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My Astro Equipment

It's no secret. Astrophotography (beyond tripod and wide field imaging) requires some intense gear. My equipment can be considered middle-of-the-road in terms of expense and sophistication.
Scopes
  • Takahashi FSQ-106ED Flatfield Super Quadruplet apochromatic refractor
  • Stellarvue SV80S triplet super apochromatic refractor
  • Celestron 9.25" Schmidt-Cassegrain catadioptric (aluminum tube)
Mounts
  • Mountain Instruments MI-250 German Equatorial with Gemini
  • Losmandy GM-8 German Equatorial with Gemini
  • Advanced Telescope Systems 8"x36" portable pier
Cameras
  • Canon EOS 40D digital SLR camera (w/Hap Griffin UV/IR filter replacement)
    • Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 L II USM lens
    • Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro USM lens
    • Canon EF-S 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens
    • Sigma 8mm EXDG f/3.5 Fisheye lens
    • Canon TC-80N3 Timer Remote Control
    • Canon Angle Finder C
  • SBIG ST-10XME Self-Guiding CCD Imager
    • SBIG CFW-10 Color Filter Wheel
    • Astrodon C/L/R/G/B/Ha/OIII/SII "E" series filters
    • SBIG AO-8 Adaptive Optics System
  • Meade DSI Pro
  • Orion StarShoot Autoguider
Computer hardware and software
  • Image acquisition (in the field): Gateway MX6931 laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 @ 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 15.4" widescreen, Windows XP Pro)
  • Image processing (at home): Custom built PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.8GHz, 8GB RAM, EVGA GeForce 9800GTX+ video card, dual Dell 2408WFP 24" LCD panels, Windows Vista Ultimate x64)
  • CCDSoft and TheSky by Software Bisque
  • Maxim DL/CCD by Diffraction Limited
  • ImagesPlus by Mike Unsold
  • Photoshop CS4 by Adobe
Accessories
  • Tele Vue eyepieces, Powermates, and 0.8x Reducer/Flattener (TRF-2008)
  • Edmund Optics RKE eyepieces
  • Takahashi 0.73x Reducer-QE for the FSQ-106ED
  • Celestron 0.63x Reducer/Corrector in Ted Agos adapter
  • Technical Innovations RoboFocus
  • Optec TCF-S 2" temperature compensating focuser
  • IDAS 48mm LPS filter
  • Losmandy dovetail plates, counterweights, and rings
  • Robin Casady AP-style counterweight shaft and counterweights
  • SocalAstro dovetail plates and rings
  • Pelican cases for mount, cameras, eyepieces, and accessories
  • Scopeguard case for FSQ-106ED
  • Pacific Design soft case for C9.25"
  • Mogg adapter to connect EOS lenses to DSI Pro (without filter slider holder) and StarShoot Autoguider
  • AC AstroBox (Internal: AC power strip, DC power supply set to 15v for Gemini, USB hubs, and USB-to-serial adapters; External: AC and DC sockets, serial and USB ports, USB out, and AC input)
  • DC AstroBox (Internal: Inverter, variable voltage DC power supply set to 16v for Gemini, USB hubs, USB-to-serial adapters; External: AC and DC sockets, serial and USB ports, USB out, and Molex connector for battery input)
  • 100AH 12v marine deep cycle AGM battery (Sears)
  • 55AH 12v marine deep cycle AGM battery (Optima)
  • 18AH 12v SLA battery (Kendrick)

Stuff from back in the day
  • Tasco 50mm achromatic refractor (1983-1984)
  • Jason Comet Chaser 76mm Schmidt-Newtonian (1985-1987) — photo
  • Coulter Optics 10" f/4.5 Dobsonian (original blue tube) (1987-1997)
  • Meade LX200 10" f/10 (1999-2002) — photo
  • Meade LX200GPS 10" f/10 (2003-2005) — photo
  • William Optics Megrez 80mm Super APO Triplet (2002-2005) — photo
  • SBIG ST-7E CCD camera (2002-2004)
  • SBIG ST-2000XM CCD camera and AO-7 (2004-2007) — photo
  • Canon EOS 20DH (Hutech Type Ia modification) (2005-2007)
  • Takahashi TOA-130F APO Triplet Refractor (2006-2007) — photo
Equipment Images
Click an image below for a larger view.

MI-250, Takahashi FSQ-106ED, and Stellarvue SV80S
MI-250, FSQ-106ED, SV80S
Celestron 9.25 SCT with Stellarvue SV80S
MI-250, Celestron 9.25 SCT, SV80S
SBIG ST-10XME - back view
SBIG ST-10XME [ front ]
Losmandy GM-8 with Takahashi FSQ-106ED, Canon 40D, and DSI Pro as autoguider
GM-8, FSQ-106ED, Canon 40D
Astro computer setup at home (in the garage)
Astro PC at Home
Custom AC AstroBox
Custom AstroBox [ inside | back ]