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Hello from France

Ritchey-Chrétien Introductions
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Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Hello everybody. I am Olivier, 60 y  old, I live in France in Lyon for work and in the Alpes Savoie where I have my home and observation site.
I am doing astronomy since I was 16y old , at that time  I used to have a simpl newton  114/1000. Today I am the happy owner of several instruments including an Askar Sharpstar 130028HTN that is a wonderfull fast newton for big fields of deep space (FD 2.8) and several ritchey Chretien a  6 inch I am not using very often , an 8 inch (I have mainly used for now) and I have just bougth a 10 inch that should arrive soon. I also own a newton bresser NT203 FD4. My mount is the new AM5N and  I also have a bresser exos2

Occasionaly I am also playing piano and a lot of guitar (and I build classical guitars for pleasure). I the normal life I am an IT specialist.
Tony Gondola avatar
Tony Gondola avatar
Welcome to the bin Olivier! You've got a good set of gear and nice images in your bin. Glad to have you here.
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Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Tony Gondola:
Welcome to the bin Olivier! You've got a good set of gear and nice images in your bin. Glad to have you here.


Thank you Tony.  I am glad you enjoyed my images
Maxim avatar
Maxim avatar
Bienvenue Olivier ! (I’ve started learning French recently 😄) are you planning to put RC10 on the Am5? I’ve been thinking of a similar setup
Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Maxim:
Bienvenue Olivier ! (I’ve started learning French recently 😄) are you planning to put RC10 on the Am5? I’ve been thinking of a similar setup


Hello Maxim.
Yes  I am planning to do that with  about 5kg counterweigth and some weigt in the bag under the mount. The total weigth RC10 + my equipment will be around 18kg so it should suit as the mount is given to support up to 20kg. I plan to put the zwo tripod at the lower position for stability. I already changed the foot of the tripod with something less bouncy and more stable and I saw the difference even with Rc8.

I think the weak part is the ZWO tripod , if it seems too risky I will buy a heavier  tripod to replace the zwo. Now the Zwo tripod is given to support up to 50kg so... I will let you know once I have done my 1st try early next week.

below the foot I used in replacement the standard zwo TC40 foot
THIBAUD Lucas avatar
THIBAUD Lucas avatar
Hello Olivier,

I'm French too and now based in Chile, Welcome !

If you wish to meet some people l am an active member of an astronomy club in Lyon named CALA with a lot of fellow astrophotographers. We have some perks like our annual OHP star party and an observatory in the middle of your commute to your home too!
smile 

looking forward to have your feedback on the RC10 as I originally planned to get one on my AM5 but went for a C8 instead.

And maybe on the field during my holidays in France.
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Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Hello Lucas, 

I am in Lyon during the week and in my country house on week end.
I have not yet planned to join a club, but why not. I need to think if mt schedule permit that ;)

I like wery much the RC solution, even if it is not as simple than newton to colimate. I have the 3 model RC6, RC8 and now RC10 . I will certainly sell the RC6 but keep the RC8 because it is practical when you need to be fast for installation (or in nomad use ? ).

Olivier
Damien Galanaud avatar
Damien Galanaud avatar
Olivier Constans:
Maxim:
Bienvenue Olivier ! (I’ve started learning French recently 😄) are you planning to put RC10 on the Am5? I’ve been thinking of a similar setup


Hello Maxim.
Yes  I am planning to do that with  about 5kg counterweigth and some weigt in the bag under the mount. The total weigth RC10 + my equipment will be around 18kg so it should suit as the mount is given to support up to 20kg. I plan to put the zwo tripod at the lower position for stability. I already changed the foot of the tripod with something less bouncy and more stable and I saw the difference even with Rc8.

I think the weak part is the ZWO tripod , if it seems too risky I will buy a heavier  tripod to replace the zwo. Now the Zwo tripod is given to support up to 50kg so... I will let you know once I have done my 1st try early next week.

below the foot I used in replacement the standard zwo TC40 foot

Bienvenue Olivier
The tripod is clearly the weak point of the AM5. It is nice for travel, OK for light instrument such as 60-80 mm refractors but clearly shows its limits for larger tubes such as your RCs. I used it with my Celestron C8 edge for deep sky imaging and had significant guiding issues, which mostly disappeared after I switched to a Berlebach UNI8 tripod. You could definitely invest in one: they are reasonably cheap, very sturdy and there are versions natively compatible with the AM5.
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Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Damien Galanaud:
Olivier Constans:
Maxim:
Bienvenue Olivier ! (I’ve started learning French recently 😄) are you planning to put RC10 on the Am5? I’ve been thinking of a similar setup


Hello Maxim.
Yes  I am planning to do that with  about 5kg counterweigth and some weigt in the bag under the mount. The total weigth RC10 + my equipment will be around 18kg so it should suit as the mount is given to support up to 20kg. I plan to put the zwo tripod at the lower position for stability. I already changed the foot of the tripod with something less bouncy and more stable and I saw the difference even with Rc8.

I think the weak part is the ZWO tripod , if it seems too risky I will buy a heavier  tripod to replace the zwo. Now the Zwo tripod is given to support up to 50kg so... I will let you know once I have done my 1st try early next week.

below the foot I used in replacement the standard zwo TC40 foot

Bienvenue Olivier
The tripod is clearly the weak point of the AM5. It is nice for travel, OK for light instrument such as 60-80 mm refractors but clearly shows its limits for larger tubes such as your RCs. I used it with my Celestron C8 edge for deep sky imaging and had significant guiding issues, which mostly disappeared after I switched to a Berlebach UNI8 tripod. You could definitely invest in one: they are reasonably cheap, very sturdy and there are versions natively compatible with the AM5.


Hello Damien,

I got a significant improvment with the feet  I  posted here. I am using with the RC8 that is about 11kg with all camera, guiding scope and camera, etc...   I will give a try with the native Tripod and the RC10 and if it does not work I will go to the Berlebach tripod  (or a EQ6 tripo with a AM5 adapter that is also a possible solution less expensive).
Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Hello,

I have done the 1st ligth of my new RC10 telescope 2 days ago and I can say :
- the AM5 can handle that telescope (18kg)  with no problem,  the zwo tripod is a little bit ligth and I have about 1s vibration when I  touch the tube, but it works. (I will certainly change the tripod)
- RC10 need the extension for the baffle, because I got reflexions when brigth stats are in or near  field. of view.  Extension ordered
- the picutres below taken with RC10 and RC8 shows that  RC10 is more accurate and detailled than the one taken with RC8. I took a 30min exposure picture of C11 and a  86 min exposure  the in RC8 , both with the same F/D 5.5 , same camera (touptek 2600c)  see  below (top image is RC10 , bottom is RC8)

Damien Galanaud avatar
Damien Galanaud avatar
Very nice, congratulations.
Another case for upgrading the tripod that I forgot in my previous post is that with such heavy loads you have a significant risk of tipping. It happened to me with the C8; fortunately I was able to grab the tube at the last second but believe me c’est un très très très mauvais souvenir !
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Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Damien Galanaud:
Very nice, congratulations.
Another case for upgrading the tripod that I forgot in my previous post is that with such heavy loads you have a significant risk of tipping. It happened to me with the C8; fortunately I was able to grab the tube at the last second but believe me c’est un très très très mauvais souvenir !


Damien,
It tried different combination of the mount lower, higher, with the extension tube and without . Also  I tried pull the mount with the scope on it (with caution of course)  to see the behaviour  of the mountand each time it returns on the tripod feet. So unless a dramatic event , it seems to be stable enough.
Now, the main issue are the vibration when you touch the tube that stand for about 2s  and the vibration have their source in the TC40 tripod. So I will certainly buy a Berlebach tripod.
Below the scope. I attach it to the AM5  at that position because it is the position where the weigth is in balanced (all the main weigth is in the miror part). You can see I put a 4.5kg counterweigth and I have 6.5kg in the tripod bag.  The total weigth (scope + guide scope + camera) is between 17 and 18kg. The AM5 moves everything with no  effort.
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Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans avatar
Olivier Constans:
Damien Galanaud:
Very nice, congratulations.
Another case for upgrading the tripod that I forgot in my previous post is that with such heavy loads you have a significant risk of tipping. It happened to me with the C8; fortunately I was able to grab the tube at the last second but believe me c’est un très très très mauvais souvenir !


Damien,
It tried different combination of the mount lower, higher, with the extension tube and without . Also  I tried pull the mount with the scope on it (with caution of course)  to see the behaviour  of the mountand each time it returns on the tripod feet. So unless a dramatic event , it seems to be stable enough.
Now, the main issue are the vibration when you touch the tube that stand for about 2s  and the vibration have their source in the TC40 tripod. So I will certainly buy a Berlebach tripod.
Below the scope. I attach it to the AM5  at that position because it is the position where the weigth is in balanced (all the main weigth is in the miror part). You can see I put a 4.5kg counterweigth and I have 6.5kg in the tripod bag.  The total weigth (scope + guide scope + camera) is between 17 and 18kg. The AM5 moves everything with no  effort.

*** Ecrivez votre réponse ici **Hello evrybody , I have upgraded the tripod with a berlebach uni18. I was not confident in the TC40 to hold such a big tube , specialy when I saw on FB that a guy got one of the feet tube enter fold by itself causing its C8 to be broken.
Jerry Yesavage avatar
Jerry Yesavage avatar
Olivier Constans:
Hello everybody. I am Olivier, 60 y  old, I live in France in Lyon for work and in the Alpes Savoie where I have my home and observation site.
I am doing astronomy since I was 16y old , at that time  I used to have a simpl newton  114/1000. Today I am the happy owner of several instruments including an Askar Sharpstar 130028HTN that is a wonderfull fast newton for big fields of deep space (FD 2.8) and several ritchey Chretien a  6 inch I am not using very often , an 8 inch (I have mainly used for now) and I have just bougth a 10 inch that should arrive soon. I also own a newton bresser NT203 FD4. My mount is the new AM5N and  I also have a bresser exos2

Occasionaly I am also playing piano and a lot of guitar (and I build classical guitars for pleasure). I the normal life I am an IT specialist.

Bonjour. Welcome to Astrobin. I have double nationality as my wife was born in Toulon. There are several French members here. A Bientot.
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