Equipment

Telescope and Mount

My current imaging telescope is a Stellarvue apochromatic refractor, the SV70T.  I generally use a focal reducer to bring the f-ratio to f.4.8.  The mount is a Takahashi EM-11 Temma 2M, a very reliable and portable imaging mount.


The autoguiding camera is an SBIG ST-I which works very well.  The tripod is a Berlebach UNI fitted for Takahashi mounts.  This is a very stable and portable platform for this setup.

Camera and Focuser

The camera I currently use is the QSI 660 WSG monochrome CCD camera.  My focuser is a Starlight Instruments FeatherTouch 2.5 inch model. The focuser motor is the Starlight Instruments HSM stepper motor which works very well.

Software

A list of software I use:

  • Maxim DL for camera control, focusing and autoguiding
  • The SkyX Serious edition for pointing the scope and GOTO functions
  • CCDStack for registering and stacking images
  • PixInsight for most post-processing
  • Photoshop