Ota Size, Scope Decisions, and Gear to fit remote imaging requirements.

I’ve been thinking about this since you first posted it (or I first saw it).

I do remote imaging but not at the level you are speaking of. My remote Imaging consists of my backyard to my home office via WiFi. But it is remote in many of the ways. ~75 feet as the crow flies.

Due to the finicky ways of my equipment, I don’t dare put it any great distance from me. I experience enough problems with software acting up to know it isn’t for me.

One of your dilemmas I faced when installing my FR/FF and Rotator. I got rid of the manual rotator and installed my FR/FF directly to the back of my telescope, an AT130mm EDT refractor. Final answer with my equipment, Dew shield retracted, is ~ 42 inches overall length. It was a requirement of the manufacturer when installing the FR/FF prescribed for the telescope. It also helped me to assemble my imaging train into a ridged threaded assembly. Removing the manual rotator was simply unscrewing it from the focusing tube of my telescope and screwing in the FR/FF. It left me with 728mm FL @ f 5.8.

It seems odd to me that your planned provider has chosen the 35” threshold as a cutoff point. Seems rather limiting, or a way to squeeze more funds from potential users. Do they provide a list of what fits within their 35” requirement? It must be a requirement to avoid collisions between customers equipment’s. “This is your lot size for our development.”

I believe you will be better off doing the SQA106, just for peace of mind you won’t get stuck with some other arbitrary charges in the future.

I “frog hopped” from my 86mm triplet to my 130mm. My only physical “requirement” was to avoid a block wall near my location. Which wasn’t a real problem at all. I did not need to move my mount.

I don’t see where you listed your imaging train length. That might alter your 35” length limitation. (Seems quite an arbitrary length requirement. We’ll put the piers 72” apart and impose a 35” length on the agreement).

I did find this: Frequently Asked Questions - Death Valley Observatories

So my suggestion would be to contact them about your specific concerns. My specific concerns would be response times to any problems that happen. Reality may differ from what appears to be promised.

SonnyE · Apr 13, 2026, 05:25 PM

I’ve been thinking about this since you first posted it (or I first saw it).

I do remote imaging but not at the level you are speaking of. My remote Imaging consists of my backyard to my home office via WiFi. But it is remote in many of the ways. ~75 feet as the crow flies.

Due to the finicky ways of my equipment, I don’t dare put it any great distance from me. I experience enough problems with software acting up to know it isn’t for me.

One of your dilemmas I faced when installing my FR/FF and Rotator. I got rid of the manual rotator and installed my FR/FF directly to the back of my telescope, an AT130mm EDT refractor. Final answer with my equipment, Dew shield retracted, is ~ 42 inches overall length. It was a requirement of the manufacturer when installing the FR/FF prescribed for the telescope. It also helped me to assemble my imaging train into a ridged threaded assembly. Removing the manual rotator was simply unscrewing it from the focusing tube of my telescope and screwing in the FR/FF. It left me with 728mm FL @ f 5.8.

It seems odd to me that your planned provider has chosen the 35” threshold as a cutoff point. Seems rather limiting, or a way to squeeze more funds from potential users. Do they provide a list of what fits within their 35” requirement? It must be a requirement to avoid collisions between customers equipment’s. “This is your lot size for our development.”

I believe you will be better off doing the SQA106, just for peace of mind you won’t get stuck with some other arbitrary charges in the future.

I “frog hopped” from my 86mm triplet to my 130mm. My only physical “requirement” was to avoid a block wall near my location. Which wasn’t a real problem at all. I did not need to move my mount.

I don’t see where you listed your imaging train length. That might alter your 35” length limitation. (Seems quite an arbitrary length requirement. We’ll put the piers 72” apart and impose a 35” length on the agreement).

I did find this: Frequently Asked Questions - Death Valley Observatories

So my suggestion would be to contact them about your specific concerns. My specific concerns would be response times to any problems that happen. Reality may differ from what appears to be promised.

They have been pretty reasonable about my choice and they are willing to work with me on the 130. I think thats what Im going to go with now that they are back in stock.

Wes Schwarz · Apr 14, 2026, 05:26 AM

SonnyE · Apr 13, 2026, 05:25 PM

I’ve been thinking about this since you first posted it (or I first saw it).

I do remote imaging but not at the level you are speaking of. My remote Imaging consists of my backyard to my home office via WiFi. But it is remote in many of the ways. ~75 feet as the crow flies.

Due to the finicky ways of my equipment, I don’t dare put it any great distance from me. I experience enough problems with software acting up to know it isn’t for me.

One of your dilemmas I faced when installing my FR/FF and Rotator. I got rid of the manual rotator and installed my FR/FF directly to the back of my telescope, an AT130mm EDT refractor. Final answer with my equipment, Dew shield retracted, is ~ 42 inches overall length. It was a requirement of the manufacturer when installing the FR/FF prescribed for the telescope. It also helped me to assemble my imaging train into a ridged threaded assembly. Removing the manual rotator was simply unscrewing it from the focusing tube of my telescope and screwing in the FR/FF. It left me with 728mm FL @ f 5.8.

It seems odd to me that your planned provider has chosen the 35” threshold as a cutoff point. Seems rather limiting, or a way to squeeze more funds from potential users. Do they provide a list of what fits within their 35” requirement? It must be a requirement to avoid collisions between customers equipment’s. “This is your lot size for our development.”

I believe you will be better off doing the SQA106, just for peace of mind you won’t get stuck with some other arbitrary charges in the future.

I “frog hopped” from my 86mm triplet to my 130mm. My only physical “requirement” was to avoid a block wall near my location. Which wasn’t a real problem at all. I did not need to move my mount.

I don’t see where you listed your imaging train length. That might alter your 35” length limitation. (Seems quite an arbitrary length requirement. We’ll put the piers 72” apart and impose a 35” length on the agreement).

I did find this: Frequently Asked Questions - Death Valley Observatories

So my suggestion would be to contact them about your specific concerns. My specific concerns would be response times to any problems that happen. Reality may differ from what appears to be promised.

They have been pretty reasonable about my choice and they are willing to work with me on the 130. I think thats what Im going to go with now that they are back in stock.

I’d bet you would love the 130 over the 106. To me, I like nebula, so I’m more interested in center objects. That was why I made such a big jump from my 80mm to my 130 when I leaped.

I’ve been really happy with my 130, but the bottom line is I successfully brought everything closer and bigger. And a few favorites too much so.

Make sure your mount is up to the weight. IE: my total load is~ 34 pounds, on my 50-pound Photographic Instrument rated GEM mount.

I like the cutting-edge stuff. But learned a long time ago to stay back enough that the parts and guts fly over me. Now, I’m just settled in and happy with my equipment, but not my control software. I don’t think I could be happy not being able to go wrestle with my demons and I don’t do waiting on somebody else to get out of their chair to do my baby sitting. When it works good, it’s bliss! When it doesn’t, it’s hell on Earth.

So I’ll stay close to my backyard, beer, and my bed. 🤣

When I asked DVO about flat panel lids, they indicated that the swing out type (I mentioned the wandererastro) vs the rotate sideways like the Depp Sky Dad OFP2’s, they said “it definitely needs to rotate sideways — otherwise the swing diameter increases significantly.”