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imp_white
member
Reged: 12/08/06
Posts: 48
Loc: italy
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Hi all!
Travelling from time to time (also many degrees south or north) around and soon-to-be astrovideo user I was wondering: what could be a very very portable setup for astrovideo? Everything should fit in a hard bag or something that could be taken quite easily on a plane.
My first idea would be for example:
-) Vixen Skypod Mount (light and compact alt-az mount with tracking and goto...)
-) Vixen A80SSWT tube (very compact 80mm f/5 acro tube)
Of course camera and notebook in the package aswell.
Does it sound realistic/usable to you? Any other ideas and alternatives for such a setup?
Thanks!
iw
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rolandlinda3
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/24/06
Posts: 1612
Loc: Crozet VA 22932
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Can you track....is there a motor? If you cannot track, then astrovideo use will be limited to electronic shutter or short integration times (less than a couple seconds).
What will you view the output with? Crank that into your equation.
Roland
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Sky Captain
Scope Builder
Reged: 11/07/04
Posts: 5743
Loc: Seattle Washington
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Quote:
My first idea would be for example:
-) Vixen Skypod Mount (light and compact alt-az mount with tracking and goto...)
-) Vixen A80SSWT tube (very compact 80mm f/5 acro tube)
That looks like it would be a great combo to use. I haven't read any reports yet on how well the tracking is, but Vixen does make some pretty good equipment.
The 80mm would be ok for the scope, but I personaly haven't used anything that small yet.
You sure could see more by video through that scope than by using it visualy.
You will need a fair amount of power for that combo: Mount, Camera, and the Monitor. Not sure if you could take a battery big enough for several days of use, or even get it on the plane. Plug in power supply would get the job done, if you have power at your observing site.
--------------------
Equipment Overload!
Kerry.
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Jamie
member
Reged: 05/08/05
Posts: 41
Loc: Cortez, FL
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iw
I've used everything from the ETX60 to the NexStar 4SE with great success. For small I use an Archos 605 WiFi 80 GB to view and record AVI. Power is you're only issue it seems as you need to power both the scope and the MC.
Jamie
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ETX60AT-BB
ETX70AT
ETX80AT-BB
LX200R 12"
Celestron Super C8+
NexStar 4SE
DSI color
Mallin Cam Hyper Plus Color
Apogee 25X100 binos
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imp_white
member
Reged: 12/08/06
Posts: 48
Loc: italy
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Thank you very much for the replies! I'll try to reply to all of you:
1) As for tracking the mount I posted has tracking. Sincerely I couldn't find any review or post talking about how good it could track, but I'd hope for relatively short time exposures it would do the job (I'd better ask also in the mount board most probably)
2) As for output I'd use a notebook with a video grabber. Sure not the best setup but notebook is anyway with me for work so... Eventually to consider a very portable screen.
3) Power is indeed my concern too. I'd try to stick to places with plugs available even if more light polluted. Also given that the places are usually new I'd better not drive too far into the unknown :-)
4) The tube of course has a limited aperture but it looks very portable and at a reasonable price and looks good for deep sky.
Of course being this a portable setup I'll have to cut down on aperture, but given the jump the astrovideo gives it could be still a very nice experience to be able to have some hours of views on parts of the sky that I can't reach from home. Am I wrong?
Jamie the ETX could be an idea too. Indeed the ETX80 for example would be way lower as budget as my proposal. (even the ETX90 but has a not so nice focal ratio I'd say). Jamie do you have maybe any screenshots or examples with that small setups you use? What quality and how long exposures could I hope to have with such telescope?
Thank you very much for all the inputs given or inputs to come!
SMALL ADDITION: I even spotted the Ioptron scopes (Smartstar 80 for example). they are on mega-budget... anyone knows/tried them? (sure thing it's way less quality than for example the vixen combo but at around 1/4 - 1/5 of the price)
iw
Edited by imp_white (06/04/08 05:44 AM)
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Astrojunk
member
Reged: 11/02/06
Posts: 82
Loc: Australia
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Ioptron are very good (and small) for the money. Not as sophisticated as the ETX, but not as expensive either!
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Astrojunk
20" f5 Alt Az Newtonian
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Jamie
member
Reged: 05/08/05
Posts: 41
Loc: Cortez, FL
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iw
If you join the Yahoo Mallin Cam group http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mallincam/, I have a photo folder ( Jamie's pics) that I did with the NexStar 4SE, a laptop, and a capture device. AVIs were decimated with Virtual Dub ( freeware) and processed in registax4 ( freeware)
Jamie
--------------------
ETX60AT-BB
ETX70AT
ETX80AT-BB
LX200R 12"
Celestron Super C8+
NexStar 4SE
DSI color
Mallin Cam Hyper Plus Color
Apogee 25X100 binos
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