No subject

Wed Oct 31 14:22:06 PDT 2007

focal ratios (f/2 to f/5) seem to work the best, as the faster focal ratio
would allow the Mallincam to capture good images with shorter exposure times
and more field of view.

Personally, I have had excellent results with the Mallincam Pro Dob (an
older mallincam) with a 10" tracking dobsonian and the 80mm f/5 achromatic
refractor that is piggybacked on it. Both were utilized with a Vixen
0.6xfocal reducer, so the effective focal ratio for both is around
f/3.5. Alt-az
Field rotation seems to be a nonissue, even at the 28 or 56-second settings
of the Mallincam, as long as an object is well placed in the sky (eg.
Preferably not at zenith or high up at the meridian). Chromatic aberration
is also nonexsistant when I couple the Mallincam with the 80mm achromatic
refractor, so even a short tube achromatic refractor will work great.

I highly recommend an 8-10" SCT, when coupled with an f/3.3 focal reducer or
hyperstar (available at http://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/whatis.aspx ).
Hyperstar is a corrector that replaces the 8" SCT secondary mirror and
transforms it into a dedicated 8" f/2.0 telescope (therefore only usable for
astrophotograpy if you want a dedicated mallincam telescope). f/3.3 focal
reducer has worked perfectly for me too with a 12" SCT I've used.

Celestron CPC 8" GOTO Telesccope

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1-600-602-892-6393

F/3.3 Focal Reducer for SCTs

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=779

Otherwise, a good 4" f/5-f/7 refractor like the TV101/Orion 120ED plus MFR-3
focal reducer is very much an excellent choice for portability and ease of
use. Any equatorial mount like the Orion Sky View Pro will suffice,
especially since the Mallincam exposes at relatively short (2/7/14/28/56
second) intervals. Periodic error and field rotation will not affect a live
view.

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=refractors/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24357

Also look at this 120mm f/5 rich field achromatic refractor:
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=optical_tube/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09836;jsessionid=771C5F91857BD81CB726095504D2B07E.ivprod1

Looks great for mallincam use, especially with an UV/IR blocking filter to
reduce the chromatic aberration. Maybe not good with eyepieces, as chromatic
aberration and maybe coma will be pretty apparent. I'm not sure if this is
what you want, but it's probably good for mallincam-only use.

One last recommendation is an f/4 newtonian like the Meade SN-8 on LXD75
goto mount but the mount and the OTA are quite heavy:
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=3223

It's an excellent focal ratio and aperture for use with the mallincam
though! The orion short focal ratio newtonians look like they would match
well with mallincam. Coma does not seem to be much of a problem when using
the Mallincam with short focal ratio newtonians like these because the FOV
of the camera is small. The newtonians are so cheap, but they will work
great for mallincam! (though the views through the apochromatic look better
when using eyepieces)

Orion 4.5" f/4 reflector

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=optical_tube/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09974<http://www.telescope.com/control/product/%7Ecategory_id=optical_tube/%7Epcategory=telescopes/%7Eproduct_id=09974>

All in all, I think that a good quality short focal length 4" apo or achro
(plus MFR-3) or a portable 8" SCT (plus f/3.3 focal reducer and goto) and
the mallincam, will be an excellent inheritance for your daughter and for
generations to come. Mount, in my opinion, does not seem to matter so much,
as long as it is reasonable quality or even alt-azimuth, due to the ability
of the mallincam to take pictures very quickly (6 seconds to 56 seconds),
unlike a dedicated CCD imager.

Martin H

On Dec 9, 2007 10:43 PM, Douglas Phillipson <douglas at intermind.net> wrote:

> Phillip Krumpos wrote:
> > I am planning to buy a new telescope.  I want a telescope that will give
> me
> > the ability to use the Mellincam.
> >
> > My daughter, Joanne, will eventually inherit the telescope, so the
> weight of
> > the components will need to be considered.  My "bad back" also makes
> weight
> > an important factor.
> >
> > >From what I have read about astrophotography the most recommended
> telescope
> > type is apochromatic refractor.  It also appears that getting the right
> > telescope mount is as important as getting the right telescope.
> >
> > However, from what I have been able to gather from the internet, people
> are
> > using a very wide variety of telescopes and mounts with the Mellincam.
>  With
> > your experience with the Mellincam, I would like to get your opinion on
> what
> > would be good system to fully utilize the Mellincam.
> >
> > Phil K.
> >
> Phil, the telescope you select is highly dependent on your available
> funding. Also should you choose a refracting scope, you won't be able to
> enjoy many  objects through the eyepiece.  Refractors just don't have
> the aperture to see anything good, unless you buy a very large one which
> costs big bucks.  They are only really good for planets and splitting
> double or triple stars, boring stuff in my book.  A reflector is much
> better.  I bet you would enjoy a 8 inch Meade, similar to mine but
> smaller to better accommodate your weight requirements.  8 inches is
> large enough to enjoy the Messier objects but also large enough to add
> the Mallincam for some really spectacular color images.  If you buy
> anything less than 8 inches, you will soon be very disappointed with it
> and want a larger one.  Then you will have to sell the smaller scope,
> only getting 75% of the money back.
>
> I also suggest the Mallincam because of its ease of use.  If you buy a
> regular CCD camera, you will be dealing with complicated setup, snapping
> many images on a laptop, dark frames, doing image processing and stuff
> like that.  The Mallincam can do that but you don't have to, you can
> just get video out of it like I do, and display the image on a small
> inexpensive monitor.
>
> I suggest a Meade 8 inch LX200R or a Celestron CPC 800 GPS.  They are
> both about 2,000 bucks.
>
> Here are the links:
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Meade: http://www.scopecity.com/category.cfm
> Select Brand = Meade,
> Drive type = Computerized-GoTo
> Mount type = Alt-Az
> Scope Type = Schmidt-Cassegrain
> Aperture = 8.00
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Celestron: http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?CatID=9&ProdID=33
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Doug P
>
> P.S. Please say hi to Joanne for me...
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via the Lvas mailing list Lvas at lvlug.org
> Set options or unsubscribe at http://lvlug.org/mailman/listinfo/lvas
>

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Phil,Focal reduction or having a short focal ratio telescope is the
key when choosing a telescope with &nbsp;a
mallincam. Focal ratios of f/2 to f/4 work best. You can achieve those focal
ratios by getting a &quot;fast&quot; optical system or by getting a focal
reducer like this:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">MFR-3 Focal reducer plus 10mm ring (multiplies focal ratio by ~0.67x)</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;"><a href="http://www.waningmoonii.com/Updates%20-%20July%202005/MallinCam%20Included%20and%20Optional%20Equipment.htm">http://www.waningmoonii.com/Updates%20-%20July%202005/MallinCam%20Included%20and%20Optional%20Equipment.htm
</a>.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

In the apochromatic refractor category, I recommend a short
focal ratio refractor like the Takahashi FSQ106 or Televue TV101 f/5 (~2400 USD
on <a href="http://astromart.com">astromart.com</a>). 3 to 4&quot; f/7 apo refractors or even 3 to 5" f/5 rich
field refractors like the orion/synta ones are good too, when used with the MFR-3
focal reducer. These refractors are lightweight and absolutely wonderful for
viewing large, extended objects like the lagoon, m42, m20, m33, etc. In my opinion, they actually give good images for smaller objects as well although someone else will think otherwise.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">I have had excellent results with a modest 80mm f/5 achromatic
refractor with and without focal reducer for these large objects.<br></p>

I would also like to recommend an 8-10&quot; SCT or
Ritchey-Chretien with an F/3.3 focal reducer and GOTO for ease of use with the
camera. The larger aperture, similar focal length, and short focal ratio will
allow you to view a greater number of objects with shorter exposures with the Mallincam.
Also, the 8&quot; SCT can operate at f/6 with the Mallincam MFR-3 focal reducer
and f/10, so you have more &quot;magnifications&quot; to work with.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

Rod Wodaski&#39;s CCD Calculator will show you how the 8&quot; SCT
at different focal lengths and many other telescopes will frame various objects
in the Mallincam. Link:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;"><a href="http://www.newastro.com/newastro/book_new/camera_app.asp">http://www.newastro.com/newastro/book_new/camera_app.asp</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">In the camera box, you can select &quot;SAC-9&quot;, as it has
the same specifications (752x582) and the same ccd chip (Sony ICX428/9) as the
Mallincam.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

Have you looked at the Mallincam Yahoo Groups photos section?
Jack Huerkamp has some single frame captures using a six-inch refractor and an
8&quot; SCT with f/3.3 focal reducer. My photos (Martin Hilario folder in photos) show processed images taken with an older mallincam with 80mm f/5 refractor
and 10mm f/6 dobsonian. link:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">Mallincam Yahoo Photos<br></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;"><a href="http://tech.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/mallincam/photos/browse/4733">http://tech.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/mallincam/photos/browse/4733</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

The Mallincam provides roughly the same horizontal field of
view as a 6.4mm eyepiece with a 50 deg. field of view. With such small field of
view and high magnification, a focal reducer is highly recommended. When
coupled to a focal reducer like the MFR-3 plus extension ring, the Mallincam
acts like a 12.5mm eyepiece with 50 deg. field of view.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">From my experience and many others with cameras like the
mallincam, fast focal ratios (f/2 to f/5) seem to work the best, as the faster
focal ratio would allow the Mallincam to capture good images with shorter
exposure times and more field of view.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

Personally, I have had excellent results with the Mallincam
Pro Dob (an older mallincam) with a 10&quot; tracking dobsonian and the 80mm
f/5 achromatic refractor that is piggybacked on it. Both were utilized with a
Vixen 0.6x focal reducer, so the effective focal ratio for both is around
f/3.5. Alt-az Field rotation seems to be a nonissue, even at the 28 or
56-second settings of the Mallincam, as long as an object is well placed in the
sky (eg. Preferably not at zenith or high up at the meridian). Chromatic
aberration is also nonexsistant when I couple the Mallincam with the 80mm
achromatic refractor, so even a short tube achromatic refractor will work
great.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

I highly recommend an 8-10&quot; SCT, when coupled with an
f/3.3 focal reducer or hyperstar (available at
<a href="http://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/whatis.aspx">http://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/whatis.aspx</a> ). Hyperstar is a corrector that
replaces the 8&quot; SCT secondary mirror and transforms it into a dedicated
8&quot; f/2.0 telescope (therefore only usable for astrophotograpy if you want
a dedicated mallincam telescope). f/3.3 focal reducer has worked perfectly for
me too with a 12" SCT I've used.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">Celestron CPC 8" GOTO Telesccope</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;"><a href="http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1-600-602-892-6393">http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1-600-602-892-6393</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">F/3.3 Focal Reducer for SCTs</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;"><a href="http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=779">http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=779</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

Otherwise, a good 4&quot; f/5-f/7 refractor like the
TV101/Orion 120ED plus MFR-3 focal reducer is very much an excellent choice for
portability and ease of use. Any equatorial mount like the Orion Sky View Pro
will suffice, especially since the Mallincam exposes at relatively short
(2/7/14/28/56 second) intervals. Periodic error and field rotation will not
affect a live view.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;"><a href="http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=refractors/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24357">http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=refractors/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24357
</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">Also look at this 120mm f/5 rich field achromatic refractor:
<a href="http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=optical_tube/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09836;jsessionid=771C5F91857BD81CB726095504D2B07E.ivprod1">http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=optical_tube/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09836;jsessionid=771C5F91857BD81CB726095504D2B07E.ivprod1
</a></p>

Looks great for mallincam use, especially with an UV/IR
blocking filter to reduce the chromatic aberration. Maybe not good with
eyepieces, as chromatic aberration and maybe coma will be pretty apparent. I'm
not sure if this is what you want, but it's probably good for mallincam-only
use.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">One last recommendation is an f/4 newtonian like the Meade
SN-8 on LXD75 goto mount but the mount and the OTA are quite heavy:
<a href="http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=3223">http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=3223</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

It&#39;s an excellent focal ratio and aperture for use with the
mallincam though! The orion short focal ratio newtonians look like they would
match well with mallincam. Coma does not seem to be much of a problem when
using the Mallincam with short focal ratio newtonians like these because the
FOV of the camera is small. The newtonians are so cheap, but they will work
great for mallincam! (though the views through the apochromatic look better
when using eyepieces)

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">Orion 4.5&quot; f/4 reflector</p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;"><a href="http://www.telescope.com/control/product/%7Ecategory_id=optical_tube/%7Epcategory=telescopes/%7Eproduct_id=09974">http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=optical_tube/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09974
</a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">&nbsp;</p>

All in all, I think that a good quality short focal length 4&quot;
apo or achro (plus MFR-3) or a portable 8&quot; SCT (plus f/3.3 focal reducer
and goto) and the mallincam, will be an excellent inheritance for your daughter
and for generations to come. Mount, in my opinion, does not seem to matter so
much, as long as it is reasonable quality or even alt-azimuth, due to the
ability of the mallincam to take pictures very quickly (6 seconds to 56
seconds), unlike a dedicated CCD imager.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in;">Martin H</p>

<div class="gmail_quote">On Dec 9, 2007 10:43 PM, Douglas Phillipson &lt;<a href="mailto:douglas at intermind.net">douglas at intermind.net</a>&gt; wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="Ih2E3d">Phillip Krumpos wrote: &gt; I am planning to buy a new telescope. &nbsp;I want a telescope that will give me &gt; the ability to use the Mellincam. &gt; &gt; My daughter, Joanne, will eventually inherit the telescope, so the weight of
 &gt; the components will need to be considered. &nbsp;My &quot;bad back&quot; also makes weight &gt; an important factor. &gt; &gt; &gt;From what I have read about astrophotography the most recommended telescope 
&gt; type is apochromatic refractor. &nbsp;It also appears that getting the right &gt; telescope mount is as important as getting the right telescope. &gt; &gt; However, from what I have been able to gather from the internet, people are
 &gt; using a very wide variety of telescopes and mounts with the Mellincam. &nbsp;With &gt; your experience with the Mellincam, I would like to get your opinion on what &gt; would be good system to fully utilize the Mellincam.
 &gt; &gt; Phil K. &gt; </div>Phil, the telescope you select is highly dependent on your available funding. Also should you choose a refracting scope, you won&#39;t be able to enjoy many &nbsp;objects through the eyepiece. &nbsp;Refractors just don&#39;t have
 the aperture to see anything good, unless you buy a very large one which costs big bucks. &nbsp;They are only really good for planets and splitting double or triple stars, boring stuff in my book. &nbsp;A reflector is much
 better. &nbsp;I bet you would enjoy a 8 inch Meade, similar to mine but smaller to better accommodate your weight requirements. &nbsp;8 inches is large enough to enjoy the Messier objects but also large enough to add the Mallincam for some really spectacular color images. &nbsp;If you buy
 anything less than 8 inches, you will soon be very disappointed with it and want a larger one. &nbsp;Then you will have to sell the smaller scope, only getting 75% of the money back. I also suggest the Mallincam because of its ease of use. &nbsp;If you buy a
 regular CCD camera, you will be dealing with complicated setup, snapping many images on a laptop, dark frames, doing image processing and stuff like that. &nbsp;The Mallincam can do that but you don&#39;t have to, you can
 just get video out of it like I do, and display the image on a small inexpensive monitor. I suggest a Meade 8 inch LX200R or a Celestron CPC 800 GPS. &nbsp;They are both about 2,000 bucks. Here are the links:
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meade: <a href="http://www.scopecity.com/category.cfm" target="_blank">http://www.scopecity.com/category.cfm</a> Select Brand = Meade,
 Drive type = Computerized-GoTo Mount type = Alt-Az Scope Type = Schmidt-Cassegrain Aperture = 8.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestron: <a href="http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?CatID=9&amp;ProdID=33" target="_blank">
http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?CatID=9&amp;ProdID=33</a> Hope this helps. Doug P P.S. Please say hi to Joanne for me... <div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"> _______________________________________________
 Sent via the Lvas mailing list <a href="mailto:Lvas at lvlug.org">Lvas at lvlug.org</a> Set options or unsubscribe at <a href="http://lvlug.org/mailman/listinfo/lvas" target="_blank">http://lvlug.org/mailman/listinfo/lvas
</a> </div></div></blockquote></div>

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