The BEST small REFRACTOR... is an SCT?! Hyperstar C6 v4 FIRST LIGHT!

The time has come! First light with the Hyperstar C6 v4! It's small, light, portable, cute, and it's an amazing light bucket!! Who needs a small refractor when you can have this?!
Full disclosure: I received the Hyperstar module for free from Starizona (but no strings attached).
Starizona Hyperstar 6: starizona.com/products/hypers...
Celestron C6
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High Point Scientific: tinyurl.com/r5rjebxn
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Collimation: www.cloudynights.com/articles...
Samples from this first light (single frame and stack): drive.google.com/drive/folder...
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Intro Video: Radu Chelariu

[@tomdaigon8707]

Your enthusiasm is infectious. :)

[@AstroLaVista]

It's great what you're doing from a bouncy balcony in the white zone, love it! :)

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!!

[@henri-julienchartrand3387]

I agree with Tom: Your enthusiasm is contagious !!!

[@aughtago]

I thought I was the only Lazy geek who took muy flats and flat darks as the sun sets (in my closed up observatory) before imaging instead of having to take them in the am before shutting down.

[@TimK-1971]

I love you videos. I subscribed as soon as I saw your enthusiasm. Your combo of the 6" with the HyperStar answers questions I had. Thank you. I'm pleased to see that it does so well. It's the exact combo that I'm hoping to get one day. Considering how much light pollution you are dealing with, and how you only had a few hours of data, I think it's really impressive.

[@datasoong1]

Thanks for this Cuiv! My hyperstar for my C8 arrives Saturday. Can't wait!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Awesome! Enjoy it!!

[@ciarancopas2590]

Excellent results Cuiv and for your first try superb. From a city that's really inspiring. Nice to hear that collimation was not a serious issue. Keep up the great work.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you so much!

[@ronmac1832]

Your excitement and energy shows how much you love this. Enjoyed the video and makes me want to buy a Hyperstar.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I still LOVE this scope+hyperstar, really really good :)

[@Martinko_Pcik]

I like your resourcefulness and ability to put together an amazing and performing telescope.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you! :D

[@alrouen]

Great enthusiasm and results!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!

[@marklewis9265]

Cuiv, thank you for taking the time to share this scope and your views. I’ve been looking to add another different scope to my collection since purchasing a radian61 and I think now having seen your review will start to search for one. Cheers and beers :). Mark

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Hahaha Mark, your wallet will be unhappy!

[@peterlaubscher3989]

Congratulations - stunning result from such a tough imaging location!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you Peter!

[@robertosaragoni2218]

Great video. Thanks to publish conntent during the week. That's help to warm our engines for the weekend.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

My pleasure Roberto! :D

[@BryonStice]

I was thinking about this exact setup myself! Glad to know it's working well for you.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

It's an amazing piece of kit! I am really loving it :)

[@BryonStice]

I stumbled onto the c6 hyperstar when comparing the rasa 8 to c8 with hyperstar. Surprisingly, it's very close to the rasa in etendue. It compared very favorably, especially for the price. Using a 533mc (the camera I use) the c8 f/1.9 has etendue of 873, rasa 8 is 769, and c6 f/2 is 690. And the c6 is more versatile with focal lengths than the rasa. Of course they're all amazing compared to my current c5 with 6.3 reducer at etendue of 82. Lmao.

[@KongaHasse]

Love your videos and your positive attitude 🥰

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!!

[@user-pi5xu7qs7n]

I just got a used Celestron C6 and just ordered the hyperstar v4 and ZWO ASI533MC. Super excited.

[@heliczer]

As always, a fabulous video. Thx Cuiv.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!

[@martrich1098]

Wow, you always give me food for thought and inspiration! I'm in Shanghai so have similar problems (but no open balcony unfortunately), so your work is really saving me a lot of trial and error - mostly error actually.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Shanghai is even worse than where I am... I'm glad these videos are being helpful!!

[@imspartacvs]

Nice job Thanks for sharing -matt-

[@aethyr1388]

thanks for the tip on convering the LED as i will be using hyperstar soon.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Good luck and clear skies!

[@clintkennedy8374]

Amazing job!! Insane you got M33 from such a light polluted area, you did great 😁 thanks for the info as always and now I’m pondering this scope when I have to many as it is lol

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you Clint! Hahaha too many scopes, not enough forgiveness from the CFO, the constant struggle! :D

[@adityakinjawadekar562]

Love how he gets exited so much that he can't even speak anymore 😂

[@revolting887]

Another great one Cuiv! I'm really looking forward to what tips and tricks you'll discover to make the most out of this budget F2! Also great to see the Stellarmate use, it's a great tool with a few rough edges and a ton of potential!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you! The main issue with Stellarmate has been high overhead in terms of sub to sub time. But it's getting fixed :)

[@knightclan4]

In a galaxy far far away! So cool to see Thanks for sharing your knowledge

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yessss! Thank you!

[@banyantree8618]

I’ve spent a lot of time in Tokyo and I’m astounded you can capture anything through the pea soup sky

[@alessandrofioretti2526]

Amazing video!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!

[@xpanderxsert2613]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I just bought a new EdgeHD 800 and Hyperstar V4 from US. Can't wait to test it. But it's cloudy here in CZ for ages...

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I hope you get clear skies soon!!

[@MrGp3po]

Not sure what compels you to live in Tokyo, but you have certainly made the best of those polluted skies. Great work. I enjoy and always learn from your videos. Thanks for sharing your passion.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!

[@maxullberg1133]

This makes me hopefull. I've had a c6 sct since 2009 and just last year started to imaging with it. The scope has great sentimental value for me and I'll never let it go. Because of that I'm thinking of making it a "jack of all trades" scope. Pair it with a asi533 pro, hyperstar, night owl and regular reducer and I think it could be a good portable set up with really useful fields of view for most targets. Thanks for all the great videos, keep it up!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

That scope can really do everything!

[@josecotayo7832]

very nice!!! I can tell you're going to have a lot of fun with the setup and I can't wait to see what you share with us! 😁Hmm, that setup sounds like it could be killer for EAA as well!! always love your videos, man 🔭

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Definitely great fo EAA too :-) Thank you!

[@mgastronomy]

Cool stuff Cuiv. Great combo as you described it. Certainly it will give you lots of satisfying imaging sessions. Clear Skies

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you and clear skies!

[@Neanderthal75]

Hey Cuiv, great stuff! You said you're excited to move from F4.5 to F2, I was already blown away as I moved from my F7.0 refractor to F4.0 Newtonian and I said "whoah, this is so fast!" Can't even imagine what F2 is. I would be probably frozen by the computer screen and keep saying "This is impossible" - over and over. 😂

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thanks Frank! In one of my upcoming videos, you'll see me doing exactly that on the computer :p

[@rtpman1953]

Nice image and video, Cuiv. I'm looking forward to when you have a full evening to image a target.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thanks Paul! Coming soon! :D

[@daniellockhart8594]

So excited for you! Where HyperStar really shines is nebulae, not galaxies. The Triangulum is a fairly difficult target for HyperStar. Add your favorite dual-band filter, and point at an emission nebula next time! And experiment - my L-eXtreme is a rockstar on my C8 HyperStar.

[@steveweintraub1113]

Glad to see you got the taste of the f2 HyperStar bug! Hard to go back to slower “photon gobblers” after experiencing how much light you can capture w/HyperStar.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Exactly!

[@jgcheak]

Cuiv, great content. This makes me want to get a hyperstar for my 8" edge HD.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

It's a lot of fun!

[@pluggednickels]

Another great video Cuiv I recently built this very system and it is a joy to use. I also have the rasa 8 and it still is a bit better overall but it is almost 3 times the size of this little system. And for me I like the wider 300mm a bit more than the 400mm fov of the rasa 8. Even more so when using it with the smaller sensor on the 533. I enjoy the C6 HS a bit more and it definitely travels better than the bigger rasa 8. I use mine with the idas nbz uhs filter and have been pleased with the results. The only slight downside is when you are using a hood changing the filter can be a bit tricky due to the more confines space. I guess everything has its pros and cons. But for me there has been more pros than cons. Plus being able to do in an hour on this what would take me 3-5 hours definitely spoils you

[@WindyCityAstrophotography]

Hooray! Glad it went well! HaRGB M33 from white zone Chicago is on my RASA 8 list for the season :)

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Enjoy that imaging!! :-)

[@JeffHorne]

Exdllent video! Makes me so happy!

[@JeffHorne]

And you gotta try that 90° angle cable configuration in front of the objective.. one cable coming out 90°s from the other. It does at least give uniform spikes that way. 🙂

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I'll probably get there! Right now I'm in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" period :)

[@JeffHorne]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek TOTALLY understand that! 🙂

[@MrCrazyPhysicist]

Very impressive result for a broadband target from Tokyo. I agree that the Hyperstar is really easy to collimate. Compared to the RASA it has a very nice push-pull collimation screw system. In my C 14 Hyperstar III system, the collimation also seems to be quite robust against Hyperstar rotation, so I can use the manual rotator in NINA to adapt the framing for different targets.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you! And completely agree on the ease of use :-)

[@phadeezz]

Welcome to hyperstar family! Show your collimation procedure. In my experience star shapes also depend on the diffraction. Say two cables have a gap, which can make a strong diffraction spike on bright stars. On dim stars this diffraction in my case resulted in non-symmetric stars.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Makes sense - I'll check if there's a gap! I'm not too demanding in terms of star shapes :)

[@brod5352]

I feel the same way about my 8" Edge HD with the Hyperstar V4. I just got my IDAS NBZ filter that I hope to use for the first time tomorrow night. It's going to get cold. Supposed to get down to around 16F/-9C. I typically get the entire night clear, so multiple targets are completely doable. Some of my best stuff is taken between 1-4 AM. You can get between 300 and 350 thirty second subs at F2 in just three hours. I had to get an additional 32GB of DRAM for my computer to keep Pixinsight happy. It kept running out of memory when it was trying to combine 300 subs frames. Now I have 64GB of memory and it works great! Looking forward to your upcoming videos on NINA 2.0! And your photos using your Hyperstar. If you haven't worked with the folks at Starizona they are great! ;o)

[@dantoro648]

Beautiful. It would have been interesting to have the image of the refractor also side by side to compare.

[@larrygoven5525]

Well done

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you!

[@paulyoung4817]

Awesome Cuiv brilliant. I have the V4 Hyperstar paired with a ASI183MC Pro and an Edge C8". Just need some clear sky! Cloud for weeks here in the UK!!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Awesome, hope you get clear skies soon!

[@jeffslade1892]

Workaround for wifi. Put a mesh booster near enough to your observatory position, we need a strong, stable signal. Connect your kit to your LAN. This can take a couple of goes such as connecting it to a fondle slab and then using that to make it reconnect to the LAN. When you wifi directly to a fondle slab you loose the interweb, some databases and the GPS positioning into the bargain. Then your computer can see it as a device on the LAN, it will need all the right drivers, usual ASCOM pack. This certainly works for the mount positioning motors. It may not work well with all the cameras, data stream overload. And that can be down to LAN bandwidth, the LAN needs to be up to the job, and why I said mesh booster, a big one too.

[@tmrdarkstar85]

Good too see you are really enjoying the Hyperstar. In my experience with mine. Starizona says 60s I have pushed all the way to 300s "don't do it especially around brighter stars wire artifacts in the halos" However I was able to push 180s on M16. After learning my Lesson on Alintak with 300s exposures I stayed well under that range. Now sadly I will probably be parting with my v4 for my c8 to help pay for a Full 7 filter mono setup with the QHY 268m since I can Bin 1 on on my Stellarvue 80mm and Bin 2 or 4 on my c8 at F/6.3 or F/10

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Ooooh nooo that poor Hyperstar V4! Don't forget that in terms of signal to shot noise ratio, bin 4 only increases that ratio by a factor of 4 (and not 16!).

[@tmrdarkstar85]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek I only planned to bin on the C8 to get acceptable sampling with the 268m Bin 2 with the 6.3 reducer res being 1.21x1.21 and Bin 4 at F/10 res 1.53x1.53 . if it is needed to help out with the BAT project

[@GarnettLeary]

Cool setup. I wasn’t aware hyperstar worked with the C6.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yep, it's the smallest they support, and it's really cool :-)

[@AstroQuest1]

Excellent Cuiv! Yeah found out about the red light on the ZWO Cameras when I was doing dark flats last month with the EdgeHD800/Hyperstar and did the same thing - black tape. I have used it with the ASIAir Pro on both my Sirius and Atlas Pro mounts so far and it really does capture those photons quickly. Hope you solve your NINA wifi problem soon but the Stellermate seams to do the job. - Cheers Kurt

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thanks Kurt! Those hyperstar setups are such a huge amount of fun!! Wifi problem is solved :) Video coming soon :)

[@Deleurme]

J'adore vos vidéos, merci. Attempt in English : I love your videos, thank you.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Merci beaucoup Victor!

[@physmc1]

For star shape, you can control diffraction pattern with a spiral cable rooter, or simply pass the power and USB cable at 90degree angle. For collimation, someone on cloudynight mentioned that tri-bahtinov masks seem to work though I still need to try that one.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thanks for the tip! For now I'm not too worried about star shapes so I probably won't bother... Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien!

[@masakunikato2034]

Hi,Cuiv! Thank you for information.I just ordered a Hyperstar for my C6 to the STARIZONA directly from Japan.Before watching your video,I had been wondering to buy “Redcat” or “Shapstar61” to shot the Heart nebula.But you teached me that the C6 could be 300mm F2 telescope! F2! F2! 300mm! C6 can shot huge nebula!! I ordered a Hyperstar without any hesitation. I have started this hobby just one year ago.Your video is easy to understand and rich contents for beginner like me.I hope you will get big success.Ganbatte kudasai,ouen shitemasu from Mikawa.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Hello Kato-san! Woohoo! I hope you will receive your Hyperstar soon! It is much cheaper than RASA8 :) And smaller! I'm glad my videos have been helpful :) Mikawa is a nice place!　ありがとうございます！頑張りましょう！

[@Spaced_Out_Bill]

So cool! I am planning on shooting the Traingulum Galaxy as my second EVER galaxy this weekend. I was going to use my Redcat 51 and ASI 183 but after seeing your video I might use my larger reflector telescope.🤔 I still can't wrap my head around how a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope works with all that stuff in the front blocking the light. Well, It looks like I'll have to buy one of those now too! LOL

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Oh that is so cool Bill! I really hope you can get a good image of M33, it's somewhat tricky!

[@astrocapetown4955]

A neat trick I do with my RASA 8 & 94EDPH is to grab bucket loads of data with the RASA 8, removing the stars. Then collect a bit of data with the 94EDPH just for the stars and combine. I guess you could do the same with the Hyperstar and your 61EDPH.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

That's a nice trick!

[@ldipenti]

I really hope Starizona make a C5 version of the hyperstar, I'm using one with the AZ-GTi and works great!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Probably too small of a scope/secondary for that...

[@danieltaormina1472]

Great job again. I have a c5 so I have to for them to make one.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I think the C5 is a bit too small for hyperstar, unfortunately!

[@javiercuellolopez5610]

Great video Cuiv!!!. This is my train scope actually and I love it!. I want to see how do you do a mosaic with hyperstar. Congrats.!!!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

At some point I'll get to mosaics :)

[@GalaxyArtMedia]

Nice video. This telescope 🔭 is on my list. At the moment i turned a maksutov in a f 2.8 telescope with a cheap reducer but there are some compromises. Clear Sky Cuiv !

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you and clear skies!

[@GalaxyArtMedia]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek my pleasure

[@deep_space_dave]

Cuiv, I finally was able to order a C6 to replace my C5. Why not a C8? Well the C5 was very portable and I want to keep that same portability but have RASA like capability. I live in a Bortle 8.6 zone as I am south of Chicago so imagine me trying to image M81 which is north of me! I recently tried double stacked 6.3 reducers that gave me about F3.9 on my C5. With that my plate solving went from difficult to almost instant! I was also able to use shorter exposures. So now I am hooked on the NEED FOR SPEED! I cant wait until I get my new "Baby RASA" :-) Thank you so much for this video. See you light pollution is almost as bad as mine, I hope this will help with my imaging! Time to open the money rabbit hole back up :-) Cheers from USA!

[@deep_space_dave]

Forgot to mention, you can get 2+ arc second resolution with this setup so theoretically we can image ALL of Andromeda! The C8 can only get 80%!

[@tonynikon]

Your extusiasm is contagious. I just bought last night a Celestron C6 with a f/6.3 corrector and a focusing mask from eBay. I have a Meade ETX125 with Deluxe tripod that I bough for $150 and a Orion ED80 APO. I still have no mount and I have no clue were to start.

[@MikeLikesChannel]

The HyperStar’d C6 is the best kept non-secret in astronomy. I don’t even bother with equatorial mounts and polar alignments. As a dad of 2 with everything going on in life, starsense aligns me in 2 minutes and I’m good to go. I just put it on my Evolution alt-az mount, one shot ASI294MC uncooled camera (Ohio is usually cold)… I can take up to 30-60’ subs with no appreciable star trailing. Stacking software takes care of any field rotation. Won’t win astrophotographer of the year, but for my EAA needs - it blows my mind! $499 for the C6 Hyper⭐️ is a huge deal, at half the price of the 8’s. I keep my C8 around too, as my planetary/lunar scope.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Exactly, the C6 Hyperstar is really in amazing combo!

[@joeimbesi99]

C6 is soo underrated as good as my 115 TS apo and soo light , barges on Jupiter,festoons ,Izar ... a piece of cake Globs even m83,m77 and m104 easy to see and ITS SHARP..I just sold my c9 never the C6..getting a c11 soon though..

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yes indeed! Enjoy your C11!

[@ysl109812]

Congratulations on your new fast SCT! As I am watching this video I just placed an order for a Starizona Nexus 0.75 reducer/coma corrector for my F4 Newtonian and it will make it a 600mm F3. Nothing beats a fast scope!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Ooooh Starizona sent me that reducer in their care package as well! I'm looking forward to my newt coming back from repairs so I can test it, it's going to be a lot of fun! As always thank you for your feedback and support!

[@nigelorr7938]

Vraiment très intéressant. Il était une fois, lorsque j'étais bien plus jeune, de véritables Schmidt Cameras (plan focal courbé à mi-chemin entre le correcteur et le miroir) construites par Celestron. Il fallait insérer le support de film courbé, avec un morceau de pellicule 35mm monté dessus, dans le tube optique dans l'obscurité ...

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Merci Nigel - oh wow, ca a l'air completement fou comme technique! Mais c'est vrai, le film ca peut etre courbe - j'attend que des senseurs courbes arrivent sur le marche, avec des optiques adaptees... Par contre changer ca dans le noir........... Disons que je suis content de ne pas avoir a faire ca!

[@bullshitvendor]

the Atik cameras are actually quite narrow compared to QHY and ZWO. Oh, I forgot, there are extremey thin USB3 ribbon cables that can be ran across the objective "on edge" using a 3d printed retention thingamajigg

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

But the filter drawer is the same diameter as the ZWO camera!!

[@anthonygraham6449]

About time. Lol. Love it. What was the gain and sub time. If you don’t mind.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Gain 100 sub time 30s. Too long but I had my reasons

[@Robin-Visser]

A c8 would be a minimum aperture for my liking to use a hyperstar with a 533 for example. You basically doubled your central obstruction by using this set. Besides that, very great video 😅

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

It's a matter of preference - even with doubling the CO in terms of T stops we're not too bad off, and you can't beat the size and weight of the setup!

[@AstroSoundscape]

I can see you're a bit excited about this one Cuiv! So does this setup give a pretty flat field of view? I know in the standard setup, there's is the 0.6 reducer/flattener just wondered how this works in this f2 configuration. Happy C6 fun ahead Cuiv 👍

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

The field of view is not that flat, but flats correct it well, and the stars themselves seem pretty constant across the FOV!

[@nxu5107]

Cuiv, apologies, took me two years to watch this. Normally it’s within hours of you releasing a video. Top stuff as ever. Would you ever do a baby / toddler size of your clothing range? Want to get for my super galactic grand daughter! I am serious though. I’d like to her wearing one of your T shirts. She’d look super cool. Thanks for all your lazy work. You are super cool too.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Hahaha no worries mate! So there are some baby (like baby bodysuit, bib, cap, t shirt) and kids stuff, anything in particular you'd like?

[@nxu5107]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Great. A t shirt for a three year old please. If you can post the link I couldn't find the size -- I think the little thing is a stellar visitor to our family. Thanks.

[@zeitgeist1348]

Wow, massive light polution.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yeaaaaaaah, it's nice to be able to shoot videos without needing a light though :p

[@pandoraefretum]

Insane... M33 from Tokyo ? looks fantastic

[@JohnMcGFrance]

Good to see it work out so well for you. I’d be interested in any video about your stellar mate setup. How to setup etc. how long was each sub? Thanks.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Each sub was 30s long! I need to get more used to Stellarmate for imaging before I do a video on it though...

[@satmax8576]

whoa whoa whoa... I have a C6 SCT, they make a Hyperstar adapter for this?!?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yup! :D

[@keivanhamidi]

Very very interesting. I have started and still use a 150/750 SW for deep sky imaging. The focal lengh is a little bit "too big" if you don't have an APS-C sensor, which is my case. 150 of aperture is actually good, but I was thinking getting an SCT; 1st because it is easy for planetary, and 2nd i can use it for deep sky with a hyperstar, so a fast scope with a compact overall design. The only thng i'm scared of is colimating the sct, it looks so hard 🥶😢

[@chimerasaurus]

This was a great video! I was skeptical about a RASA because the whole setup seems so... awkward; it's been a big help living in the middle of a big city. One question I'd have for you - what exposure and gain do you find to be the best mix? Maybe it's me, but the biggest challenge I have had with such a fast scope is I easily blow out stars if I am not careful.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you! Not sure yet about the best compromise in exposure time!!

[@ajaymandke]

I have a question about compatibility and attaching Hyperstar to C6 SCT. I got a recent model 6SE, but it does not have knurled ring. I did try to see if I can take the secondary mirror off but was unable to. Of course I didnt want to put too much torque on it. Was your C6 with knurled ring? My OTA is Orange unlike yours. But from some documentation, both colored OTAs are identical in specs. That has me confused though.

[@javiercuellolopez5610]

Cuiv, help me!. With the hyperstar C6v4, do you need to do a reduction of offset of the Asi533 ? (Default 70 to 20 for example). Thanks

[@yellowlynx]

Well, I will try my luck with my old Canon FD300mm 2.8L lens to see if this can save me some bucks on a Hyperstar. F2.8 is very fast too. I thumbled around and needed an extra adapter ring to fit that to my QHY268C camera.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Good luck! Should give great results :)

[@yellowlynx]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Getting the back focus correct will be a challenge.

[@yellowlynx]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Just an update - I finally made an adapter for my old Canon FD300mm 2.8L to mount on a camera with a M42F thread, and successfully achieve focus to infinity, and captured some images - thanks to advancement in.......... SUPER GLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I glued a FD blade taken off a FD-EOS adapter to an adapter ring (using 3M 171 glue). I think I can further shave 10mm of back focus comsumption by using a thinner adapter ring - I cannot have a filter drawer with the current configuration, but the lens has a filter holder which I hacked the filters and make the filters fit, and I can use a light pollution suppression filter. The lens is in effect a 107mm apeture 300mm f2.8 fast refractor.

[@avt_astro206]

Wow Cuiv,The Traingulum Galaxy is framed Up so Well. The FOV with the Optical Combination is excellent👌🏻. Could we use a APSc format Camera With It?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Yes you could use up to APS-C with it, someone has done so on Cloudy nights :)

[@arongyorffy3070]

Just for curiosity, does the Hyperstar increase the central obstruciton?

[@syberand]

When you balance your scope, how precise do you try to make it? Still with the amp or ? And congrats on the new scope.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

For a small scope like this that takes very short exposures, I just do rough balancing, there's no need to be too precise there!

[@osamadessouky802]

Well done Cuiv!! Goes to show that you can do everything with a standard SCT, and the smallest one none the less! 👍 Would be helpful if you shared what Filter you used, if any, and sub duration? Does your 533 have IR/IV cut coatings?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I used a simple UV/IR cut filter :-) Subs were 30 seconds (too long on purpose, because I didn't want to end up with too many)

[@mattestabrook]

Ha! After two nights, I've collected about 1,000 20-second subs on M74 from my white zone front yard. Gives the computer quite a workout to stack them all--but I still need more!

[@georgehall6423]

Great video! Why didn't the red led on the camera present a problem in your other setups? You seemed to say that the red led was leaking in around your power and USB ports, was it being reflected back inside from the dew shield?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Thank you! For other setups, the LED is nowhere near the objective lens, it's far behind. For hyperstar it's right in front. It will pollute a flat panel's field, it will mess with darks, it will mess with lights..

[@stephenc1111]

I am wondering how the Hyperstar module fits in place of the secondary mirror. I have the c6 and your video opens up lots of ideas. Thanks for a really good video and all the others!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Check the previous video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3vIeXSIj7VgjcU :)

[@anata5127]

It took me 10h for L to get SNR=18. Combined with RGB for overall 16h and got just 24. I used Vixen ED103SS f 7.7 So, this is an excellent result! By the way, Ha got 15 in just 4h despite Ha shows just doted galaxy. What is SNR in your case? How does it compare to your former scope - Vixen?

[@ignaciadevoto]

Hello Cuiv, great videos! very enthusiastic, I should be sleeping right now.. but research got me badly. So I am planning to buy a Celestron Nexstar se 8" (see if a get a good sale for black Friday, cyber Monday or Christmas this year). But I want to make sure I will be able to use it for astrophotography of DSOs in the future. More in details, I want to be able to use very narrow-banded filters with long exposure times. So I have a question for you, this Hyperstar C6 v4 will also work on 8-inches? or do I need another version of Hyperstar? And can I keep the GoTo mount or I need to also upgrade it? I am doing extensive basic research until the end of November before buying anything. I would like to spent around 2.000€, but I would like to start with some eyepieces, barlows and filters to get a feeling on both planetary and DSOs observation. Astrophotography is something for the future, after I spent some time having fun with the basics. Still, the idea is to buy something upgradable for amazing AP! Thank you in advance! I hope you can spend a little bit of your time to help a not yet even beginner in astronomy-hobby :) I wish you all the best!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

So the C8 needs a Hyperstar specific to the C8 - check the Starizona website for the requirements. Very narrow filters are an issue with RASA and Hyperstar scopes, for reasons I go deeply into in other videos - so you need filters like the IDAS NBZ, or pre-shifted filters (again I go into that kind of stuff in other videos). Your mount would work on exposures of up to 30 seconds, and would exhibit field rotation after that. It's good for a start, but long term you'll want to get a wedge and/or upgrade to a GEM, which as far as I know is easy as you can unmount your C8 from the Nexstar mount. Your plan to start with simple observation at first is the right one! Good luck!

[@hapestr]

Great video again - thanks! How would this compare to - say - a 300/2.8 lens? Maybe you could do a comparison?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

I don't have a 300mm F2.8 on hand, but when I did, I had to close it down to F3.2 to control coma. It would be slower but work quite well!

[@khaledhassan4802]

Hello my friend Cuiv How can you take the flats for dust or the like before photographing? Of course, the position of the dust grains will be different before and after shooting! is not it ?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Dust on the corrector plate has pretty much zero impact on flats - it's too far out of focus

[@PlanetaryDefenseFoundation]

Hello, I have a C6 and the same camera can you make a video or share more information on how you mounted the camera the the front of the C6 please ? Thank you !

[@PagyBio]

That's my next all around OTA! And I am planning to mount it on the Az-GTi. What do you reckon?

[@davejenkins8524]

I am considering painting the LED black. What dew you think?

[@mariospenard5125]

Very interesting video! Do you have experience or recommendations about using the new Idas NBZ UHS filter on a very fast f/1.4 optic? Thank you very much. Mario

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

No! But I will be testing it at F2 once I get an NBZ :)

[@federicofloreancigh5929]

Bellissimo video grazie per averlo condiviso!! Io ho il tuo stesso setup! Con i Flats riesci a togliere il vignetting? Io ho questo problema..

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

It's an excellent setup! For me, the vignetting is gone with flats. If you have issues, make SURE to calibrate your flats with either Bias frames or Flat Darks! (for a 533MC Pro cooled, bias and dark flats are basically the same)

[@MrPedalpaddle]

Do you need a guide scope with such a light scope on such a heavy duty mount and with such short exposures? Is the guidescope to help you dither (or perhaps not if you are not using the ASIair)? Thanks. I'll be trying they Hyperstar on my HD8 this week - @ 400mm, should be about the right focal length for the Rosette.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Probably not needed!! But it makes me psychologically happier so there's that :-)

[@alainprefontaine6092]

Can you elaborate on your issues (and mostly the solution) with auto-focus in Stelarmate. I struggle with it all the time and end up doing manual focus. Even after I set the focuser backlash it still can't seem to get a nice "V" curve.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

So first issue was star detection - I ended up choosing all field with SEP. And then was backlash, which is dealt with in an inconsistent manner depending on driver used. To fix that, I used the Linear focus method with a relatively low step size. Good luck!

[@keithhanssen7413]

Clever set-up! I’m curious what settings you used for the 533mc, low gain? Very catchy tune for the montage!

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Gain 100, as usual!

[@delphys75]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Is it indiscreet to ask you your offset? (I've a C9 + hyperstar + 533, gain 100 but not sure for my offset :-)

[@sharkking9679]

@@delphys75 to get a proper offset just shoot some 1s darks and look at the histogram. If it moves just a little bit out of the left edge it´s ok. Have a look at the picture afterwards and if there are no 0 (complete dark) pixels, your good. on my asi 183 i found that an offset of 10 just creates dark pixels with a value of 3-5 which is ok. No complex math needed.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

@@delphys75 I use ZWO's default offset of 50!

[@delphys75]

@@CuivTheLazyGeek Ok !!! So, i'm good too :-) Cool !!!

[@sidmukherjee9608]

Can I attach a zwo camera directly without using the hyperstar? If so, what kind of spacers will I need, and how do I fix colimation issues? I would deeply appreciate your feedback. FYI - you are my goto expert when it comes to EAA & astrophotography, for that matter astronomy in general. Thank you for the great eork you do!

[@nicklazur2264]

Woah, I had no idea how affordable the C6 and its Hyperstar were! Been contemplating a RASA8 for about a year now (currently working with a ZenithStar 61, 183MC Pro, and 294MC Pro) but have been hesitant at the price since I would need a lens hood, EAF, filter drawer, and all the little accessories to make it work for me which puts it somewhere around the $2500+ USD area. I have a Rokinon 135mm f/2 lens that has opened my eyes to what fast astro imaging can do but I still feel torn between a faster scope at 300-400mm or getting into a larger refractor like the FLT91 or Esprit 100 to explore new/smaller/deeper objects. Any advice?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Honestly, it's up to personal preference, I really can't give advice one way or another! I can say that I do love the Hyperstar for now :)

[@leboch65]

May i ask, as im curious, if u image with a samyang okinon 135mm f2 in a light polluted city without light pollution filter will it still work? If it doesnt, why would a hyperstar at 300mm also at f2 works?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

It should still work - the wider FOV will likely make gradients a bit harder to deal with...

[@dragonet80]

I am very new to this. Why do you connect the camera in the opening of the telescope and not in the back where the original ocular is? What is the advantage?

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

At the back, the telescope would have a focal ratio of F10 (or F7 or F6.3 with reducers). At the front, with corrective Hyperstar lens, I'm at F2. Focal ratio is focal length (how much we spread light thin to get more resolution by zooming in) divided by aperture (diameter of objective lens, i.e. how much light we collect). It's a good indicator of how fast a system is (how much time it needs to reach the same signal to noise ratio as another system). F2 is a whopping 25 times faster than F10. So this is why we do this!