Looking For $5K Or Less Astrophotography Setup Ideas

Hey John, 

- esprit 80 (1.4k)
- a touptek 2600c (rebranded) (1.4k)
- zwo am3 (1.7k)
- mini guide scope and some cheap 290c style camera (0.3k)
- mele quiter 3 (0.2k)
- zwo eaf (0.2k)
- dew bands (50 usd)
- small stuff like cables, usb hub etc (0.2k) 
- pixinsight! (0.3k? Not sure)

Bit more than your targeted 5k but in my opinion a better setup. Bigger sensor, better bigger scope, no need for only zwo gear. 

maybe you find a few of the things for less. Some of the 2600c clones can bought used for around 1k these days. Esprit 80 also comes up quite regularly. 
pls don’t underestimate the amount of money you will spend on cables, adapters etc. 
and pls do yourself a favor and just get pixinsight. I tried to go a cheaper route first and lost money and time on that. 

cs 
Andi

The only planetary you're going to be doing with a Redcat 51 is lunar. I'm assuming your numbers are right. I'd change the main scope to an Askar 103APO Triplet ($1000) with the 1x flattener ($200). Then add the ZWO counterweight bar ($40) and something like a 4-6lb counterweight that fits ($40ish).


I'm not big in to planetary, but even what I suggest is probably not enough focal length, but if you want one scope for DSO too, compromises have to be made.

John:
Hello. I'm currently trying to figure out what kind of ideal astrophotography setup I should purchase that would be a total of $5,000 or less for all of the equipment (mount, telescope, camera, etc). I want to get a setup that will let me mainly do deep sky photography, with some planetary and cometary imaging as well. Here's one potential setup listed below that I've thought about after doing some searching online.

Mount: ZWO AM3 Mount & Tripod ($1798)
Main Scope: William Optics RedCat 51 ($865)
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro ($799)
Guide Scope: William Optics UniGuide Scope ($114)
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI 220MM-MINI ($299)
Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus ($299), ZWO EAF Electronic Focuser ($199), ProAstroGear Black-Cat Mount ($80), William Optics Cat Saddle Bar ($53)
Total: Around $4.5K

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for potential setups that would fit in my budget range, please post them here.

You can definetly save on the guide scope and guide camera with such a setup, the ASI120 and any kind of guidescope (even a finder scope) would do just fine and knock a few bob of your expense. If you do intend to go with the MC you would probably also need a filter holder and filters (depending on light pollution), but at least a UV/IR cut. 

With the savings and left over room in the budget I would also perhaps suggest getting the AM5 over the AM3, just in case you want to get bigger scopes later on as the price difference isn't really that much after all. If you do get bigger scopes at some point you would also benefit from getting a 4.5kg weight (ioptron) and the counter weight shaft as well. For the RedCat you won't be needing it. 

I'd say it's a pretty solid setup that will be easy to get started with. Lots of people prefer using laptops and various software - but it really doesn't get any easier than the AA+. Yes, you can get cheaper cameras from other brands that might be as good - but in my opinion the catch is it isn't as easy going as popping the AA+ on there and leaving it to automate your sessions. You will be stuck in the ZWO enironment though. 

Deep sky and comets are fine with this setup, planetary not so much. For that you would need a completely different setup and preferraply a faster FPS camera - unfortunately the AA doesn't really let you use the full FPS potential of any camera, which would require a laptop and free software to record. Same goes for galaxies, you will do fine on the larger ones - but most are too small to image with this kind of focal length. Use this page as a reference for FOV for different scopes and camera pair ups: https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

Also, as others have mentioned: Pixinsight and RC Tools. Do not skimp on software.

John J. DeAlessio III:
Hello. I'm currently trying to figure out what kind of ideal astrophotography setup I should purchase that would be a total of $5,000 or less for all of the equipment (mount, telescope, camera, etc). I want to get a setup that will let me mainly do deep sky photography, with some planetary and cometary imaging as well. Here's one potential setup listed below that I've thought about after doing some searching online.

Mount: ZWO AM3 Mount & Tripod ($1798)
Main Scope: William Optics RedCat 51 ($865)
Main Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro ($799)
Guide Scope: William Optics UniGuide Scope ($114)
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI 220MM-MINI ($299)
Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus ($299), ZWO EAF Electronic Focuser ($199), ProAstroGear Black-Cat Mount ($80), William Optics Cat Saddle Bar ($53)
Total: Around $4.5K

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for potential setups that would fit in my budget range, please post them here.

UV/IR Cut Astronomik L2
ZWO 120 MM mini

Hey!

If you plan on just imaging with that scope (redcat 51), I would save some money and get a cheaper mount but upgrade the camera to a monocrome camera with some good filters. Here is what I would do:

Star Adventurer GTi: 670$
Redcat 51: 865$
ZWO EFW: 299$
Antlia 3nm S,H,O: 1185$
ZWO R,G,B: 169$
Guide Camera: ASI120MM-S 179$
Guide Scope: WO UniGuide scope 114$
William optics Cat Saddle Bar: 53$
Pixinsight: 300$
SSD (Samsung T7 shield or other): 80$
Jackery 240: 239$

Total: 4153$

Mind you you would be very limited to that rig if you get the GTi mount, since it will be limited to lighter loads.

True! hahah I was surprised myself to see how cheap this turned out. But, like you said, it could be possible. I just found that upgrading from my 533MC to my 2600MM was very much worth it this is why I suggested that. But adding the 2600MM to the suggested setup will crank up the price to over your budget...Maybe a 1600MM could work, with the star adventurer 2i. It would amount to just over 5000$. That being said, again, if you plan to upgrade to another heavier load, your mount will be of no good. If you plan on sticking to that rig, I would go for the mono rig.

Marc Monarcha:
Hey!

If you plan on just imaging with that scope (redcat 51), I would save some money and get a cheaper mount but upgrade the camera to a monocrome camera with some good filters. Here is what I would do:

Star Adventurer GTi: 670$
Redcat 51: 865$
ZWO EFW: 299$
Antlia 3nm S,H,O: 1185$
ZWO R,G,B: 169$
Guide Camera: ASI120MM-S 179$
Guide Scope: WO UniGuide scope 114$
William optics Cat Saddle Bar: 53$
Pixinsight: 300$
SSD (Samsung T7 shield or other): 80$
Jackery 240: 239$

Total: 4153$

Mind you you would be very limited to that rig if you get the GTi mount, since it will be limited to lighter loads.

You forgot the monochrome camera and you might be the first person I've seen to recommend going down 2 mount classes.

You could just squeak in a mono rig for $5000 with the AM3 but you are going to have to get a doublet scope, ZWO 7nm filters and buy the camera used (and maybe a few other things). Both of my mono rigs were under $4000 USD so it is possible.

Hi, 

I'd advice to invest least in the item that you are most likely to upgrade immediately. 
E.g. If you think you'll upgrade your telescope, plan to invest in beefier mount and get cheapest telescope possible. 

My suggested items - 
AM5 2298
ASI294MM/ASI533MM 1280
ZWO LRGB (36mm) 200
EFW (36mm) 300
EAF 200
ASI Air Plus 300
ASI 120MM + Guidescope 250

I selected AM5 for slightly higher payload assuming you might get a bigger telescope.
You could swap 294MM with 533MM. Depends on your taste and preference for square or clean sensor.  
I selected 36mm filters allowing room for future camera upgrade. You could save a bit here by going 31mm filters. 
Also, you don't need Narrowband filters to get started. Ha might be the best place to start. 



Depending on how much you could stretch, you could go for Askar 135/180, Astrotech AT60 with reducer or Redcat51. 
If you would consider buying used you could save some money. 

If it was me, other than the mount and Telescope, I would definitely buy all the accessories used.

Hope it helps, 

Thanks,
Deepan

John J. DeAlessio III:

Marc Monarcha:
Hey!

If you plan on just imaging with that scope (redcat 51), I would save some money and get a cheaper mount but upgrade the camera to a monocrome camera with some good filters. Here is what I would do:

Star Adventurer GTi: 670$
Redcat 51: 865$
ZWO EFW: 299$
Antlia 3nm S,H,O: 1185$
ZWO R,G,B: 169$
Guide Camera: ASI120MM-S 179$
Guide Scope: WO UniGuide scope 114$
William optics Cat Saddle Bar: 53$
Pixinsight: 300$
SSD (Samsung T7 shield or other): 80$
Jackery 240: 239$

Total: 4153$

Mind you you would be very limited to that rig if you get the GTi mount, since it will be limited to lighter loads.

Hello, and thanks for the suggestions. I already have a Celestron PowerTank 12V, so would that be sufficient for powering a Star Adventurer GTi mount?

If I had to guess, it should be good enough for supplying the needed power to get the rig running. However, at 84Wh, I do not think it will last the whole night, especially with a cooled camera, unless your power the camera separately. I think you should start a new topic to get a good answer for that tough.

Hi John,

Have you thought about getting a Celestron C6 with a Hyperstar?

C6 (840)
Hyperstar for C6 (500)
Dew shield (60)
Guide scope and guide cam (300)
Asiair plus (300)
Eaf (200)
heq5 (1500)
OR 
AM 3 (1800)
Asi 533mc pro (800)
Duoband filter (200)

If if you decide to get a mini pc instead of the asiair, you could go with the touptek 2600c.