| Past Equipment Past Telescopes / Mounts Takahashi Teegul Sky Patrol II Losmandy G-11 Gemini EQ mount Celestron Ultima C9.25, circa 1995 Celestron Nexstar 4 Celestron Byers C8, circa 1984 Losmandy GM-8 Gemini EQ mount Celestron 80ED f/7.5 refractor Meade LXD55 SN6-AT Hardin DSH 12 - 12" Dobsonian Celestron ST80 80mm f/5 refractor Meade ETX70-AT Bushnell 60mm refractor Past Photographic Accessories / Cameras / Misc Gear SBIG ST-4000 XCM CCD Camera SBIG ST-2000 XCM CCD Camera SBIG ST-7 XME Class 1 CCD Camera Canon Digital Rebel (300D) Digital SLR Takahashi TOA 2.7" Flattener Takahashi TOA 1.6x Extender Astronomik 2" IR Blocking Filter Astronomik 13nm H-Alpha filter Lumicon 12.5mm Ortho Illuminated Reticle Takahashi Eyepiece Turret |
| My Equipment |
| Equipment / Astrophotograpy Articles Imaging Articles Image Processing for SBIG One-Shot Color Cameras Intro to Astrophotography Image Processing in Photoshop Articles on LXD55 (LXD75) telescopes Pros and Cons of the LXD55 Line Easy Setup for the LXD55 / LXD75 (more coming soon) |
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Statistics Optical Design: Newtonian - Dobsonian Mount, Truss Frame Clear Aperture: ~ 305mm (12") Focal Length / Ratio: 1500mm (59.1")/ f/5 Resolving Power: 0.38 arcseconds Mirrors: 305mm Raycraft Primary (1/14+ wavefront), 66mm (2.6") Parks Secondary Optical Coatings: Beryl Semi-Enhanced Aluminum (92%) Limiting Visual Magnitude: ~15.4 Maximum Practical Visual Power: 600x Dimensions: Mirror box - 15 3/8", Rocker Box - ~17" x 19", Secondary Cage - 17" Truss tube diameter: 1" Eyepiece Height (at Zenith): 5' 2" Telescope Height (at Zenith): 5' 7" Mirror box weight (includes mirror and tailgate, but no counterweights): 47 lbs Collimation: Tool-less (hand knobs), both mirrors Telescope Weight (without finders, eyepieces, or counterweights): 73 lbs Personal Thoughts on The 12" Astro Sky Truss Dob This scope started its life as a Hardin DSH 12 with a solid white aluminum tube, particle board base, and 5 1/2" Nylon-on-Teflon altitude bearings - which I got on an internet deal for $699 + $75 shipping. Converting it to an Astro Sky truss scope required an additional $1095, taking out and mailing the 12" primary mirror and a newly purchased Parks 2.6" secondary to Louisiana, and a wait of 2 1/2 months for the completion of the new frame. Was it worth it? You bet it was! The Astro Sky is made of 100% 9-ply Baltic Birch hard wood plywood and coated with a 5-coat sealer finish. It literally shines when light is shined on the outside of the wood. The truss poles fit snugly and easily, and the optics are held in collimation very well when the scope is properly assembled and adjusted. The big 18" waxed-Formica-on-Teflon bearings allow the scope to be moved with one finger across the sky - and it feels like it's moving on butter! The scope is well balanced, though, with a Telrad and eyepiece, and stays whee I put it without slipping. The contrast on planets and bright deep sky objects is incredible, with a 22% central obstruction, and the optics render a crisp image with an error of about 1/14 to 1/16 wavefront (Certified by Alan Raycraft after refiguring the mirror in May 2006). The Moonlite crayford focuser is a joy to use, and all of my eyepieces come to focus with room to spare. In short, the scope is a work of art! James Grigar of Astro Sky did an amazing job on this scope, and it was well worth the money I put into it! I plan on keeping this scope the rest of my life, and it certainly appears as if it will stand the test of time. This scope is the perfect balance of big aperture power and portability. |
| Astro Sky 12" Truss Dobsonian Telescope |
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Statistics Optical Design: Triplet Apochromatic Refractor Clear Aperture: 102mm (4.0") Native Focal Length / Ratio: 816mm / f/8 Focal Length / Ratio with TOA Reducer: 610mm / f/6 Flat Image Circle, TOA Reducer: 50mm FOV, FLI ML8300 - f/8: 75.6' x 56.7' (1.26 deg x 0.94 deg) at 1.36 arcsec / pixel FOV, FLI ML8300 - f/6: 101.1' x 76.1' (1.69 deg x 1.27 deg) at 1.82 arcsec / pixel Resolving Power: 1.14 arcseconds Strehl Ratio: 0.992+ peak (stated in manual), 0.965+ across the spectrum Optical Coatings: Fully Multi-Coated Limiting Visual Magnitude: ~12.8 Maximum Practical Visual Power: 400x Dimensions: 4.5" diameter x 25" long (dew shield retracted) Focuser Diameter: 2.7" Optical Tube Weight: 11 lbs, 15 lbs with clamshell, dovetail, and TOA reducer Personal Thoughs on the Takahashi TSA-102S Two words: Optical Perfection! This scope has no detectable false color (though I do see some in certain eyepieces) below 300x in focus, with only a slight color cast to the rings in an out of focus image. The fit and finish on this scope are top notch, and the Feathertouch 10:1 focuser is ludicrously smooth. It sounds like I am gushing, and I am! This is going to be my primo imaging scope for years to come. I have yet to see another scope in the 4" Apo class (short of another Takahashi) with this kind of optical and mechanical quality. |
| Takahashi TSA-102S Triplet Apochromat |
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| Statistics Optical Design: Hyperbolic Astrograph with 4 lens corrector Clear Aperture: 130mm (5.1") Native Focal Length / Ratio: 430mm / f/3.3 Corrected Image Circle: 49mm FOV FLI ML8300: 143.9' x 108.4' (2.40 deg x 1.80 deg) at 2.59 arcsec / pixel Resolving Power: 0.89 arcseconds Optical Coatings: Overcoated Aluminum (mirrors), Fully Multi-Coated (lenses) Dimensions: Focuser Diameter: 2.4" Optical Tube Weight: 14 lbs, 19lbs with rings, dovetail, and Robofocus. Personal Thoughts on the Epsilon 130 This thing is fast! It just gulps in light at an amazing rate, allowing me to image objects in one night that would take 2-3 nights with a slower scope. At f/3.3, though, there is no room for error with the collimation, and I am still trying to figure a way to consistantly hit the sweet spot without a lot of fuss whenever I set the E-130 up. The short focal length limits it to mainly wide-field summer and winter imaging, meaning that the TSA-102 is in no danger of being replaced - especially during galaxy season. |
| Takahashi Epsilon 130 Astrograph |
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| Current Equipment Telescopes Takahashi TSA-102 Takahashi Epsilon 130 Astro Sky 12" f/5 truss Dobsonian Takahashi FC-65 (guidescope) Cameras FLI Microline 8300 CCD camera FLI CFW-1-5 w/ Optec LRGB and 8nm Ha filters Canon 450D Rebel XSi DSLR Phillips ToUcam II webcam Orion Starshoot Autoguider Meade DSI Pro w/ ScopeStuff shutter Mounts Takahashi EM-200 Temma Jr. EQ mount w/ SE-S tripod Kenko SkyMemo R camera tracker EQ mount Bogen 3011BN tripod Bogen 3275 Jr. geared head Universal Astronomics Unistar Heavy Deluxe Round Table Platform EQ tracking platform for 12" AstroSky Photo Accessories Takahashi TOA 0.75x Reducer / Flattener IDAS 2" Light Pollution Suppression filter (LPS-2) Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens Novoflex Nikon lens adapter for Canon EOS Nikon Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 lens Nikon Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 lens Nikon Nikkor Q 200mm f/4 lens Nikon Nikkor 70-300 f/4-5.6 ED lens Software Photoshop CS2 - with Actions by Noel Carboni Gradient Xterminator plug-in by Robert Gendler MaxIm DL v4.61 Images Plus v2.82 Eyepieces / Barlows TMB / Burgess 4mm Planetary Pentax 5.2mm XL Pentax 7mm XW Pentax 10mm XW Pentax 14mm XL Pentax 20mm XW Pentax 28mm XL William Optics 28mm UWAN Pentax 40mm XW Takahashi 2x Apo Barlow TeleVue visual ParaCorr coma corrector Visual Filters Lumicon 2" Rotating Polarizer filter Lumicon 2" H-Beta filter DGM 2" Galaxy Contrast filter Baader 2" Moon and Skyglow filter Celestron 2" UHC / LPR filter Lumicon 2" OIII filter Other Necessary Gear Astrotech 2" 99% Dielectric Diagonal Feathertouch 10:1 Dual Speed Focuser (TSA-102S) Robofocus (E-130) StellarVue F50W3 50mm finder/guidescope Kendrick 2" Laser Collimater Howie Glatter 1.25" 650nm Collimator with Holographic Adapter Orion Cheshire Collimator Telrad Finder Pocket Sky Atlas Sky Atlas 2000.0 Deluxe Lightwedge w/ carry case Power / Misc Accessories Vector 12V, 19 aH Power Tank Optima yellowtop 55 Amp-Hour Gel Cell battery Werker 105 Amp-Hour Marine Deep Cycle battery 1000W, 9.2 Amp inverter 400W inverter |
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