The Gear I Use to Make My Images
In order to “do” astrophotography, you can’t get around the need for gear!
On this page I will document the Telescope Rigs that I use to capture my images. One thing to keep in mind is that these rigs are NEVER static. They change and evolve over time. I will try to document those changes here. This has a few practical goals. First - it will document what state the rig was in when a given set of images were taken. Second, it will give you a feel for how things evolved as I progressed on this journey. Finally, it may give you ideas for your own rig!
In General, I am running three Telescope Platforms - typically all at the same time - to enable my imaging Projects. The First is the William Optics 132mm Platform. This is based on the first scope I used for imaging. The second platform is the Astro-Physics 130mm Platform. This second platform was unplanned and came about through a unique and fortuitous set of circumstances The third and most recent platform is the Askar FPA400 Platform - which was put together to enable both portable operations and more wide field capability.
The stories of these platform is found in this blog along with other pieces of equipment that greatly facilitate my astrophotographic endeavors.
AP130 Version 0.5: Surprise - A Second Imaging Platform - Almost!
The start of a second imaging platform - or - how tripped into the deal of a lifetime !
AP130 Version 1.0: A Second Imaging Platform is Born!
Over the winter, I began to get things ready for the second platform. Clearly I had some work to do. I needed to determine what I was going to do for a camera, and I needed to determine what to do get the mount functioning at the precision needed.
AP130 Version 1.5: The Tri-Pier Arrives
Standardizing the base
Finally, the Tri-Pier and the its extension column arrived. This allowed me to standardize the base of the two telescope platforms. There are several reasons that made this useful. First - everything is the same when you are handling things in the dark. And secondly, I was in the process of revolutionizing how I setup at night…..
AP130 Version 1.8: Adding a Focus Motor to the Guidescope
Why a focuser for the Guidescope?
Basically I am making this change to make the platform consistent with the WO132 platform. I would like to be able to focus the guidescope remotely under computer control. I would also like to have the ability to swap camera and use the TV76 as a wide field imager (using the AP130 as the guide scope.
AP130 Version 2.0: Moving to a Next Generation Astro Camera…
Adding the next generation ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro camera and ZWO EFW 7x36 II EFW to the platform…