New man toy arrived

NickK · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:15

I'm not sure if this is 'photography' but it is a lens..

Vixen A80MF and Porta mount arrived

The Vixen A80Mf is an Achromatic Refractor with 80 mm (3.2") of aperture. Its focal length is 910 mm with an f-ratio of 11.4. Its light gathering is 130 times better than the human eye and has a maximum (realistic) power of 144x.

And the two eyepieces (the black 90deg inverter top of the picture):

6mm for high magnification and 20mm for low magnification.

neoboy · 6 Jan 2011 at 13:25

Well it's all Greek to me but you seem excited so enjoy!

mrthingyx · 6 Jan 2011 at 14:25

NickK said:
I'm not sure if this is 'photography' but it is a lens..

Vixen A80MF and Porta mount arrived

The Vixen A80Mf is an Achromatic Refractor with 80 mm (3.2") of aperture. Its focal length is 910 mm with an f-ratio of 11.4. Its light gathering is 130 times better than the human eye and has a maximum (realistic) power of 144x.

And the two eyepieces (the black 90deg inverter top of the picture):

6mm for high magnification and 20mm for low magnification.

For leching or stargazing?

log1K · 6 Jan 2011 at 14:30

Nice piece of kit, I have a Skywatcher 200P Dob.

Very jealous of the aperture you have on that thing. Will give good deep sky.

Cosimo · 6 Jan 2011 at 14:31

Now you have the gear let's see some astro photography.

Here's something to get you started:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00d1b8l

NickK · 6 Jan 2011 at 17:23

I went with a cheaper, manual but more mobile scope so that it forces me to learn the sky and not the technology. It's supposedly a good starting scope with a bright picture, good colour and without issues for the field of view. It'll also teach me more about scope care (dew etc) before forking out for better setup.

I'll have a chance to look at other scopes over the course of 2011 before purchasing. The path of imaging leads to ruin

The VC200L is still the favourite but with a computerised mount and camera the cost is something I'll build up to. When I do this scope will become a guide scope for star tracking so money isn't wasted.

Next up will probably be a mid-magnification eyepiece and a then do a MS HD webcam mod. Again these will be reusable in future.

NickK · 6 Jan 2011 at 17:29

Here's what you can get with an HD lifecam:

That's with a 20" telescope though (yikes!)

Cosimo · 6 Jan 2011 at 17:51

NickK said:
Here's what you can get with an HD lifecam:

Marzipanogram · 6 Jan 2011 at 18:13

I suppose it's cheaper than buying a car with a large bonnet

I look forward to seeing your photos, if you connect a camera to it.

bigjimmyauk · 7 Jan 2011 at 11:34

You shouldn't suffer much of a dew problem with a acro refractor.

things worth investing in are

barlow lens

best eyepieces imo are baader planetarium hyperions they are really good value for money and give amazing clarity, they can also be modified with rings and adaptors to give focal lengths between the set sizes.http://www.baader-planetarium.de/sektion/s26/s26.htm

a good book on telescopes and astronomy.

and a free piece of software we amateurs and professionals use alike http://www.stellarium.org/

truly amazing piece of freeware i would pay for it so definately worth grabbing for free