Telescopes:
Skywatcher Evostar 80ED:
Type: Doublet apochromatic refractor
Focal Length: 600mm
Aperture: 80mm
Focal Ratio: f/7.5
OTA Weight: 2.5kg
The 80ED is a great scope for taking long exposures on deep-sky objects due to its semi-widefield focal length of 600mm. With this focal length, most nebulae can be fit into the field of view with a suitably sized camera sensor. However, I use a 0.8x focal reducer to reduce the focal length to 480mm. This allows even larger objects to fit in the frame. It is also very suited for imaging or observing the moon. The 80ED is very easy to use and includes high quality optics making it the perfect scope for both beginners and intermediate astrophotographers.
Celestron C8:
Type: Schmidt-Cassegrain (Fastar compatible)
Focal Length: 2032mm
Aperture: 203mm
Focal Ratio: f/10
OTA Weight: 5.7kg
A Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT) like the C8 is mainly made for imaging planets or the moon due to its high focal length. It comprises of two mirrors to direct light forwards then back towards the camera. This design gives an SCT its high focal length while also being relatively compact. With the use of a 0.63x reducer, the focal length can be shrunk down to about 1300mm - this gives the telescope the ability to image small deep-sky objects like planetary nebulae or globular clusters etc.
Altair Astro 60EDF:
Type: Doublet apochromatic refractor
Focal Length: 360mm
Aperture: 60mm
Focal Ratio: f/6
OTA Weight: 1.5kg
The 60EDF is my smallest and most portable telescope. It has a low weight as well as the ability to slide the dew shield back. This scope is most suited for large nebulae or open clusters. I use this scope for two different purposes - other than just imaging a deep-sky objects, I also use it as a guidescope for the larger C8 to get better tracking when doing longer exposures (you can see it being 'piggybacked' in the above image of the C8).
Cameras:
Altair Astro Hypercam 183M:
Sensor Type: Mono CMOS
Resolution (px): 5472 x 3648
Pixel Size: 2.4 µm
Weight: 0.32kg
The Hypercam 183M is my main imaging camera. It has a moderately sized sensor making it useful for deep-sky objects although a mosaic will be needed for very large targets. It has a small pixel size providing better resolution for surface detail on planets or the moon, however, this is not ideal for faint targets so 2x2 binning is used to combine the pixels. Since this is a monochrome camera, filters must be used to produce a colour image of the target.
Altair Astro GPCAM2 AR0130:
Sensor Type: Mono CMOS
Resolution (px): 1280 x 960
Pixel Size: 3.75 µm
Weight: 0.09kg
GPCAMs are amazing little cameras with high frame rates when a specific part of the sensor is used. This makes them more suitable to image the surface details of celestial objects in the solar system like Jupiter. It should also be noted that due to Jupiter's fast rotation, a camera capable of capturing many thousands of images within a minute helps prevent blurring caused by the rotation. The mono version of this camera is superb at capturing the finest details of the moon's surface but filters are required to show colours of planets which are stored in a 5-position filter wheel to easily change between them.
Altair Astro GPCAM2 IMX224:
Sensor Type: Colour CMOS
Resolution (px): 1280 x 960
Pixel Size: 3.75 µm
Weight: 0.09kg
The GPCAM2 IMX224 is very similar to the AR0130 in its specifications and capabilities. The main difference is that the IMX224 is a one-shot colour camera. This means colour filters are not required to capture the colours of a planet. This might make more sense however, there is a trade-off in quality when imaging with a one-shot colour camera. I mainly use the IMX224 as a guide-camera on the 80ED while I use the AR0130 for imaging with the C8.
Tracking Mounts:
Skywatcher NEQ6:
I upgraded from an EQ5 to the NEQ6 due to slight stability issues in light wind and with heavier equipment. The NEQ6 has done a fantastic job when it comes to taking long exposures (longest I've tested was 15 minutes) and has performed exceptionally well even in gusty winds. I control the NEQ6 through ASCOM rather than a hand-controller as the mount can talk directly to the laptop making guiding more accurate and finding objects quicker and easier. I also feel more comfortable with the heavy C8 on the NEQ6 instead of the smaller EQ5 as it is well within the weight limits of the mount.
Skywatcher Adventurer Pro:
This tiny mount is quick to get set up and offers more uses than simply tracking the stars. I've used it mostly in combination with the 60EDF which offer one of the quickest set ups of all the equipment and is ideal for the summer months when nights are short. Due to its portability, I have taken this mount abroad to Spain to image the North America nebula as well as a few other objects. It can be used for panning time-lapses too using the different speeds of rotation and when the mount head faces directly up. There are two options I can use for this mount - one with a counter-weight for heavier equipment like the 60EDF and the other is a ball and socket tripod head for a DSLR only.
