Beginner: What telescope is best with Canon EOS 400D?
Andre Hinrichs
I'm currently thinking of buying a telescope to use for astro fotography
with a Canon EOS 400D. Does anybody have any experience with this?
What do I need beside the telescope and the camera?
The telescope should also be controlled by my Linux system with Xephem. So I
will need an electronic tracking system.
Cost should not exceed 1000 Euro (1400 US-$). Will I get a good system with
this amount of money or will I have to spend more?
I'm not bound to Meade as brand...
Regards
Andre
Tandy W. Carter Jr.
Let me answer your questions in reverse order. You will not be able to
purchase a telescope that will be good enough to do astrophotography. For
good astrophotography, you'll need to spend closer to $2,000.00. You will
also need to get an equatorial mount. You'll need either a German Equatorial
Mount (GEM), or a wedge for your fork mounted telescope. Both equatorial
systems have advantages and disadvantages.
A good telescope will have either a RS232 connection or a USB
connection. Your software will need to be able to connect through the same
connection as the telescope.
To connect your camera to your telescope, you'll need an off-axis guider
(OAG), a star diagonal, cross hair reticule, and an adapter for your
specific camera. Personally, I use the Lumicon Easy Guider when I use my
film camera.
--
Tandy W. Carter Jr.
tandy....@att.net
http://home.att.net/~tandy.carter/
"Andre Hinrichs" <and...@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:fgfqk4$quf$01$1...@news.t-online.com...
Tandy W. Carter Jr.
Yes, you could use a field de-rotator instead of a wedge. However, you
can only use it for prime focus astrophotography. With a wedge, you can also
piggy back your DSLR and use your normal camera lenses. I believe Meade has
discontinued the field de-rotator. No, you can't use equipment for the 12"
and larger SCTs because they have a different size and thread pitch than the
smaller SCTs. I agree, the LX-200 is a better astrophotography telescope
than the LX-90. I love my classic 8" LX-200! The reason that there is not a
wedge listed for the 16" SCT is the telescope is much too heavy to be
portable. They are permanently mounted in observatories. The 10" -- 14" SCTs
use the Super Wedge.
--
Tandy W. Carter Jr.
tandy....@att.net
http://home.att.net/~tandy.carter/
"Dennis Lee Bieber" <wlf...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:13ipkpu...@corp.supernews.com...
> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 14:25:31 GMT, "Tandy W. Carter Jr."
> <tandy....@att.net> declaimed the following in alt.telescopes.meade:
>
>>
>> Let me answer your questions in reverse order. You will not be able
>> to
>> purchase a telescope that will be good enough to do astrophotography. For
>> good astrophotography, you'll need to spend closer to $2,000.00. You will
>> also need to get an equatorial mount. You'll need either a German
>> Equatorial
>> Mount (GEM), or a wedge for your fork mounted telescope. Both equatorial
>> systems have advantages and disadvantages.
>>
> A field de-rotator could possibly replace the equatorial wedge, but
> it does mean needing a telescope with control logic/port to connect the
> de-rotator. Probably costs more than a wedge... (Though Meade's web site
> makes it impossible to even find the wedge or de-rotator)
>
> In Meade's line, you are probably looking at the LX-200 series; I
> don't think the LX-90 had all the connectivity options.
>
> {Interesting: telescopes.com lists the de-rotator "...for 16 inch
> LX200", I'm sure it used to be available for all models... $850
>
> Ah... May be since they don't list a wedge for the LX200 16"; 10-14"
> wedge $500, 8" wedge $150 -- $170 for the LX90}