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What's your dream setup?

ZWO ASI2600MM Pro Equipment
IrishAstro4484
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IrishAstro4484 avatar
IrishAstro4484 avatar
If money was no object I'd go for an Takahashi Epsilon 180ED with a ZWO 2600MM Duo camera mounted on an iOptron CEM 120 with a permanently installed pier/observatory.

Can't decide on what filters I'd get yet…. I guess I'll have plenty of time to think about it before I win the lottery 🧐

What's your dream setup?
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Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Jean-David Gadina avatar
Jean-David Gadina avatar
Hubble.
But I need a bigger balcony first…
MaksPower avatar
MaksPower avatar
What's your dream setup?

I bought my dream OTA 6 years ago, and it's taken a while to assemble the rest to suit it. I'm strictly portable, and not young, so this has to be manageable - safely in the dark on a cold winter night at 2am. APM/Wirth 10" f/12 maksutov with exquisite glass, which I put on a CQ50 mount, with ASI2600MC DUO. It doubles as a planet-killer visually as well as imaging smaller DSO's. I nearly opted for an 11" but at the last minute decided no, it was just too big and heavy, and opted for the 10". These were the last of the big maks > 190mm built.

If I were doing it again I'd probably be looking for a Mewlon 250 or 300, or maybe hunting for one of the AGO 12" cassegrains, and if I won Lotto I'd take the 20" that Markus Ludes has had for a while, and put it in an observatory.
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IrishAstro4484 avatar
IrishAstro4484 avatar
MaksPower:
What's your dream setup?

I bought my dream OTA 6 years ago, and it's taken a while to assemble the rest to suit it. I'm strictly portable, and not young, so this has to be manageable - safely in the dark on a cold winter night at 2am. APM/Wirth 10" f/12 maksutov with exquisite glass, which I put on a CQ50 mount, with ASI2600MC DUO. It doubles as a planet-killer visually as well as imaging smaller DSO's. I nearly opted for an 11" but at the last minute decided no, it was just too big and heavy, and opted for the 10". These were the last of the big maks > 190mm built.

If I were doing it again I'd probably be looking for a Mewlon 250 or 300, or maybe hunting for one of the AGO 12" cassegrains, and if I won Lotto I'd take the 20" that Markus Ludes has had for a while, and put it in an observatory.

*** Nice one! Ye, bigger isn't always better and unless you live in a nice dark location it certainly makes sense to keep things mobile. And yes.... We all get older so weight is certainly a factor in that respect.***
Dcolam avatar
Dcolam avatar
If money was no object I'd go for an Takahashi Epsilon 180ED with a ZWO 2600MM Duo camera mounted on an iOptron CEM 120 with a permanently installed pier/observatory.

Can't decide on what filters I'd get yet.... I guess I'll have plenty of time to think about it before I win the lottery 🧐

What's your dream setup?



Interesting that you didn't go for an IMX455 type of camera. Especially in combination with the Epsilon 😄 I mean, it is all hypothetical. 


Mine: an absolute encoder mount and two fast scopes with full frame cameras at 1200mm and 600mm. Brands whatever works without fiddling a lot. Location: Remote Observatory in a Bortle 1 location in the Southern Hemisphere
Tobiasz avatar
Tobiasz avatar
Realisticly: my own observatory/permanent pier at home.

No so realistic: my own observatory/permanent pier at home which is a nice mansion at a bortle 1 location in a warm & cloud free climate in the southern hemisphere. 

Scope and camera would be something like a big RC which supports a middle/large format sensor :-D
Steven Fanutti avatar
Steven Fanutti avatar
I prefer simpler. I learned that there is lifetime's worth of potential that can be realized just on a fixed mount. To each their own in this hobby. For solar, I have exactly what I want. With that hardware combined with Siril software, I get the exact images that I want.


My Main Solar Setup



The Sun - May 09, 2024
Gilmour Dickson avatar
Gilmour Dickson avatar
If it's really money no object then this:
https://www.astrosysteme.com/products/uwf1000-f1-3/

​​​​​​
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Planewave Delta Rho - 500 and a Planewave L-600 mount. 

Fast (f 3.03) and long enough focal length for detail as well.

Fully  equipped in the vicinity of $100K
GalacticRAVE avatar
GalacticRAVE avatar
a little 39m .... everything else is a compromise.

Eric Gagne avatar
Eric Gagne avatar
The next one that I get, whatever that may be.  Then it will be the next  one after that
Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
Observatório Astrográfico do Boqueirão avatar
I'm a simples guy. I was really really ok with a Paramount MyT or a Avalon Linear Fast Reverse paired with a ~500mm flourite telescope.
The rest I already have.

My main problem today is my mount. I have a low class one with some modifications. If i could upgrate her and double the payload to a more recent one. I was an happy guy.

Cheers,

Cesar
Azhar Rana avatar
Azhar Rana avatar
I'd love to set up a completely remote set up that I can control from anywhere. I'd start with a pair of C11's…. I'll expand my dreams after I get this one!
John Hayes avatar
John Hayes avatar
It's this one...until I get the next one.

https://www.astrobin.com/8rstol/
Oscar avatar
Oscar avatar
If I were rich:

It would be 3 rigs for a permanent observatory

1. Stellarvue SVX180T with SFFX2 flattener, with ASI461MM Pro camera, some very large OAG, or maybe an ONAG, and 50x50 7 position EFW, with Chroma LRGBSHO filters, mounted on Astro-Physics AP1600 GTO

2. I forgot the name of the company, but they sell similar quality products like Officina Stellare and Planewave, but they had a telescope that was, I think 300mm in aperture and F/1.2 or F/1 speed

I would want that one, no, actually 4 of those to use in sync, and ASI461MM Pro cameras, EFWs, Chroma filters, ONAGs, and maybe 4 Planewave mount to go with them

3. CDK24, ASI461MM Pro, ONAG, EFW, Chroma filters, Planewave mount



Maybe in reality, I would choose only one of these options, idk.
Ashraf AbuSara avatar
Ashraf AbuSara avatar
A privately owned space telescope. If I was Elon Musk I'd definitely put a couple of billion dollars for my personal amateur space telescope. 

Realistically, maybe an ASA UWF1000 f1.3  or whatever is equivalent when I am retired few decades in the future.

But the equipment is only a part of the dream. I need the knowledge. Maybe I'll pursue a degree in astronomy to amplify my understanding after the kids grow up and closer to retirement.
IrishAstro4484 avatar
IrishAstro4484 avatar
Ashraf AbuSara:
A privately owned space telescope. If I was Elon Musk I'd definitely put a couple of billion dollars for my personal amateur space telescope. 

Realistically, maybe an ASA UWF1000 f1.3  or whatever is equivalent when I am retired few decades in the future.

But the equipment is only a part of the dream. I need the knowledge. Maybe I'll pursue a degree in astronomy to amplify my understanding after the kids grow up and closer to retirement.

*** It's the perfect way to spend your retirement! I'll definitely do further study in Astronomy at some point ***
Oscar avatar
Oscar avatar
Ashraf AbuSara:
ASA UWF1000 f1.3  or whatever is equivalent when I am retired few decades in the future.


Aha!

Thanks a lot for helping me remember about ASA scopes!

Yeah, for my second choice, I would want that F/1.3 one.
TiffsAndAstro avatar
TiffsAndAstro avatar
Jean-David Gadina:
Hubble.
But I need a bigger balcony first…


hubble for my guidescope
TiffsAndAstro avatar
TiffsAndAstro avatar
Ashraf AbuSara:
A privately owned space telescope. If I was Elon Musk I'd definitely put a couple of billion dollars for my personal amateur space telescope. 

Realistically, maybe an ASA UWF1000 f1.3  or whatever is equivalent when I am retired few decades in the future.

But the equipment is only a part of the dream. I need the knowledge. Maybe I'll pursue a degree in astronomy to amplify my understanding after the kids grow up and closer to retirement.


designed and funded by musk, built by Boeing, staffed by the very brave ;)
Lynn K avatar
Lynn K avatar
A dream scope is useless unless you're in your dream location. With my Bortle 7 skies, with 75 to 80% cloudy nights, what's the point.

I would choose the dream location first.

Lynn K
Reg Pratt avatar
Reg Pratt avatar
Tandem Epsilon 130
Tandem RH300
12" RC
Paolo avatar
Paolo avatar
A cloudless sky.
Georg N. Nyman avatar
Georg N. Nyman avatar
CDK24 with QHY600 and RASA36 with QHY268 - both on 10 micron mounts….. I know how to handle them, I just don´t have the budget to get them. :-)