This page contains the complete description of my equipment: I will try to keep it up-to-date every time I change my setup. When time allows, I will provide links to product pages and reviews, either written by myself or by others (off-site links).
Equipment history as of June 2008
The following table depicts the acquisitions and transfers (mainly through selling on the used market) of the main pieces making up my rig: OTAs, mounts, sensors (film and digital SLR cameras, CCD cameras, etc.). This does NOT include minor equipment such as filters, oculars, camera lenses, etc. For a detailed list of those items, please check out the relevant sections below.
| Year | Month | IN/OUT | What |
|---|---|---|---|
1983 |
12 |
IN |
60/700 Skymaster refractor |
1985 |
12 |
IN |
114/900 Skymaster Newtonian reflector |
1987 |
09 |
IN |
Praktica MTL3 film camera |
1997 |
05 |
IN |
8" LX50 Meade SCT (fork mount) |
2000 |
01 |
IN |
Olympus OM-1 film camera |
2001 |
06 |
IN |
Nikon F3 film camera |
2002 |
03 |
OUT |
8" LX50 Meade SCT (fork mount) |
2002 |
03 |
IN |
Losmandy GM-8 mount + Meade 8" SCT OTA |
2003 |
01 |
IN |
Astromeccanica DA1 Dual Axis drive |
2003 |
03 |
IN |
SBIG ST-4 CCD |
2004 |
02 |
IN |
Celestron 8" Nexstar SCT OTA |
2004 |
04 |
OUT |
Meade 8" SCT OTA |
2004 |
11 |
IN |
Synta EQ6 mount |
2004 |
12 |
IN |
Astromeccanica DA2 GoTo system |
2004 |
12 |
IN |
Vixen GP Equatorial Mount |
2005 |
01 |
IN |
Canon EOS 300D DSLR |
2005 |
04 |
IN |
Skywatcher ED80 refractor |
2005 |
04 |
IN |
Skywatcher 70/500 guidescope |
2005 |
04 |
OUT |
Sbig ST4 CCD |
2005 |
05 |
OUT |
70/500 Skywatcher refractor |
2005 |
05 |
IN |
Mintron WTW-12V1C EX Camera |
2005 |
07 |
IN |
Celestron C9.25 OTA |
2005 |
09 |
OUT |
Celestron 8" Nexstar SCT OTA |
2005 |
12 |
IN |
Modified B/W Philips Toucam Pro webcam |
2006 |
07 |
IN |
Lumenera Lu075M camera |
2007 |
01 |
IN |
Losmandy G11 mount |
2007 |
02 |
OUT |
Synta EQ6 mount |
2007 |
05 |
IN |
Atik 16HR CCD |
2007 |
08 |
IN |
Canon EOS 350D DSLR |
2007 |
12 |
IN |
Celestron C11 OTA
|
2007 |
12 |
IN |
Second Losmandy G11 Mount + FS2 motor drive |
2007 |
12 |
IN |
Vixen ED 103SWT OTA |
2007 |
12 |
IN |
Magzero MZ-5m camera |
2008 |
01 |
IN |
Night Technology 80/480 achromatic refractor OTA |
2008 |
05 |
IN |
No-name equatorial mount (very cheap model to be user as astro tracker) |
Optical Tube Assemblies
- Celestron 11-inch SCT tube with 8x50 finderscope
- Celestron 9.25-inch SCT tube with 6x30 finderscope
- Skywatcher ED80 80mm f/7.5 ED refractor
- Vixen ED103SWT (103 mm f/7.7)
- Night Technology 80mm f/6 achromat
- Skywatcher 70/500 refractor guidescope
Mounts and tripods
- Losmandy GM-8 with tripod
- Two Losmandy G11 mounts with tripod
- Vixen GP with wooden tripod
- No-name lightweight equatorial mount (to be used only astro tracker for daytime and short FL photography)
- Astromeccanica TL-110 tripod with custom-made adapters for GM-8 and EQ-6 mounts
- Manfrotto 055C photographic tripod with head
- Slik photographic tripod
- Cullmann compact tripod
Cameras and scanners
- Praktica MTL-3 SLR
- Olympus OM-1 SLR with 1-8 focusing screen
- Nikon F-3 SLR with clear focusing screen and DW-4 magnifier
- Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera
- Canon EOS 300D (aka Kiss/Digital Rebel) DSLR camera
- Canon EOS 350D (aka Digital Rebel XT) DSLR camera
- Nikon LS-30 slide and negative scanner
CCDs, webcams, filters and focusers
- Atik 16HR CCD camera
- Lumenera LU075 camera
- Philips Vesta Pro webcam
- Magzero MZ-5m camera (used only for autoguiding)
- Philips ToUcam Pro webcam (modified with B/W sensor)
- Philips ToUcam Pro webcam (normal)
- Mintron MTV-12V1C-EX high-sensitivity B/W camera
- Microfocuser Analogic PC for SCTs
- FeatherTouch manual focuser for C11
- JMI Motofocus for Celestron C11
- Atik manual filter wheel
- 4-filter manual selector from Coma
- Baader IR-cut filter
- Schott RG695 IR-pass filter
- Set of three color dichroic filters (R, G, B) from Astromeccanica
- Schott BG-12 violet filter (for Venus imaging)
- Baader U-filter (for Venus imaging)
- Astronomik LRGB CCD filter set (31.8 mm)
- Astronomik H-alpha 13 nm bandpass filter (31.8 mm)
- Baader Filters for CCD narrowband imaging (31.8 mm): H-alpha 6 nm bandbass, OIII, SII
- Solar filters: MTO 1000 (Mylar), SW ED80
- Tiffen 58 mm 8-point star filter
- Tiffen 58 mm fog filter
- COMA 1.25-inch filter slider
Photo Lenses
- For Praktica MTL3 (M42 thread): 24 mm f/3.5 (Pentax), 50 mm f/1.8 (Pentacon), 135 mm f/2.8 (Petri), 200 mm f/4 (Jupiter), 300 mm f/4
- For Nikon: 50 mm f/1.8 AF (Nikon), 28-210 zoon lens (Tokina)
- MTO 1000 mm f/10 catadioptic lens
- Pentax 500 mm f/4.5 telephoto lens (with bayonet for Nikon lenses)
Motors and drivers
- Astromeccanica Losmandy motor kit
- Losmandy motor drive
- Astromeccanica DA-1 dual axis drive
- Astromeccanica DA-2 GoTo drive
- Astro Electronic FS-2 GoTo drive (with Astromeccanica motors)
Eyepieces, barlows and optical accessories
- Meade 6.7 mm OR
- Lumicon 25 mm Plossl
- Unitron 4 mm
- Meade series 4000 31 mm
- Baader Hyperion 21 mm
- TeleVue 20mm Plossl
- Celestron Ultima LX 20 mm (2-inch) eyepiece
- COMA 14 mm and 40 mm eyepieces with thread for Nikon Coolpix 995
- Lumicon Cassegrain Easy Guider with extension tubes
- Meade 12 mm illuminated reticle eyepiece
- Meade f/6.3 SCT focal reducer and field flattener
- TeleVue 2.5x and 5x Powermates
- COMA 3x Apo barlow
- Televue 3X Barlow
- Celestron el-cheapo 31.8 mm diagonal
- Lumicon LumiBrite 2-inch diagonal
Adapters
- Homemade 1.25" Philips webcam adapter
- COMA 1.25" Philips webcam adapter with filter thread
- COMA T-ring/Philips webcam adapter
- T-Rings for: M42 (Praktica), Olympus, Nikon
- Meade Variable tele-extender
- M42 female thread / 1.25" female (for using eyepieces with the MTO and other M42 lenses)
- Nikon bayonet-1.25" female for using eyepieces with Nikon lenses
- Several Vixen and Losmandy (older GM-8 and G11 type) dovetail bars (both custom-made and bought off-the-shelf)
- 2-inch->T2 adapter ring from scopestuff. It unscrews into half, thereby revealing a matching male/female SCT thread (2-inch, 24TPI). Useful for attaching common SCT accessories, such as a f/6.3 focal reducer
Miscellaneous accessories
- Custom-made double-side plate for GM-8
- 90 mm internal diameter custom-made guidescope rings
- 12V DC/220V AC 300 W power inverter
- 12Vin / 12-24 Vout switching power supply for field laptop operation
- Trust USB2 A/V editor (for grabbing images from analog sources)
- Several step-up and step-down rings for photo lens filters
- 15-mW green laser, used only for educational purposes in public sessions (e.g. with my astronomy club)
Stuff I've used / owned
- Meade 8-inch LX50 SCT (my first "serious" scope: optically good, mechanically poor)
- Meade 8-inch OTA (white-painted LXD version: a real lemon!)
- Celestron Nexstar 8 SCT tube (very good quality optics)
- Skymaster 4.5 Newtonian reflector. I no longer own it, but I remember the beautiful views it offered of many planetary and deep-sky objects. An entry-level instrument that helped boost my knowledge of the heavens.
- Lumicon deep sky filter (48-mm diameter)Meade OR 10 mm eyepieceIanus M-Foto mountCelestron 40-mm Plossl eyepiece
- Skymaster 60/700 mm altazimuthal refractor (my very first scope ever!)
- Synta EQ6 mount
- SBIG ST4 CCD: considered to be one of the best autoguiders out there, I never managed to get it working. Finally replaced with a Mintron Camera-USB2 video grabber combo.
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