Every Telescope I use for Astrophotography

This is a video showing every telescope I use in 2022 to do my astrophotography. I talk about each model, its cost, what I use it for, and what I like or don't like about them. I also show some photos I've captured with each scope along the way.
If you want to learn more about each of these telescopes, you can find all of my gear listed here: astrofalls.com/pages/about
If you're looking for a simple telescope to use to do astrophotography starting out, here are some recommendations:
ed80t-cf: bit.ly/3XHTm3y
esprit 80mm: bit.ly/3ilZz4X
Hope you all enjoy!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Great video Bray! For the FSQ-85 that's headed for Namibia, are you getting the Esatto with the Arco rotator included? If not, would like to hear your thoughts on a remote setup without a rotator. It seems like it would be limiting, but maybe you can get so much data and with mosaics, get to any composition you want in the end.

[@astrofalls]

Thanks Nico! I plan on sending this out without a rotator, I'm going to have them set it up for a normal 90 degree PA which suprisingly ends up being perfect for most objects. For when things dont add up well, I am going to be doing mosaics. I will pretty much only be doing mosaics anyways. The one instance where it is really nice to have the rotator is for polar region mosaics, but I'm just going to suck it up and deal with cropping for this system.

[@aperturedriven88]

Nice range of scopes, Bray. A focus motor installation works consistently on the Takahashi stock assemblies if you file/Dremel a small flat spot in the fine focus shaft so that there is no slippage or added backlash between the focuser shaft and the motor coupling. Sesto Senso II operated without issue on the FSQ-85EDX and TOA-130NFB. On the 106 we inform those who are using a camera built around the imx455 to at least BIN 2x2. While not fast, the best Tak currently produced that is 100% full frame supportive is either the TOA-130 or 150 with the 645 Flattener. 60mm fully illuminated image circle with 1um stars on-axis, 3um at the edge of a full frame, 5um at the edge of medium-format. Cheers!

[@astrochumak]

Thanks for the video! Was really interesting to hear about your collection

[@mihajlofrancic9021]

Great video! I take a lot of inspiration from your shots, also your channel is so underrated. :) It's very cool to see someone doing this professionally. I recently got a hold onto 130pds newt, love it to bits such a nice budget friendly scope.

[@astrofalls]

Thanks! I'd love to try out a newt for imaging sometime

[@austinkaiser7190]

Awesome collection of scopes Bray! Thank you for sharing your experiences on all of these. Maybe you should start a fundraiser for that 1m PlaneWave lol

[@GregMcCall]

I got a Stellaview 106 mm with a Moonlite nightcrawler, all built by Stellaview (and shipped to Sydney, Australia) so you now have a Telescope with no change of focuser

[@stardust5379]

Deep Sky Instruments bought RCOS in 2015. They are still making RCs to 34 inch but have stopped making the PRO range except for special order.

[@davidsheesley112]

Watch out for shift on the adapter with the Esatto focuser, the set screws smooth flat end is smaller than the groove it seats in. When tightening, the set screws walk in the adapter groove causing an uneven gap between it and the focuser and will also shift with a full imaging train attached due to weight. I ended up using a 1mm shim cut in 4 pieces to keep the shifting/sagging from happening.

[@alexanderreinders4009]

Nice overview of your scopes. Missing the costs of cams with filters. I am pretty satisfied with the Tak focusers so far but I keep your experience in mind! Thanks for sharing 👍

[@astrofalls]

Gonna have to make a separate video about the cameras!

[@kelanaschannel9036]

There are lots of your telescope brothers and they are very good... Greetings from Cileungsi, Bogor, Indonesia..

[@MikeLikesChannel]

Nice gear! I've been quite delighted with my plain jane C8. Mainly because it's great on planetary/lunar at 2032mm, and with a HyperStar at 390mm f/1.9 -- it's been awesome for DSO. The HyperStar replaced my wide field refractor's job.

[@Matt_10203]

The Hyperstar setup is very appealing especially with the multi functionality of it.

[@KillyOnTerra]

A fine collection.

[@actudoran]

cool scopes! I love my Samyang so much that I am considering getting a second one, the new version which is still a 135 but F1.8 and run them in parallel one on a DSLR and another on an astrocamera. The C11 is the perfect kind of balance between weight and performance since the weight is still manageable at 12.5 kg ... the c14 is like 20 kg ... I'm always amazed at the price of reducers for APO scopes .... a big newt is on my wishlist too .... 20" seems like the reasonable figure ... but always drooling for more ... :) Good luck with your Namibia setup!

[@astrofalls]

The rokinon/samyang 135 is the best lens ever created

[@actudoran]

@@astrofalls indeed!

[@mazinalmoumen]

Great video and very informative! I am getting my new telescope Esprit 120 ED next week. My question is about the mount, AZ EQ 6 by Sky-Watcher or CGX by Celestron? I like to do visual and imaging!

[@astrofalls]

EQ6 for sure

[@fazergazer]

Great video! What about the hyper star format for 9.25 or C11?🎉

[@Luftbubblan]

Very nice collection

[@wallbke]

Hello Bray. I just found you and you seem to know what you are talking about so I humbly dare to reach out to you for an advice. Compared to you I am still a newbie, only 3 years in this hobby. I started with a RedCat51 and GEM28 mount. After a year I bought a ASI533MC and built a pier in my backyard with bortle 4 to the east and 5 to the west over Stockholm. For a year now I have run a FSQ106, GEM45 and ASI2600MM. I plan to stay with this for some years to improve my capturing and processing in PI and PS. Now, my problem here at 60 deg N is that I run out of targets all spring and from May to Aug it's way too light. I would love to capture some galaxies but my 530 mm is too short. Also the weather conditions here are not very good and shooting nights are sparse. I have been looking at HD8 but even with reducer it seems to slow for me with these conditions. Any idea what I should be looking for at around F5? Sorry for my long question and thank you in advance /Kurt

[@Miguel_Noppe]

Serious line-up you got there. I've said it before, your images are amazing. I sense that you are a fan of fast optical systems, ever considered a RASA or maybe a hyperstar for your C9 ?

[@astrofalls]

I have definitely thought about it... Maybe one day I will get a RASA. It would be a blast to use at dark sites with a color camera

[@TheRhike]

Bryan great video, question, what do you think of dual mount or side by side for doing quicker data gathering or mosaic in slow small telescopes like an askar 300 or 400, I’m thinking about it, one doing narrowband other doing color

[@astrofalls]

A side by side system actually being practical for mosaics is a great challenge, if you could manage to get it working with two scopes that would be great. However, it is very difficult to do so

[@frankskeen1310]

I noticed it looks like you have a CEM70 mount. I just got mine and I have issues right out of the box with the power button and I hope it go's no further. ( Do you like the mount and have you had any issues with it.) I use a AT 130 EDT on the mount with a small 72ED scope for guiding, only got 30 minutes to use it and it did well for one images I got with a ASO071MC pro camera. You put a nice video up for folks to see and I liked it a lot, keep up the good work.

[@astrofalls]

Haven't had any issues with mine so far, seems to perform well. I've barely used it for DSOs, hoping to do some more testing on that soon

[@hbmike47]

Wow.. well if it's better than SCT optics you the 10" F/8 ACF (not an SCT) optics of the Meade LX850 OTA is your optimum choice . At 2032 mm focal length and 250mm clear aperture it gives you enough FOV it isn't claustrophobic having you reach immediately for a reducer, yet it has 0.45 arcsecond resolution. That and the flat fields of it's modified R-C design let's you image full frame without mandatory crops of the image edges. Mead has substantially improved the mechanics of the OTA. The primary now rides on rigid 3" bearings and 10:1 internal Crayford focuser with a 7:1 external control. No more mirror flop or image shift. As you know, mirror locks are tricky and fixed backfocus reducers means no microfocuser between the reducer and sensor. That's why I suggest the 10" f/8 is optimum. You could go with 12" f/8 at a focal length of 2400 mm if the goal is planetary and just small DSOs but 12" pushes atmospheric cell size. 10" with 2032mm fl is more versatile. Wth either of them reducing them and keeping them flat to the edge requires more than an SCT 2" threaded reducer. But that is true for ALL telescopes. 2" thread nets about 42 mm of internal clear aperture. Not enough. You really 2.5" So, for the EdgeHD its up to Celestron to provide a reducer thst matches their internal correctors with the Meade my understanding is that for full frame the optimal solution is the 2.7" quadtelecompressor and rear back adapter from astro-physics. Its a pricey option. I think that there is one from Optik as well that is less expensive. For smaller sensors the standard 0.63 focal reducer gets you down to f/5. Really the point is to take look at the ACF f/8. It's quite an improvement over the excellent standard F/10 OTA.

[@itzvsat5013]

Did you have a look at the telescopes from askar / sharpstar? They released so many recently and lots of them have big image circles (at least full frame). 107phq with 66mm or the sca260 with 80mm... Cant tell if its just a claim but from what I heard many like the scopes.

[@astrofalls]

I've been interested in them for a little while, but haven't had the need to get a new one. If I didn't have the fsq85 I'd probably try one

[@tombock336]

Just curious how u initially learned how to process mosaics? Any specific method/tutorials/teaching you followed? I am dying to start doing them.

[@astrofalls]

This is definitely coming as a video soon!

[@Fatal_Inertia]

Would the ED80T work well if paired with a planetary camera like a zwo asi224?

[@Oxizee]

Oh, i love that little cute Raptor 61 so much. Sadly, way beyond my budget :(

[@Xanthus723]

Hello Bray.. I use an FSQ 85 as well hooked up to a 2600MM. I'm curious if you are frustrated with the "Inverse lighthouse" diffraction. It's been a bear for me in processing. Any tips on dealing with this aspect?

[@astrofalls]

Is that when there is that weird break in the star halos? I haven't seen that yet on mine but I've helped a client process them out. Clone stamp and bandaid in photoshop work fairly well on it. You could also copy paste a star from another portion of the image and use its halo to fill in gaps! Or use star spikes pro to fill in the holes. More than one way to skin a cat but those are my thoughts.

[@Xanthus723]

@astrofalls I can see them in the Horse head shot you said was the one image you shot with it. They aren't as pronounced as on mine. Supposedly lowering the dew shield some can help reduce the effect. I'm going to try that as soon as there is finally an opening in this river of clouds that has haunted Utah for the passed 2 months. I found this astrobin post that popped up recently about it and someone explains it in detail. I haven't heard of star spikes pro so I'll give that a look. Like you said though garbage in and garbage out. I'd love to not have them in the first place but I think I'm stuck with them!

[@AstroRef68]

Man you have a lot of money. Very helpful video

[@entropytango5348]

I've never had a problem with my Tak focusers but I have had backlash problems with a Featherlite focuser on a TOA130 so go figure?

[@jamesl5149]

Are you sure it’s not the reducer itself spoiling the corners of the big Takahashi?

[@DSOImager]

The Edge 8 doesn't work with a full frame either. That said it's been working pretty well for me on DSOs.

[@jlecomte0719]

Does it give nice round stars in the corners of an APS-C sensor? Asking for a friend 😉

[@DSOImager]

@@jlecomte0719 I'm using a asi294mm which is m4/3 sensor. My stars in the corner are decent but not perfect. That said.. I am using the .7 reducer. I hear its pretty flat without the reducer. I know some people are running these with an imx571 so crop sensor should be fine.

[@bitraker1797]

I see a cat. I hit like :)

[@drunk_astronomy]

and there is a kitty!

[@woody5109]

Seems to me Newtonian’s offer a much bigger bang for the buck, I guess there just not for everyone?