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Here is a short list of the instruments I use: I operate from my home observatory where I have installed a 4.2 meter Baader dome totally automated. It can be operated remotely, but I like to be in it so I practically never use this option. This 4.2 mt. dome produced by Baader is a quasi-professional
dome: a real pleasure to watch at work. You can see some pictures on this page. |
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Inside the observatory I have an AP1200 GTO, the superb Astro-Physics equatorial mount. When I purchased it my dealer told me that it was a "definitive mount", once you have it, there is no equipment
upgrade that will require a mount upgrade. So far I can say he was 100% correct: It is sturdy, beatifully crafted and is as precise and hassle-free as it is good looking. A true mechanical masterpiece! |
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As regards optics, I own exclusively refractors. My main telescope is a TEC 180APO FL, a 180mm F7 fluorite apochromatic refractor (oil spaced triplet) made by the U.S. based company TEC (Telescope Engineering
Company). Another masterpiece to go with the AP mount. It is a recent addition to my tool box and I am extremely happy with it. It is a truly beautifully made telescope, both mechanically and optically. It is well worth the (high) price
paid for it. I'm learning how to use this thoroughbred also for DSO (Deep Sky Objects) imaging (with a dedicated field flattener), but I'm still quite bad at it. On top of the 180mm I have a 106mm Takahashi FSQ, an F5 fluorite Petval quadruplet that I use as astrograph for my rare DSO imaging or as a guide scope when imaging DSO with the TEC. |
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Now a short list of my imaging equipment. My solar images are done exclusively with my trusted Lumenera Infinity 2-1M video camera. It is equipped with a Sony 1392x1040 pixel monochromatic sensor and it is
a very low noise, high framerate device that has proven very, very good for solar imaging. I also have a Lumenera Sky-Nyx 2-0C, which is a smaller RGB video camera, equipped with a 640x480 pixels sensor that I use mostly for planets and,
in combination with images obtained with the Infinity, to put together LRGB planetary images. Both these cameras are manufactured by the company Lumenera, based in Canada and operate via a USB 2.0 connection. The software used to control
them is either the expensive, feature packed, professional Streampix or the much more versatile and inexpensive Lucam Recorder. The latter is the solution I've been favouring lately for a number of reasons, although Streampix still remains
the fastest program in image capturing I have tested so far. Alas, so many of its features are not of any use to our specific kind of imaging. Anyway, for the purpose of our hobby, Lucam Recorder has many pluses: I guess that, being created
by a fellow amateur astronomer, Heiko Wilkens, it has all that our imaging requires and some frills too! |
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I also have some dedicated astronomy CCD cameras, 2 manufactured by the famous (and deservedly so) U.S. based SBIG (Santa Barbara Instruments Group) : an STL 11000M and an ST-2000 XCM. The first one is equipped
with a monochrome 11 megapixel cooled CCD sensor and an internal filter wheel that allows capturing color images via the use of the many available filters on the amateur market(some of them extremely specialized narrow-band for imaging in
the light of very exotic wavelengths such as H-alpha or OIII). The latter is also a cooled CCD camera equipped with a 2 megapixel RGB sensor that I use to obtain much faster one-shot color images. Both these cameras can be used also for
my main occupation, i.e. the sun. I also have a dedicated astronomy CCD camera, an FLI 8300, a monochrome camera very good for deep sky objects. It is equipped with an additional 7 position filter wheel, the FLI CFW 2-7, which can accomodate seven 2" filters. |
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