My Imaging setup

I finally have all the components I need for a decent imaging setup:


Everything mounted on my Atlas EQ-G. The main imaging scope is a Celestron C8 with Hyperstar and QHY8 and the guidescope is an Orion ShortTube 80 with Orion Starshoot Autoguider. The dew shield helps greatly! Especially since the camera projects outwards and upwards. It helps aids in mounting other things such as a light box, since there is no other easy way to do this with a hyperstar setup.


This setup is still much lighter than what I used before. I can getaway with two counterweights. With my XT10 setup I would have to use three 5 pound counterweights and they would be all the way at the bottom of the counterweight shaft.


The dew straps are mounted on both the short tube and the C8. On the C8 I am mounting it right behind the plastic endpiece holding the corrector. Contact with the metal should give better results overall.



All the cables have been split into two groups: Power, which is one bundle, and Control, which is another bundle. Show above is the power bundle and the control bundle. And below, both cable groups are secured by tieing them around the handle bar of the C8, with enough play so that the cables don't get taught when the scope moves around.



Focus control is through Robofocus. The new C8s have a curved back and as a result mounting the robofocus was a pain. Eventually I had to get the plastic wedge and the expansion bracket, seen here, from Technical Innovations. The expansion bracket can be extended in height and I collapse it all the way in when storing the scope. When on the mount, I extend it all the way which is just enough height for me to mate the robofocus to the fine focus knob of the FeatherTouch via a sprocket and a timing belt. I would much rather have the mating be done with the Coarse focus knob of the Feathertouch, but I don't have the right sprocket. I bought what was touted to be the right Sprocket from Technical innovations, but it does not fit and they have not sent me a replacement yet (4 weeks and waiting...). Maybe I will just trim the inner surface of the replacement Sprocket I got and use that on the coarse focus knob (the inner diameter of the replacement I got is just a tad short and hence does not go over the coarse focus knob). This should let me achieve faster focus since with the finefocus knob the step size has to be set too high for any resonable speed in focus.







Without the dew shield you can see the Hyperstar setup. I does look wicked cool!! All the cables around the tube are held losely using a welcro strip. Also I secure the power box for the QHY8 and the Robofocus control box on either side of the C8 using welcro. They stay pretty secure this way.


All the power bricks sit currently on the eyepiece holder in the center of the tripod. This way there is no excess tension on the cables as the bricks are pretty heavy. But I need to figure out a better solution for this. Maybe a bag which hangs on one of the legs in which I can keep the bricks as they are plugged in. Yet to devise this