designing, building, and how much it will cost for
your backyard observatory.....I get the impression that most people who start
such a project find out there is ALOT more involved than it would appear at
first glance...

take care!

Blll

Another consideration is this..

Spend most of your money on a good telescope, roll off roof observatory, decent
eyepieces etc etc....

Then just spend say 1k give or take for a ccd camera system (or buy a used
older one for just a fraction of that).....

By the time you get everything set up and you've actually learned to take good
pictures and push the capabilities of the camera/telescope system you have and
are starting to get bored with it ....that will be 1 to 4 years down the road
depending on many variables....

And THEN you'll be able to plonk down another thousand dollars or so for a MUCH
better CCD camera that would cost many thousands of dollars today....

Also, do ALOT of research on designing, building, and how much it will cost for
your backyard observatory.....I get the impression that most people who start
such a project find out there is ALOT more involved than it would appear at
first glance...

take care!

Blll

Al,

I just read your post about the 10D. I recently bought one and have
not had the opportunity to use it on a scope. Daytime use the camera
is fanatastic!

I was turned on to the 10D at last years Astrofest. There were quite
a few people doing great things with it.

Do you have any tips that would be helpful? What I mean is what are
you doing to get good results during the shot or even during post
edit? What about websites?

Clear skies,
Dragan


"Al" wrote in message .net...
"Stephen Bolton" wrote in message
...
I seek this groups assistance.
I have about $5,000 to spend and would like to get the groups opinions on
choices for a scope, mount and CCD camera set-up.

My interests are general, and portability not essential (rool off roof
observatory.

I would like to have a set-up capable of both planetary CCD imaging but
also
able to image the deep sky stuff as well.

The Meade LX-200 series immediately comes to mind, but I would appreciate
the opinion of others.
I have used 3.5" questars, 13.1 Oddessy dobs, a 6" reflector, and a Meade
10" LX-10 in the past so am fairly knowledgeable - just intimidated with
all
the choice. I am a total ignoramus with respect to CCD imaging however.

Steve Bolton


The LX200 is a good choice, in my opinion. The 12" LX200 will burn up about
$3,300 of your budget (but what a bargain), and a camera will take care of
the rest. Now my recommendation for a camera is a little unusual. I don't
think you would want the best of the best of CCD cameras, as one of these
will cost you more than your total budget anyway. However, some off the new
digital SLRs will give you fantastic results and are a lot easier to use
than most CCD astronomy cameras. The off the shelf digitals have arrived.
At the moment, the best digital SLR (which is excellent for astronomy use)
is the Canon 300D or the Canon D10. Moreover, these cameras are stand
alone...don't need a computer to act as a driving engine. Additionally, the
Canon can pull double duty, as it's used at the family picnic as well as at
the end of a telescope. If you would like to see some images taken with
these cameras, just enter "Canon D10" on Google, and you will be very
pleasantly surprised. By the way, I own a D10 and I also own a Starlight
Xpress. For several reasons, I prefer to use the Canon.

Al

Al,

I just read your post about the 10D. I recently bought one and have
not had the opportunity to use it on a scope. Daytime use the camera
is fanatastic!

I was turned on to the 10D at last years Astrofest. There were quite
a few people doing great things with it.

Do you have any tips that would be helpful? What I mean is what are
you doing to get good results during the shot or even during post
edit? What about websites?

Clear skies,
Dragan


"Al" wrote in message .net...
"Stephen Bolton" wrote in message
...
I seek this groups assistance.
I have about $5,000 to spend and would like to get the groups opinions on
choices for a scope, mount and CCD camera set-up.

My interests are general, and portability not essential (rool off roof
observatory.

I would like to have a set-up capable of both planetary CCD imaging but
also
able to image the deep sky stuff as well.

The Meade LX-200 series immediately comes to mind, but I would appreciate
the opinion of others.
I have used 3.5" questars, 13.1 Oddessy dobs, a 6" reflector, and a Meade
10" LX-10 in the past so am fairly knowledgeable - just intimidated with
all
the choice. I am a total ignoramus with respect to CCD imaging however.

Steve Bolton


The LX200 is a good choice, in my opinion. The 12" LX200 will burn up about
$3,300 of your budget (but what a bargain), and a camera will take care of
the rest. Now my recommendation for a camera is a little unusual. I don't
think you would want the best of the best of CCD cameras, as one of these
will cost you more than your total budget anyway. However, some off the new
digital SLRs will give you fantastic results and are a lot easier to use
than most CCD astronomy cameras. The off the shelf digitals have arrived.
At the moment, the best digital SLR (which is excellent for astronomy use)
is the Canon 300D or the Canon D10. Moreover, these cameras are stand
alone...don't need a computer to act as a driving engine. Additionally, the
Canon can pull double duty, as it's used at the family picnic as well as at
the end of a telescope. If you would like to see some images taken with
these cameras, just enter "Canon D10" on Google, and you will be very
pleasantly surprised. By the way, I own a D10 and I also own a Starlight
Xpress. For several reasons, I prefer to use the Canon.

Al

The best tip I can give you is to join the dedicated Yahoo group where you
will find many owners of this camera who are very willing to help. I'll
send you a link using private email.

Al


"Dragan" wrote in message
om...
Al,

I just read your post about the 10D. I recently bought one and have
not had the opportunity to use it on a scope. Daytime use the camera
is fanatastic!

I was turned on to the 10D at last years Astrofest. There were quite
a few people doing great things with it.

Do you have any tips that would be helpful? What I mean is what are
you doing to get good results during the shot or even during post
edit? What about websites?

Clear skies,
Dragan


"Al" wrote in message
.net...
"Stephen Bolton" wrote in message
...
I seek this groups assistance.
I have about $5,000 to spend and would like to get the groups opinions
on
choices for a scope, mount and CCD camera set-up.

My interests are general, and portability not essential (rool off roof
observatory.

I would like to have a set-up capable of both planetary CCD imaging
but
also
able to image the deep sky stuff as well.

The Meade LX-200 series immediately comes to mind, but I would
appreciate
the opinion of others.
I have used 3.5" questars, 13.1 Oddessy dobs, a 6" reflector, and a
Meade
10" LX-10 in the past so am fairly knowledgeable - just intimidated
with
all
the choice. I am a total ignoramus with respect to CCD imaging
however.

Steve Bolton


The LX200 is a good choice, in my opinion. The 12" LX200 will burn up
about
$3,300 of your budget (but what a bargain), and a camera will take care
of
the rest. Now my recommendation for a camera is a little unusual. I
don't
think you would want the best of the best of CCD cameras, as one of
these
will cost you more than your total budget anyway. However, some off the
new
digital SLRs will give you fantastic results and are a lot easier to use
than most CCD astronomy cameras. The off the shelf digitals have
arrived.
At the moment, the best digital SLR (which is excellent for astronomy
use)
is the Canon 300D or the Canon D10. Moreover, these cameras are stand
alone...don't need a computer to act as a driving engine. Additionally,
the
Canon can pull double duty, as it's used at the family picnic as well as
at
the end of a telescope. If you would like to see some images taken with
these cameras, just enter "Canon D10" on Google, and you will be very
pleasantly surprised. By the way, I own a D10 and I also own a
Starlight
Xpress. For several reasons, I prefer to use the Canon.

Al

The best tip I can give you is to join the dedicated Yahoo group where you
will find many owners of this camera who are very willing to help. I'll
send you a link using private email.

Al


"Dragan" wrote in message
om...
Al,

I just read your post about the 10D. I recently bought one and have
not had the opportunity to use it on a scope. Daytime use the camera
is fanatastic!

I was turned on to the 10D at last years Astrofest. There were quite
a few people doing great things with it.

Do you have any tips that would be helpful? What I mean is what are
you doing to get good results during the shot or even during post
edit? What about websites?

Clear skies,
Dragan


"Al" wrote in message
.net...
"Stephen Bolton" wrote in message
...
I seek this groups assistance.
I have about $5,000 to spend and would like to get the groups opinions
on
choices for a scope, mount and CCD camera set-up.

My interests are general, and portability not essential (rool off roof
observatory.

I would like to have a set-up capable of both planetary CCD imaging
but
also
able to image the deep sky stuff as well.

The Meade LX-200 series immediately comes to mind, but I would
appreciate
the opinion of others.
I have used 3.5" questars, 13.1 Oddessy dobs, a 6" reflector, and a
Meade
10" LX-10 in the past so am fairly knowledgeable - just intimidated
with
all
the choice. I am a total ignoramus with respect to CCD imaging
however.

Steve Bolton


The LX200 is a good choice, in my opinion. The 12" LX200 will burn up
about
$3,300 of your budget (but what a bargain), and a camera will take care
of
the rest. Now my recommendation for a camera is a little unusual. I
don't
think you would want the best of the best of CCD cameras, as one of
these
will cost you more than your total budget anyway. However, some off the
new
digital SLRs will give you fantastic results and are a lot easier to use
than most CCD astronomy cameras. The off the shelf digitals have
arrived.
At the moment, the best digital SLR (which is excellent for astronomy
use)
is the Canon 300D or the Canon D10. Moreover, these cameras are stand
alone...don't need a computer to act as a driving engine. Additionally,
the
Canon can pull double duty, as it's used at the family picnic as well as
at
the end of a telescope. If you would like to see some images taken with
these cameras, just enter "Canon D10" on Google, and you will be very
pleasantly surprised. By the way, I own a D10 and I also own a
Starlight
Xpress. For several reasons, I prefer to use the Canon.

Al