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| Hi guys. I'm a proud owner of a GM1000 mount that I'll install in a bortle 2 remote site before summer. For nebulae season I'll put on an Askar FRA400 reduced for wide field imaging (I want to keep things simple in the first time) but for the next galaxy season I'm planning to add some more serious OTA around 1000-1500mm. Thing is... 10u mounts are pretty demanding for good unguided performance. My first choice was a 8"RC GSO but I read some nightmare reviews here on AB in terms of focuser flexure. The same guy says he had a really nice experience with an Edge 8 HD but I'm not sure it's a good choice for remote installation due to mirror shift (even if I actually have a 2"esatto focuser I could install).... so any suggestion? |
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If I was in your situation, and seeing conditions were optimal, I'd get an AG Optical. You'll only find them on the used market, he doesn't make them anymore as far as I know. The 12.5 Convergent F/5 has been high on my list as an endgame scope for my backyard, but only because I do get lucky enough to have good bouts of seeing here. If you wanna see someone with a similar setup, check out Alex Helms work. He's using the AGO 12.5 F/6.7, an amazing scope as well, riding on a GM1000 https://www.astrobin.com/users/alexhelms/ |
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| Get a TS ONTC/Lacerta newt in the 10-12" range with a Paracorr and you'll have a killer setup. |
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Ciao Leonardo, I have a proto-type Newton 200 f/4 of the current Artec Newtonian OTAs by Artesky and I’m very pleased. Very good optics, oversized secondary (so no vignetting), carbon tube. The f/4 -f/5 range is a real plus in terms of getting the most out of an imaging session. They are a bit pricey but the good old Newtonian with corrector is still a very good option. Consider that with a cmos 3.76 pixel camera you get close to 1 arcsec resolution. I use my 20cm with a 2600MC for dual band OSC and 300s unguided exposures. clear skies, Stefano |
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Brian Puhl: It is a real shame he is not making scopes anymore. I really love my FA12 Convergent. Are you aware he made a 12.5 f/3.9 variant? That would have been amazing to have. I would buy one in a heart beat. https://agoptical.com/12-5-imaging-harmer-wynne/ |
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| My Takahashi TOA-130/GM1000 combination has always served me well. Perfect optics, great combination, and pretty large flat field should you need it. If you want to go reflector, I guess a 200mm f/4 Newton would be a good choice. |
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With that mount only being capable of 55lbs I’d stay in the 10” f/4-f5 range if you decide to go with a reflector. I don’t know what your price range is but they are IMHO very reasonable priced especially on the used market. If you want something that is more forgiving/less adjustments needed consider a refractor but here they can get pricey and you’ll probably want something in the 130-150 range. I’m a reflector guy so I’d lean towards the reflector type telescopes. |
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Leonardo Landi: I'm using a Celestron C14 EdgeHD remotely installed in Spain with no mirror shift problems and getting perfect 10 minutes unguided images. |
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| 10" F/5 Newt for the win! |
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Leonardo Landi: I have had good results with the ZWO 130 Petzfal OTA. It's made by Askar. Backfocus is not an issue with this design and value is good. FL is 1,000 mm. |
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andrea tasselli: ☝🏾 |
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| Thank you all for the replies. I really enjoyed my sw quattro 200 with the eq6r pro, and my first thought was to install that on the gm1000. But when I tried it I found that the mechanics is not so reliable, I experimented rms from 13 to 230 even with a good Esatto 2" focuser. So a bigger/longer newt is definitely an option.... thing is... which one? The goal is to have a pretty reliable mechanics I could use my gm1000 as intended... |
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| I don't think you can go wrong with either TS ONTCs or Lacertas as they are well proven in the field. Unless you want to go really upmarket and splash as much (or more) on the scope as you have on the mount in which case there are nifty pickings out there, such as: http://nauris.de/index.php/en/telescopes/vates-astrograph |
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If you want to make use of the 10M's potential, you should consider to get something serious and matching to that mount. Not the optics itself is the most crucial, but the mechanics. e.g. focuser, rails, clamps, rotator, etc. You need a matching package. e.g. TEC 140 or TEC 160. Also TAK with an updated focuser plays well. Most users go for hig-end refractors and/or classic Cassegrains (not SCTs) due to most reliable mechanics. Every, even the tiniest, mechanical flaw, will degrade mount's performance significantly. |
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| Thank you again. @andrea tasselli I do not want to invest too much on that OTA because I do not consider something in the 1200 mm fl range as a "final" instrument. Wanting to avoid some problems related to collimation and tilt, also considering that it will be a remote setup, are there good Newton f5s with those characteristics? |
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| I use a Stellarview CVX152T @ 1200mm with a 10Micron GMS1000 mount. Excellent combination. |
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| All those I mentioned in my previous post have excellent mechanics and fit&finish. |
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| Thank you for your precious advices. I looked carefully at TS web site and it looks like that the best choice that fits my needs is the ONTC 1012 - 10" F4.8. I plan to order it without focuser so I can fit my Esatto 2" that served me well even with the Quattro. The tube looks pretty solid and the f ratio should be more forgiving than my actual f4. |
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Leonardo Landi: Great choice. Make sure it has the right adapter and the holes are made to fit your focuser. |
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| Of course. TS sells also Primalucelab brand so I'll ask them to buy the adapter and install it on the tube. As far as I know, the tube is fully customizable so I think that's not a big problem. The focusers they propose with the scope are amazing - but with the various EAF, Focus cube and so on you have to deal with backlash, loosen connections...... Esatto is a dream to use, never an issue and the focus is extremely repeteable even when cycling filters. |
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Brian Puhl: I just put my 10 inch AGO iDK up for sale on Astromart (US only though - and I would much prefer not to ship it). Now that I have a CDK 14 it has become surplus. |
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Hi! You're talking just about optics and, in this field, You will have a gargantuan choice of telescopes! You've mentioned about Nebulae season but the question is: what do You like to picture? Your main interest is in nebulae? or Galaxies or what? What kind of camera/filter are You going to use? These elements are crucial to try to help since focal lenght could be less important than arc/sec/pixel resolution or field of view... Try to give us more information about the setup and We will be more satisfactory in responces. Ciao! |
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Giovanni Paglioli: Ciao Giovanni My question involves mechanics more than optics. The real problem when you run unguided with a 10m mount is flexure, of course related with fl. So I decided to start the remote adventure ad Deeplab in Maremma with the easiest setup possible: a short FL refractor with good quality mechanics for nebulae season. The Askar 400 will be paired wuth my trusted Asi 1600 mm, Antlia LRGB + SHO 3 nm. Targets will be mainly dark and reflection nebulae, all those things I cannot shoot from my backyard. When I will be a little more confident with the remote operation, I'd like to install a longer FL scope on the GM1000. At first I was thinking of using my current SW Quattro 200/800, but as I tried it on the 10micron I found it not usable, at least without autoguiding. The focuser flexure compromises guiding performances, and I do not want to add an autoguide setup. The weight saved will allow me to install another small widefield setup in parallel. So I asked here on AB some advices for a 1000-1500 FL scope with mechanics that allow me to run unguided. This will be paired with my ASI 294 mm, Optolong LRGB + Antlia SHO 3nm. |
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Leonardo Landi:Giovanni Paglioli: Got it, thanks! So my question is more about the budget for the optics now. It's quite clear that "budget" telescopes such as the Skywatcher 200/800 comes with good industrial optics but less good mechanics... The deal about such kind of telescopes is always biased thowards optics since the mechanical side is far more expensive. Good mechanics tends to cost much and a simple 1 degree step in quality costs exponentially more. The 200/800 is a good choiche if You just spend some money to fix the mechanical deficiency but, be prepared to spend money that may equal the telescope price! I have a good friend of mine that uses Your same mount unguided with an Officina Stellare Veloce RH 250 which has absolutely no problems of flexure or mechanical issues but it costs A LOT... A refractor seems to be an easy winner in this case but pay attention to the focuser side... I have friends that experimented issues even using the feathertouch 3.5"... In this field is very difficult to buy an "unguided ready" telescopes. On every optics You may have little issues and it will be a try and error fixing time. There is a very modern and really good telescope line that can be quite error proof but You have to look, again, at the budget and is the Vates Nauris line: https://nauris.de/index.php/en/telescopes/vates-astrograph They start with a super lightweight 355mm anyway and is not cheap... Open Truss telescopes in cassegrain config like Corrected DK seems to be the choice more than newtonians but these lasts are cheaper and possibly better suited for nebulae but You still have to take in account that they have an off-axis focus and You will still have to do some adjustments to let them perform as You like. Cassegrain type instruments will be easier just if You choose to have a fixed focus with a digital, low profile focuser at the end and, again, it is not properly a cheap component to buy. As You can see is a quite heavy budget dependant choice. Increasing mechanical quality is always something 2/3 magnitude orders less cost effective than the optical counterpart... |
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Hello, You can see my gallery for galaxy season with ONTC 10" F4 and 10 microns. It is a good combination. However, I am not entirely satisfied with ONTC mechanics. You will need to be sure to adapt your essato with a threaded solution for the coma corrector. On the other hand you might have problems with the clips adjusting the primary mirror. I noticed that temperatures range can loose the screws and collimation will suffer. If you are in remote be sure the technical staff can help and understand Cats eye collimation or similar autocollimation methods. On the other hand, if you can overcome these issues, I think this is the best value combination. Best |
