Back to forums

GAS-AIG topics for next season

Meetup
GAS Astrophotography Interest Group •5 replies•62 views
maxchess avatar
maxchess avatar
Ideas for next season.

Suggestions at the June meeting included:
•    Events with learning – introducing new imagers
•    Group imaging night  
•    Pixinsight Processing Topic
•    Star Cluster Images
•    AstroSurface: New, Free Planetary processing software
•    Useful Astro Software
•    Target Led Astrophotography (The ultimate TLA)next meeting will be Monday September 11th
maxchess avatar
maxchess avatar
Useful Hardware / Scopes   eg Samyang135  ; Celestron C8
Members Observing arrangements:  movable tripods to Roll off sheds
Tim Ellison avatar
Tim Ellison avatar
If it's of any interest (maybe not!), I could offer to talk about a few aspects of my 200mm Newtonian photographic setup. Over the past four years I have added or modified the kit in at least 6-7 different areas. So, given time to prepare, I could talk through those. Some aspects might be partly a repeat of things that Richard covered in his excellent presentation a few months ago, but some might be "new" and "different".
Tim
Well Written Respectful
maxchess avatar
maxchess avatar
Tim,

That could be a good topic, I have long thought that a fast newtonian gives the best "bang for your buck" for imaging. Which SW 200 newt do you have? is it the Sky-Watcher Explorer 200P-DS   or the Sky-Watcher Explorer 200P  (The DS is designed I think for imaging). According to Astrobin it sits on a  Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6GT, is that right?
Max
Helpful Respectful Engaging Supportive
Tim Ellison avatar
Tim Ellison avatar
Hi Max,

I bought the telescope secondhand from Nick. I believe it is a 200P. Nick had fitted a low profile focuser (Sky-Watcher product code 20170) to it, which makes it better suited for photography, and perhaps moves it towards being "like a P-DS", although probably not quite the same. Regarding the mount, that's more straightforward - yes it is an AZ-EQ6GT. Agreed that Newtonians do appear to give very good value for money. But in my (limited!) experience there are a few modifications needed to make them work well as photographic tools. The presentation would, amongst other things, highlight some of these.

Regards,

Tim
Well Written Insightful Respectful Concise
Tim Ellison avatar
Tim Ellison avatar
Hello Max,

Just a quick follow-up to our previous conversation. Since then I've had the telescope in bits in order to do a bit more tinkering. Used the opportunity to take some measurements. The secondary mirror is 51mm across the short axis. This approximately matches the 52mm which is quoted in one or two places online for a 200P. The same sources say 58mm for the 200P-DS, which it definitely doesn't match. The advertising blurb says that in the 200P-DS the tube has been shortened to bring the mirrors closer together. I haven't ever found any figures relating to that, but for the record, for mine, the distance between focuser axis and centre of the silvered primary mirror surface is about 735mm. All measurements obtained without addng fingerprints or scratches to either mirror. Phew!!

All probably "too much information", but hey-ho!!

Regards,

Tim
Well Written Helpful Insightful Respectful Engaging