Taras's Astrophoto Page
Equipment
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Here is the image
Here is the image

 

My 203.2mm f/6.3 LX200.

Here are three pictures of my LX200. The top photo has my LX200 polar aligned with a piggyback Minolta SR-T101 with a 200mm lens. The middle photograph has my LX200 set up for solar photography with an Orion solar filter with the Minolta SR-T101 camera body at the Cassegrain focus. The bottom photo has my LX200 with a EXT90 spotting scope mounted piggyback with Losmandy rings and dovetail rail. All the setups show the Kendrick dew heaters and a Telrad reflex finder.

My main scope is a classic Meade 203.2mm (8") LX200 f/6.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain, which is also my primary imaging platform. I use it mostly for guiding piggybacked cameras and with my SAC-IV USB CCD cam. Though I've dabbled with Cassegrain focus film photography, I am trying to improve my techniques in wide-field photography. To this end, I bought myself an used Hasselblad 500C/M with an array of lenses from 50mm to 350mm. At this time, an ETX-90 spotting scope is my secondary scope and part-time guide scope. I also have a Pro-Optic 90mm f/5.6 Maksutov-Cassegrain spotting scope and an Orion 80mm f/5 short tube refractor to join the Jason/Empire 60mm f/15 ("department store") refractor my father bought me when I was a teenager. I also have a ST-4 imager/autoguider, though I still end up manually guiding when I am using a battery (a Kendrick 33AH PowerPack) to power the scope and dew heaters. My prime astro site near Ellenville is usually at 98% humidity, but it offers relatively dark skies, that is for within a 75 mile radius of New York City.

I just recently got a Meade 127mm f/14.96 ETX125AT Maksutov-Cassegrain for planetary imaging from the city. I just started testing it with an iBot webcam mounted using a Mogg adapter and a Scopetronix visual back.

My primary observing sites are in New York City at 73°59'18.4"W 40°43'37.2"N and Ellenville at 74°25'24.4"W 41°40'42.0"N, both in the state of New York in the United States. I have also had the telescope at Glen Spey, NY at 73°44'W 41°28'N.

Photos © 2003, © 2002, © 2001, © 2000 by Taras R. Hnatyshyn

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This site was designed and developed by Taras Hnatyshyn.
© 2003, © 2002, © 2001, © 2000, © 1999 Taras R. Hnatyshyn.
last updated on August-12-2003