First order:
Self-made:
Second order:
5mm HR Planetary ocular
adapter set allowing use of T2 combined with the ocular, etc.
device allowing to fix a video camera in front of the ocular
20mm crosshair ocular with lighting
wearable red light, to be able to see sth while fiddling with the 'scope, while keeping night vision
star chart, star atlas
solar filter sheet
Self-made:
solar filter for finder and telesope, visual type
solar filter for telesope, photography type (no visual use, it would get eyes burned!)
Third order (via F.S.):
2012
Fourth order (actually, present for my 40th birthday):
Self-made:
Fifth order:
Self-made:
Especially for shooting astro-pictures, I got a Canon EOS 500D body (used), as this features “live view”, which helps a lot with focusing properly.
As an experiment, I also got a Canon EOS 450D body (also used), to be astro-modified, i.e. to remove the IR filter. This allows the sensor to “capture” the H-alpha emissions from many nebulas, but a) renders autofocus inoperative and b) gives improper focus when used with a lens (but is no issue with a reflector such as a Newton) - this camera won't be used for normal photography anymore.
The modification took a whole evening (good 3 1/2h), but worked.
Self-made:
light-box, i.e. a device to shoot “flat frames”, which are supposed to be provided to the stacker, so it can compute the vignetting and impurities of the optical system, resulting in better pictures. As I especially had issues with pretty extreme vignetting (strong radial gradients in the center of the picture), this seemed like a good idea.
Sixth order:
Baader MPCC Koma Korrektor, gets rid of coma aberration in the corners. This particular one is 2“ to the 'scope, and T2 to the camera - no more need for the 2”/T2 adapter.
simple pointer and adapter for the flash socket, allows for better pointing of the camera when it's used alone on the EQ platform.
second base for Telrad
couple of dovetail clamps, to be used for a (self-made) side-by-side mounting plate.
Especially for wide-field captures, I got a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. The optics are plastic, but of very good quality, and it weighs hardly anything. The first test pictures towards the milky way reveal quite a sea of stars, much more obviously so than using an f/5 scope. It does seem to deliver better quality when stopping down to f/2.8, which is still “bright” compared to my f/5 scopes. A huge advantage of this lens also is that I clearly see stars through the camera's viewer, which is not quite true (except for very bright stars) using other lenses with lesser f values (and the reason for the pointer and flash socket adapter).
Self-made:
side-by-side mounting plate. I alread made a losmandy-style dovetail plate of multiplex wood, and prepared a simple multiplex board, where the previously bought dovetail clamps will be fixed. Main question now is how to orient the board in relation to the dovetail plate, H-style, with the scopes orthogonal to the dovetail (allows for proper balancing in one direction), or parallel to the dovetail for more stability (problem with balancing though, though the guiding scope + guider is probably of hardly any effect compared to the main scope and camera).
Seventh order:
This travel mount came at quite a discount for its launch, hardly half the price of competing offers. I had already been looking into such travel mounts as I'm certainly not going to haul an EQ6 into an airplane, and even for a family holiday by car the whole gear would take up way too much space in the boot (even leaving the Newton behind). The Star Adventurer is neatly compact, fits onto my standard tripod (ok, I did select it so as to have a solid basis for a travel mount, it's rather on the heavier side), and can easily go along with the photographic equipment. The only downside I've found so far is the apparent lack of an on/off switch, i.e. as soon as the batteries are in there, the mount is tracking. As the battery holder is rather a tight fit, it can be tedious to get the batteries in or out, and you'll easily ruin the alignment. That might be a first modification.
Eight order:
The finder base got quickly fixed to the Newton, the guiding/finder scope will be combined with the SynGuider, hopefully this combination will finally work out for proper guiding.
Repurposed:
a few lenses “inherited” from my father. He used to use a (ex-DDR) Practica SLR with M42 lenses, lenses which I found in the basement. I got an adaptor M42→EOS from TS so as to be able to reuse them. While I probably won't do much with the couple of 50mm f/1.8 lenses (as I have a very good Canon 50mm f/1.8), the 135mm f/2.8 Pentacon should be quite interesting. There's also a couple of zoom lenses, where I don't have very high hopes, but which will also be tested. Unfortunately, I didn't easily find an adaptor for Y/C→ EOS, which would be handy for the Yashica-bajonet lenses with my father also had.
Self-made:
wooden (oak) prism rail GP Level-style, destined to reuse the tube rings that came with my FH80/400 and EQ-1. This should be a much stabler setup for photographic purposes than the self-made guiding tube rings intended for use with the relatively light standalone autoguider rather than the much heavier DSLR.
Second hand:
a Canon EF 200 f/2.8 L USM lens (black). It was on display at a local dealer, for a competitive price. This is my first “L” lens from Canon. It weighs considerably more than the kit lenses, quality is rather obviously much better. I guess I'll want to get another “standard” lens in L quality at some point in the future… As for astrophotography, it is of course for widefield use. My first serious test shot was of the virgo cluster, including Markarian's chain.
a SkyWatcher ED80/600 gold series, including a TeleVue 0.8 reducer/flattener, tube rings, GP rail, and a solar filter already included in the front cap - no specific finder scope, prism or eyepiece though. This is my first color-corrected refractor, it should nicely replace the FH80/400 for most tasks I used that one for. Considering its weight, the ED80 probably won't be used on the StarAdventurer mount, though.
Self-made:
wooden (oak) “raiser” for the guiding scope - its rail is much longer than the usual socket on the refractor scopes, and would collide with an attached DSLR. So I made this raiser.
wooden (oak) adaptor from GP-level to finder scope, so I can parallel-mount the guiding scope and my “plain” DSLR.
8mm steel bar with M8 threads at the ends, for use as counterweight bar for the Star Adventurer. Fitting counterweight lathed from mirabelle wood.
Second hand:
a SkyScan handbox for the NEQ-6, turning it into the GOTO version. This takes some getting used to for getting good results, but certainly works and helps make life simpler.
an MGEN-II autoguider. It was offered used at a very interesting price by a local hobby-astronomer, so I just couldn't resist. The first attempt at using it already went better than all my attempts with the SkyWatcher SynGuider, so there's hope for getting good results once I get around to more tests and mastery.
Self-made:
wooden (Paulownia) transport box for my ED80
wooden (beech) “raiser” for the guiding + finder scope (to be able to use both the visual finder scope and the guider scope without the need for exchanging the two)
bhatinov-masks for the N200/1000 and the ED80. Proper focus remains an issue even with live-view, this increases precision.
Second hand + self-made:
a second Canon EOS 450D, self-modified for astro purposes.
an accumulator dummy for the Canon EOS 450D. This was simple enough to implement using an old, weakened accumulator, a DC/DC converter and some cabling and connectors.
Second hand:
Second hand:
Meade LXD75 mount, a lighter complement to my EQ6, but able to take much more weight than the StarAdventurer. Also, it does GoTo.
Second hand:
Canon EF 100-400 L IS USM. I couldn't pass on this one as it was offered for a very interesting price, but it wasn't purchased for astro use really, more as a replacement of my less-than-stellar 55-250 kit lens for day-to-day use.
Self-made:
acquired via amazon:
self-made:
a self-made box for my guiding stuff: MGEN, guiding scope on viewfinder dovetail and rings, DC/DC adapter, EOS connector, 1 1/2“ / T2 adapter, 10mm eyepiece, MGEN user guide. Made of fir wood scraps.
acquired as used:
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.0, a better replacement for the 18-55 kit lens. It is apparently weaker in wide-angle than the 17-55 f/2.8 Canon EF-S lens, but at least as good in tele mode, and much cheaper. Also, I got it used at less than half of the new price. Turns out though that Sigma apparently didn't reverse engineer all of the communication between lens and body - even when set on manual focus, it still tries to autofocus and won't allow for shutter release even if all is properly set - unusable in dark contexts.
Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM. It is apparently a very sharp lens, at a very interesting price, and also extremely compact.
self-made:
a fir wood box for the EQ6 equipment - counterweights, hand controller, goto controller and cable, etc.
acquired used around 2017-11:
Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 lens. It came as a “surprise” supplement with a 7DmkII body I also acquired for improved day-to-day photography. Quality-wise, it is much better than the Canon 10-18, and obviously brighter at f/2.8.
cheapish planetary cam for use from home: ASI 120MC
Coronado PST 0.8A H-alpha telescope
december 2017 order from Teleskop-Express:
a flatfield box Lacerta FFB20 (240mm diameter) with 12V connector. I'm really not sure my self-made construct provides for good flats, so this might actually help. Oh, it's also much more compact than my contraption.
a counterweight for the StarAdventurer, as this should make the L-bracket usable as well as the heavier lenses. My self-made counterweight proved less than stable.
a projection eyepiece plus T2 adaptation for the PST, to enable using the PST with a camera (whether ASI 120MC or DSLR)
order from astroshop (a first) 2018-08-13:
ASI 120MM Mini, hopefully this will be able to get into focus in the PST w/o projection eyepiece, and not produce newton rings (J.S.'s ALCCD5 is pretty much the same and works for him)
ASI ADC mark II (atmospheric dispersion corrector), which should help for better view of the planets when (as now) low over the horizon
TeleVue Barlow x3 1 1/4” mainly for use with the planetary cam
2018-12-08 self-made: a 12V/9V DC converter. I had to completely re-wire the one I'd bought from TS due to wires losing their isolation and producing shorts. In parallel, I'd been looking into making one myself - getting the parts and putting them together myself. That task turned out tricky, as I ended up barbecuing 3 of those DC/DC converters (one EUR apiece, they are not properly protected) before succeeding. The box I put it in is of course made from wood.
2019-03 mid-march: order for some electric / electronic parts for building an USB-to-serial-and-EQMOD cable - i.e. to be able to control the NEQ6 mount from the computer. In the same go, I ordered a lab power plant to be able to provide proper 12V current from the mains, when working from the back yard. After proper soldering of the DB9 connector to the USB-to-serial converter and the installation of drivers, ASCOM platform, EQMOD tools and StellariumScope, controlling the mount from Stellarium is working, as is “sync'ing” (alignment) - tested by end of 2019-04.
2019-05 end of may Finally, jumped the gun and went for the cooled mono cam: ASI1600MMPro kit3 https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p10243_ZWO-Kit-ASI1600MM-Pro---7-pos-Filterrad--36mm-L-RGB---3x-Nebelfilter7.html, i.e. the whole shebang with filter set (LRGB and narrowband) and wheel, including an adapter for using it with Canon lenses.
2019-07 mid-july: the EOS 500D has gotten flaky with mode selection not working properly any more. As more or less equivalent replacement, I got an used 600D - where the back screen can be moved around, nice! While checking, I stumbled upon a hardly used 6D - full frame! - which I just had to get, too. As this is reputed to be really good for astrophotography, even unmodified, this should be interesting.
2020-02 (or so): used Walimex Pro 14mm f/2.8 manual lens, for use with the 6D.