Re: [M]: LX200--size suggestion for a school observatory?
| Subject: | Re: [M]: LX200--size suggestion for a school observatory? |
| From: | Colin A. Haig |
| Date: | Sat Sep 02 16:10:06 2000 |
Carl,
A local high school teacher and myself embarked on this same project a
couple of years ago, and have an excellent setup with a 16" LX-200 on a
pier under an Ash dome, with a 1616XT CCD camera+616 filter wheel, and a
Hitachi CCD colour video camera hooked up to an old Commodore 64 monitor.
We have had a number of frustrating small problems that eventually
Mapuggers helped me solve. If I had to do it all over again, I would go
with the 12" scope on the Superwedge, the video camera, and a SIMPLE CCD
setup (Lisaa, starlight express, ...). Why ? The school already has a
donated C8 for field use. The video camera is GREAT for the moon, saturn,
jupiter, and for making a point to a big group in a hurry. Its tough
getting a lot of students through the school observatory over a year, and
so you need an easy to repeat setup that gives okay results in a reasonable
amount of time. Remind yourself you are not building your own personal
observatory - you have to reach the most # of students in the least amount
of time.
A bigger scope will yield better results faster, and make the video camera
more useful. Also, 2" hardware and a flipmirror are good ideas.
Best Regards,
Colin Haig
Hamilton RASC
A local high school teacher and myself embarked on this same project a
couple of years ago, and have an excellent setup with a 16" LX-200 on a
pier under an Ash dome, with a 1616XT CCD camera+616 filter wheel, and a
Hitachi CCD colour video camera hooked up to an old Commodore 64 monitor.
We have had a number of frustrating small problems that eventually
Mapuggers helped me solve. If I had to do it all over again, I would go
with the 12" scope on the Superwedge, the video camera, and a SIMPLE CCD
setup (Lisaa, starlight express, ...). Why ? The school already has a
donated C8 for field use. The video camera is GREAT for the moon, saturn,
jupiter, and for making a point to a big group in a hurry. Its tough
getting a lot of students through the school observatory over a year, and
so you need an easy to repeat setup that gives okay results in a reasonable
amount of time. Remind yourself you are not building your own personal
observatory - you have to reach the most # of students in the least amount
of time.
A bigger scope will yield better results faster, and make the video camera
more useful. Also, 2" hardware and a flipmirror are good ideas.
Best Regards,
Colin Haig
Hamilton RASC
