Currently, these are:
- Meade 10” (250mm) Schmidt Newtonian (SN10) Optical Tube Assembly Focal length 1000mm, F4
- Skywatcher AZ EQ6 GT mounting and drive
- Custom-made English mount
- Canon EOS 350D DSLR camera (not now used as is replaced by the Canon 5D)
- Canon EOS 350D with IR blocking filter removed
- Canon 5D MkII DSLR
- Skywatcher 12″ Newtonian OTA, F5
The 12″ is on the AZEQ6 mount and is used for visual observing and for photography with the Canon 5D. The MRS300-170 spectrograph which uses fiber-optic input will also be used on it.
The 10″ is on the old “non GOTO” custom-made mount. It holds the MRS135 spectrograph attached directly to the eyepiece tube.
The light through the eyepiece tube has now been turned through 90 degrees to allow the (heavy) spectrograph to be attached to the telescope tube. This avoids putting large force moments on the eyepiece tube and also upsetting the balance of the telescope on the drive. Currently, I am just beginning to use this setup.
The 350D with IR filter removed is used for spectroscopy.