An inventory of most of my gear, at least the gear which I use most.

Smart Telescope | OTAs | Mounts | Eyepieces | Cameras | Accessories | Wish List

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Smart Telescope
Model: SeeStar S50
Aperture: 50mm
Focal Length: 250mm
Focal Ratio: F/5
Camera Sensor: IMX462
Integrated Light Pollution Filter

Light, portable, battery powered, and easy to use. Set it up, level it, connect to it from a tablet or phone, and start observing. Great for EAA and casual observing.

Optical Tube Assemblies (OTAs)

Focal Ratio or f/stop is the focal length divided by the aperture.
A scope with a focal length of 700mm and an aperture of 80mm has a focal ratio of 700mm/80mm = 8.75

Determining Magnification: Telescope Focal Length / Eyepiece Focal Length
For example a 19mm eyepiece in the 8 SCT which has a focal length of 2032mm: 2032mm/19mm = ~107x

Astro-Tech AT66ED with SV305 Camera attached, Stellarvue 80mm for visual observing, and the SVBONY SV106 Guide Scope with OSSAG camera attached.

Manufacturer: AstroTech
Model: AT66ED
Type: Refractor
Aperture: 66mm
Focal Length: 400mm
Focal Ratio: f/6
Weight: ~4 lbs

Manufacturer: SVBONY
Model: SVBONY SV503 102ED F/7 Refractor
Type: Refractor
Aperture: 102mm
Focal Length: 714mm
Focal Ratio: f/7
Weight: ~8.75 lbs

SV503 102ED with ZWO ASI294MC Pro and the SV106 Guidescope with the Orion StarShoot AutoGuider Camera on the Celestron CG5 Advanced GT set up for EAA.

Manufacturer: Stellarvue
Model:
Type: Refractor
Aperture: 80mm
Focal Length: 700mm
Focal Ratio: f/8.75
I got this used, it’s a great scope especially for visual observing. Fantastic on Jupiter and Saturn.

Manufacturer: Celestron
Model: SCT 8
Type: Schmidt-Cassegrain
Aperture: 8″ (203mm)
Focal Length: 2032mm
Focal Ratio: f/10
Weight: ~13 lbs

Manufacturer: Celestron
Model: SCT 6
Type: Schmidt-Cassegrain
Aperture: 6″ (152mm)
Focal Length: 1500mm
Focal Ratio: f/10
Weight: ~9 lbs

Astro-Tech AT66ED with SV305 camera attached, SVBONY SV106 Guide Scope with OSSAG camera attached.

This is my primary EAA setup. Most of the EAA images in my Messier Log and M81 Group Log have been captured with this setup.

Manufacturer: SVBONY
Model: SV106 Guide Scope
Type: Refractor
Aperture: 60mm
Focal Length: 240mm
Focal Ratio: f/4
Weight: ~1.7 lbs

Mounts

Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Type: Equatorial
Control: SynScan Hand Controller and/or USB PC Direct
Payload: 44 lbs.

Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro with the SVBONY SV503 102ED and SV106 60mm Guide Scope.

Celestron CG5 Advanced GT
Type: Equatorial
Control: NexStar Hand Controller
Payload: 30 lbs
My work horse… I have two of them. Will likely upgrade one day, but for now they handle most of what I throw at them.

Stellarvue M1
Type: Alt/Az
Control: Manual
Payload: 25 lbs
Got this mount when I purchased the Stellarvue 80mm. Light, great grab and go. Handles my AT66ED and my Stellervue 80mm refractors well, also works great with my 6″ SCT.

Eyepieces

Tele Vue Nagler (82 degree Apparent FOV)
7mm, 9mm, 13mm 16mm

Tele Vue Panoptic (68 degree Apparent FOV)
19mm, 22mm
The 19mm Panoptics is probably my favorite.

Tele Vue Radian (60 degree Apparent FOV)
4mm

Williams Optics SWAN (72 degree Apparent FOV)
33mm

SWA (70 degree Apparent FOV)
26mm

Astro-Tech Series 6 Wide Field
8mm, 12mm, 17mm
Not sure what the apparent FOV is on these. They were inexpensive and are no longer available, but these are great for planetary viewing.

Cameras

Determining optimal sub-exposure length
10(R^2/P)
Where R = camera read noise and P = light pollution rate

ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Sensor: 4/3″ SONY IMX294 CMOS
Resolution: 11.7Mega Pixels 4144X2822
Pixel Size: 4.63µm
Read Noise: 1.2-7.3e
Max Exposure: 2000 seconds
Weight: 14.5 oz
Cooling: Regulated Two Stage TEC

SVBONY SV305 2MP CMOS Color Camera
Sensor: 1/2.8″ CMOS IMX290
Resolution: 2 Mega Pixels 1920X1080
Pixel Size: 2.9 µm X 2.9μm
Read Noise: .7e-
Max Exposure: 1800 seconds
Weight: ~0.3 lbs

SV305 Camera attached to the AT66ED scope with a 2″ Extender to get required back focus.

Atik Titan CCD Mono Camera
Sensor: Sony CCD ICX424
Resolution: 658×492
Pixel Size: 7.4 µm x 7.4 µm
Guide Port: ST4
Weight ~0.7 lbs
This is an older camera and has been discontinued.

Orion StarShoot Auto Guider (OSSAG)
Sensor: Micron MT9M001 CMOS
Resolution: 1280 x 1024
Pixel Size: 5.2 µm x 5.2 µm
Guide Port: ST4
Weight: 4.4 oz

Accessories

Electronic Focuser: ZWO EAF
Weight: 9.7 oz
Power: USB 5V
Accessories: Hand controller and Temperature Sensor

Dew Heater: Dew Buster Dew Heater Controller

Extension Tube: 2″ extension tube – required to get enough back focus on the AT66ED with the SV305 Camera

Raspberry Pi running Astroberry for remote mount and camera control using KStars/Ekos/INDI.

GPS Module attached to the Raspberry Pi

Focus Mask: Bahtinov Focus Mask for Telescopes with Dew Shield or Front End Diameter from 2.5″ to 4.5″ – This mask works great on both my AT66ED and my Stellarvue 80mm.

Focal Reducers:
Meade F/3.3 (SCT)
Celestron F/6.3 (SCT)
SVBONY .8 Reducer/Flattener for 102mm Scopes

Wish List

Clear skies and more time 🙂

Filter wheel. Looking at either the QHY QHY 3rd Generation Electronic 7 Position Filter Wheel for 2″ Filters or the ZWO 5-Position Electronic Filter Wheel for 2″ Filters or the ZWO 7-Position Electronic Filter Wheel for 2″ Filters. Not sure if I need 7 positions… but I am guessing if I get a 5-position, I’ll soon wish I had room for another filter, so I’ll probably get the 7.

102mm Refractor – Looking at the AstroTech AT102ED. I really like my AT66ED but would like some more aperture. For the price the AT102ED looks like it will fit the bill. I decided on the SVBONY SV503 102ED F/7, this is pretty much the same scope as the AT102ED. The reason I picked the SV503 102ED over the AT102ED was the price and availability.

A better camera. I am having a lot of fun with the SV305 for sure, but I think I would to eventually have something a bit more sensitive. Looking at the ZWO ASI 183MC Pro. Will take me a bit to save up for it so something else may come along, but I think the ASI 183MC will be a nice upgrade from the SV305. 02/27/2022: After some research I have ordered the ZWO ASI 294MC Pro from Astronomics. I decided on the 294MC due to the sensor size and the sensitivity. This camera should provide great FOVs across all my scope focal lengths. I debated on the cooled (Pro) and un-cooled version, and decided on the Pro (cooled). This way if I decide to do some more astrophotography work it should be pretty well suited for that as well.

A set of tube rings for the AT66, either the Parallax 75mm tube rings or the AgenaAstro 2.9″ tube rings. I want a more solid way to mount it and some additional mount points. The adjustable rings I have work great but I am not able to easily mount anything else to the scope when they are on. Currently I have the SV106 mounted on it using the finder shoe, and that is really not the best way to do it.

A ZWO EAF. This would be a nice to have. After initial set up the only thing I have to go back to the scope for now is to adjust focus.