My Equipment

Here's a quick overview of what I'm currently using and what didn't quite work out. For the 2020 season, I’ll be shooting with two telescopes at the same time, so things will be interesting.

 
 

Hardware

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My Main Set Up

The optical tube is a Celestron 8 inch Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph. it has a focal ratio of F/2 and focal length of 400mm. It’s specifically built for wide-field astrophotography. Atop that is a 60mm guide scope. William Optics GT81 (81mm) triplet apochromatic refractor with a focal length of 478mm at f 5.9. I use that for wide field photography. Everything is guided with a small, 60mm guide scope and guide camera. It all is mounted to a Celestron CGX German equatorial mount.  Everything sits atop a JMI wheeley bar, so there's minimal set up and take down. I simply roll it out of the garage and go.

The CGX is an amazing mount and handles the weight of the C11 like a dream. 

 

The Other Rig

My other wide-field telescope is a William Optics GT81 (81mm) triplet apochromatic refractor with a focal length of 478mm at F/5.9 (382mm with the flattener/reducer). A 50mm William Optics guide scope with a ZWO ASI290 Mini camera takes care of the guiding chores. It’s sitting atop a Celestron Advanced VX mount. I’ve upgraded the mount with a ADM Dual Saddle and a bubble level from Starizona (more on those upgrades here).

 

More Stuff!

I own two other optical tubes: an Orion branded Celestron C11 Schmidt Cassegrain (SCT) with a 2800mm focal length and a Celestron C6 SCT at 1500mm. For imaging cameras, I’m using the ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro with the 8 filter Electronic Filter Wheel, the ASI533MC-Pro and the ASI178MC-Cool. For guide cameras, I’m using the ASI290 Mini and the ASI120MM-S. As you can tell, I’m a bit of a ZWO fanboy!