C-8

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Celestron EdgeHD 11" on Losmandy G11 Mount
		During the last several years, and particularly in Spring of 2010 and Spring of 2013, I added some significant new equipment. The first major piece was the Losmandy G11 mount,with Gemini computer, bought used from my friend Scott Hanford in Florida. I upgraded the mount's RA worm gear with the Ovision one-piece worm shortly after. This gets my periodic error to typically under 5-7 arcseconds, peak-peak. For most of the next 2 years, I used my older Celeston C-8 optical tube on this mount, while still using my Meade LX200GPS as my primary imaging rig. In spring of 2010, I bought a complete telescope setup, the new-technology Celestron EdgeHD 11" optical tube, mounted on a Celestron CGEM german-equatorial mount. My intention from the start was to use the 11" optical tube on the Losmandy mount, and put the 8" optical tube on the CGEM, retiring the LX200GPS to non-photography outings. In addition to the new mount and tube, I bought the Hyperstar III attachment, allowing me to shoot at an amazing f/2 with the 11" optical tube. I use Orion's EON-80mm ED refractor for a guidescope. As for cameras, in 2009 I purchased a new Canon 50D and a few months later had it modified by Hutech by replacing the filter so it would capture more of the red wavelength that is typical of the best nebulae in the sky. In Spring of 2010, I added my first serious CCD camera, the new SBIG ST8300, which I bought in monochrome and added the 5-position filter wheel with clear, red, green, blue, and Hydrogen-Alpha filters. I also bought Starlight Xpress's Lodestar and an SBIG ST-i monochrome camera, both for guiding, both with on-camera telescope control. The last major upgrade for this rig was the Gemini-II (the older Gemini I had failed), purchased in the summer of 2011, an Optec TCF-Si temperature-compensating focuser, Celestron's nice (and HEAVY!) new F/7 focal reducer, and a new Canon 60Da camera. In the Spring of 2013, I began a complete overhaul of my second imaging rig. I sold the CGEM mount from 2010 (keeping the 11" EdgeHD optical tube for Rig #1), to partially fund a second Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini II, brand new. In September I added a slightly-used 8" EdgeHD optical tube, retiring the older 8" black Celestron optical tube, back to its original fork-arm mount for use at public stargazes. I already had the modified Canon 50D camera for imaging. I use the Starlight Xpress Lodestar as the guide camera, on a piggy-backed new Astro-Tech 72mm refractor guidescope. Finishing it out, I use the new Celestron F/7 focal reducer. As you can see below, these two imaging rigs make a nice pair side-by-side. I also have the flexibility to use either optical tube on either mount, or even one of the refractors with the Televue-85 on a side-by-side adapter on either mount, when I wish to do a bit of wider-field guided photography without using the Hyperstar III. Lastly, in the Spring of 2013 I purchased an iOptron SkyTracker (not shown) for unguided wide-field photography, using one of the Canon cameras and any of several lenses, all on the SkyTracker on a tripod. This is truly a lightweight rig!
		This is the pair of my newest imaging setups: Losmandy G11 with Celestron 8" EdgeHD optical tube (rear), and the Losmandy G11 Gemini with the Celestron EdgeHD 11" optical tube (front).
		Another view of the two newest imaging setups.
		This is the Hyperstar III on the EdgeHD 11" optical tube, with the Hutech-modified Canon 50D DSLR camera, allowing photography at a very fast f/2. Also shown is Orion EON-80 refractor for guide scope.