Equipment roundup......July-August 2013 (Edited July 2015)

I figured this is a good time as any to take stock of what equipment I currently possess and what I have used in the past. My years as an amateur astronomer has seen me buy and sell my fair share of telescopes, eyepieces, filters etc. etc. From the early 80's to about 2001, the only equipment I owned and used were my trusty orange tubed Celestron Cometron CO40, my dad's old beat up 20x50's and my 10x50 K-Mart/ Hanimex binoculars. I entered the "equipment expansion phase" of the hobby between 2001 and present (August 2013) when I dove headlong into the hobby in ernest. No doubt I would have missed out on some which have slipped my memory but I will attempt as best as I can to put to paper what I have owned, with brief notes on a particular piece of equipment and my thoughts on their pros and cons. This list will be split into telescopes, and all other accessories.

Telescopes Past and Present

My scopes over the years

In order of age

1. Celestron Cometron CO40 40mm f/20 alt az (achromatic lens) orange tube (1984 current)-Great lil scope. My apo scope…no chromatic aberration. Showed me my first views of Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s cloud belts and moons and some of the brighter DSO’s.
2. Explorer 76mm f/9.2 newt alt-az (spherical mirror) navy blue tube (2001 sold)-Another great lil scope. First views of M57’s doughnut and M27’s apple core. Good color free planetary views till about 150x.
3. Explorer 150mm f/9.3 (spherical mirror) Bird Jones EQ 3-2 navy blue tube (2001 sold)-Scope plagued by aberration. Views sharp in the middle but deteriorated away from the sweet spot. Best views between 50x and 100x. Low powered views plagued by what looked like coma, even on axis. Stars showed astigmatism. Views deteriorated above100x. Hard to collimate.
4. Celestron/Vixen C6 6” f/5 parabolic OTA black tube (2004 current)-Fantastic performer. Virtually no coma detected, Views good till theoretical max 300x.
5. Orion 80-ST 80mm f/5 OTA achromat white tube (2004 sold)-great lil performer but views warmer in color, but still good for planets till about 150x.
6. Synta 102mm f/5 ST OTA achromat navy blue tube (2006 sold)-bad spherical and chromatic aberration at anything above 50-60x. totally outclassed by 80ST.
7. Kasai alt az 60mm f/6 scope achromat orange tube (2006 sold)-cute lil scope. Surprisingly color free.
8. Yosco alt az 60mm f/11.7 scope achromat white tube (2006 sold)-great metal build and terrible optics. Badly stoppered down.
9. Meade 114mm f/8.8 Bird Jones spherical OTA grey tube (2006 sold)-luke warm optical performance. Views sharp to about 100x.
10. Orion StarBlast 4.5” 114mm f/4 dob metallic green tube (2007 sold)-fantastic lil performer. Views softened about 100x but viewable till 150x.
11. Guan Sheng 10” 250mm f/5 (parabolic mirror) dob white tube (2005 sold)-Blow your socks off scope. Views sharp to 300x when air currents come into play. Spiral structure in many bright galaxies. Planets show minute detail such as festooning in Jupiters belts, moon disk transiting Jupiter’s face and Saturn’s Encke Minima division
12. Unbranded 90mm f/5.6 (achromatic lens) table top grey tube plastic (2009 sold)-aweful night time performance. Chromatic aberration, spherical aberration and astigmatism. Only good for daytime views.
13. Celestron Powerseeker 127mm f/7.9 Bird Jones (spherical mirror) EQ 1 black tube (2008 current)-Surprising performer after the debacle that was the Explorer 150 and the Meade 114. Views were nice and sharp to about 150x. Good for planets and smaller DSO’s. At low magnification, views softened up as you moved away from the sweet spot in the FOV.
14. Celestron Firstscope 76mm f/3.96 (spherical mirror) mini dob black tube (2010 sold)-Great low powered views. Not good for views over 50x due to spherical aberration. Does not come with finder unless you get the upgrade kit (which is not worth the price). Similar to the Orion Funscope, minus the better accessories or the tripod mounting shoe.
15. Celestron Cometron CO60 60mm f/11.7 (achromatic lens) grey tube (2010 sold)-Another great lil achromat. Nice planetary views. Downsides are the 0.965” accessories and 5x24 finder. Lil or no chromatic aberration and nice airy disk on stars.
16. Orion StarBlast 4.5” 114mm f/4 (parabolic mirror) imaging OTA grey metallic tube (2011 sold)-Same as the StarBlast dob, but has a bigger secondary for maximum illumination of the CCD chip. Lower set focuser as well as it does not focus with normal eyepieces unless a Barlow or extension tube is used in conjunction.
17. Orion Skyscanner 100 f/4 (parabolic mirror) scope maroon tube (2012 current)-Fantastic small scope and the best bang for you table top buck. Tripod mountable and good views slightly above 100x. Super portable as well and shows bright views of all manners of DSO. Can also serve double duty as a planetary scope (no chromatic aberration).
18. Meade 60mm f/11.7 (achromatic lens) alt az navy blue tube (2012 sold)-One great lil performer. Used it a few times under dark Pinos skies. Good to its theoretical max of 120x. Little if no aberration or chromatic aberration.
19. Celestron Powerseeker 70mm f/10 (achromatic lens) alt az black tube (2012 sold)-Lack of chromatic aberration due to longer focal length. Scope, however was plagued by astigmatism and pinched optics and I could not fix it no matter how much shimmying I did. Also too much plastic used in the construction.
20. Orion Spaceprobe 76mm f/9.2 (spherical mirror) alt az metallic green tube (2012 current)-Fantastic performer. Shows much more than its aperture would suggest. Great for high powered planetary views as well. Great views till about 150x!
21. Orion Funscope 76mm f/3.95 (spherical mirror) metallic green tube (2012 sold)-Great low power scope. Not good above 50x due to spherical aberration. Similar to the Celestron Firstscope mini dob, but with better accessories (Kellner eyepieces and red dot finder).
22. Celestron NexStar 102GT 102mm f/9.8 (achromatic lens) alt az GOTO black metallic tube (2012 current)-My current most used scope. Sharp and color free views. Great CCD imaging scope with the Meade DSI I color. Mount not the best as it is a little too flimsy and shaky.
23. Celestron Travelscope 70mm f/5 (achromatic lens) OTA black tube (2012 current)-Great wide field scope. Not too shoddy for intermediate magnifications too (between 50-70x). Not good above 100x. Immediate plans to be used on the NexStar GT mount for wide field CCD imaging. 
24. Celestron C8 (2013 current). Just got this OTA and will be doing a extensive review of this OTA when I get the chance. My plan is to use this as my main big scope for hunting faint fuzzies on the Vixen Porta mount. As it has a longer focal length, I will be using this for the smaller DSO fare. For wide field, the C6 will be my choice.
25. Orion StarSeeker II 130mm f/5 OTA (2013 current). The latest addition to my growing family of OTA's. Got this for cheap as it was floor stock at Orion in Cupertino (did I mention I love Orion Telescopes?). Great lil OTA (its amazing how much smaller and lighter this OTA is compared to my Celestron/Vixen C6!) that came with a Vixen style dovetail, but no ep's, finders or even a finder mounting shoe. Has a nice but too tall 2" focuser (my Meade DSI would not come to focus, bummer! It does with a barlow but that pushes the magnification wayyy up). The views are night and tight as it comes with a parabolic mirror. And since it has the nice burgundy metallic sheen, it looks like the bigger brother of my SkyScanner scope ;)
26. Edmund Scientific Astroscan (2013 current). Another cheapie I got off e Bay whilst randomly browsing. Seeing how this goes for $289 brand new, I think I got one heck of a deal as I got this for $60...yes $60 bucks. Did not come with ep's, finder's or anything but it did come with the base and the Edmund cover, the things that matter.  The mirror and optical window are in excellent shape. No scratches or blemishes. the only caveat is the one I got is a newer one (i.e. made in China ones). Hope it performs as well as its US made brethren. I am stoked as this is one of the scopes I dream of owning as a kid. Now the only scope left on the list is the Orange Celestron Comet Catcher ;) 
27. Orion OmniVista 60mm f/7 (2014). Another japanese 80's vintage scope from the Halley's Comet era. I looked through my 1985 Orion catalog and this scope was listed as a tabletop but did not have an Orion sticker or name. Doing a Google search turned up one Orion OmniVista (which this scope basically is). Comes with a vintage alt-az yoke mount with slow motion controls on both axis. Niceeeee......
28. Orion GoScope 80 (2015). Again one of my random off the cuff purchases when I visit the Orion store. Got this for a song, just the OTA and fiddled around with it to try to get it to work with different diagonals with no success. This only works with the proprietary screw on diagonal. Sold it off eventually.
29. Burgess BackPacker 65ED (2015). Another random purchase while browsing the AstroMart site as I always do. Price was too good to ignore, and sheesh ED element....sold! Keeping my fingers crossed. This scope has a history though. Bill Burgess had plans to market and sell a small ED scope that people could use for day hikes and stargazing. I was on the lookout for a cheap RFT for CCD imaging. After ordering the first 100, he ran into problems with the lens cell that would not allow collimation, and the two lens elements that would not mate well enough to give good views. To cut his losses, he sold those as parts for a song ($25 a pop, no focuser though). Industrious and penny pinching astronomers grabbled up the scope and found a way to make it work. My version seems to have gone through at least two hands and has a nice single speed GSO Crayford focuser. Views are pretty color free in comparison to a normal two element achromat, but still not as good as lens free reflectors. Best at mid and low mag.
30. Celestron Cometron CO60 (2015). Here I am again, rescuer of scopes about to be tossed. Man what a gem of a find on Craigslist! $15 for a long focal length Japanese made 60mm f/11 (metal focuser!!!!) on a Vixen Polaris Mount...score. The mount itself is worth the price of admission. This beefy mount that Vixen used to make can be used in altazimuth and EQ mode due to its design. The OTA itself has a longer focal length (910 versus 800mm) and has fully coated optics. Comes with a metal body 0.965" star diagonal (not the plastic bodied ones on the lower end Cometron scopes) and a single 10mm Celestron Kellner. A very nice addition to my vintage collection!

Binoculars

1. 20x50 japanese binoculars (current). These were my dad's and I used it quite a bit in the early 80's with my Celestron Cometron CO40. Its seen comets such as Halley's and Hyakutake. I think we still have it although the optics are now severly miscollimated and I don't know how to fix it.
2. 10x50 japanese made K Mart/ Hanimex (current). The binoculars that got me back into the hobby in 1997. Great wide field views of Comet Hale Bopp and an excellent finder binoculars. Only fully coated and the views are kinda dim.
3. 15x70 wide fields. The first of the cheap chinese giants. These were a revelation for me and they could be used handheld for brief periods or when reclining. Superb eye relieve and immersive field lenses (at least 68 degree FOV's). Multicoated on all air to glass surfaces. I spied Barnard's galaxy in Sagittarius and Leo 1 in Leo from Mount Barney in these wonderful binocs. I loved them so much I got its bigger brother and sold these off. Rubber coated and fully user collimatable.
4. 20x80 wide fields (current). Wow if the 15x70's were a revelation, these were the bomb. Fully multicoated on all surfaces. No bluish reflections at all, superb eye relieve and expansive 68 degree or more views). The barrel was heaps longer than the 15x70's but strangely these felt lighter and easier to hand hold steady for longer periods. I guess it was the combination of weight and length that made this possible. When photo tripod mounted, this binoc resolved stars in Omega Centauri, M22, M55, M4, Pavo and Ara globs...nuff said!
5. 10x40 Orion ShoreView roof prism (current). Got this on a whim and mostly for daytime terrestrial use. Surprisingly sharp waterproof performer. Not so good for stargazing, but that was not what it was purchased for. Optics are fully multicoated on all surfaces and this binos have excellent eye relief.

Other miscellanous equipment

Eyepieces

0.965" ep's

1. 25mm Celestron Kellner (2x Current) Superb lil performer if a little tight on the eye relieve. Very bright views in small scopes.
2. 12.5mm Celestron Kellner. Very nice mid range ep for small scopes. 
3. 8mm Celestron SR (Current). Like looking through a drinking straw...but views were crisp.
4. 6mm Celestron MA. Same as the above.
5. 25mm Meade MA. Very similar in performance to its Celestron counterpart.
6. 12.5mm Meade M. Similar to its Celestron counterpart.

 
1.25" ep's

1. 12.5mm Super Plossl-Tight eye relieve. Otherwise a great mid range performer. A step up from Kellner's.
2. 20mm Super Plossl-Tight eye relieve. Otherwise a great performer. No off axis aberration apparent. This was replaced with an Orion Expanse 20mm which had better eye relieve but worse edge of FOV performance.
3. 32mm Super Plossl-My first multi coated super wide FOV ep. I loved this ep to death as well and used it everywhere on all manner of objects. The best low powered ep in my opinion and the max FOV you can get in the 1.25" format. Better than the 40mm Plossl's out there for sure. Gave me unforgettable views of the North American Nebula and the Veil Nebula in my Orion 80ST. The only reason I sold this was to make way for my 24.5mm Meade SWA which had the same FOV but at a higher magnification.
4. 25mm Kellner-Low end ep's that came with my Explorer 150mm EQ. They were okay coated ep's with the bluish tinge to the lenses. My first 1.25" ep's!
5. 10mm Kellner-Tight in the eye relieve department but not impossible to use. Surprisingly good mid range views.
6. 6mm Kellner-My first glimpse of the planets in the larger barrel size format ep's. Very tight eye relieve.
7. 25mm Orion Explorer II (current)-Came with my Orion SpaceProbe 76. Great little performer. Views are definately brighter in these fewer element ep's in comparison to the wider FOV multi-element ones.
8. 17mm Orion Explorer II-Wow is all I can say about this ep. Abberation free off axis and just the perfect magnification factor to see detail in DSO's in my Orion StarBlast, the scope it came with. Also gave great views in my Orion 80ST and 10" dob. I still miss this ep, which was sold together with my StarBlast when I moved to LA.
9. 10mm Orion Explorer II (current)-Nice ep too. A little tight in the eye relieve department, but useable.
10. 6mm Orion Explorer II-Very tight on the eye relieve, but otherwise excellent high powered views
11. 20mm Orion E Series-These are great performers. Came with my Orion SkyScanner. Brighter views than my multi element ep's. Terry and me suspect that these may be 3 element Kellner ep's as their FOV's are smaller than those in similar focal length Plossl's. These seemed to have replaced Orion's now defunct Explorer II series ep's.
12. 10mm Orion E Series-Same as the above. Eye relieve is tight but still usesable with eye glasses.
13. 24.5mm Meade SWA (current)-My most used ep. Got this used, and with a slight chip on one of its elements. Gives superb wide field views with it gorgeous 68 degree FOV. This is the older japanese made model and is a whole heap chunkier than the current incarnation. I leave my NPB filter screwed in for most part as it gets most use looking at extended nebulae.
14. 20mm Orion Expanse and clone (current)-I had one in oz, sold it off, and I liked this ep so much I got another one off Astromart when I came to LA. This is the other ep, besides my 24.5mm SWA that gets used the most. Views are nice and sharp in the middle of the FOV, but abberations start kicking in some 15% from the edges. Still it has very good eye relieve and gives sharp views in long focal length refractors. I don't think I will ever part with this 68 degree FOV ep ever again.
15. 15mm Orion Expanse and clone (current)-Same as the above but with tighter eye relieve. This was my mid range ep, until I obtained the 13mm T6 Nagler. Despite this I still use this ep regularly as it has very good eye relieve. Again like the 20mm, abberations creep in once you get within 15 - 20% of the edge of the FOV.
16. 9mm Expanse clone-Used the buggery out of these high powered 68 degree FOV ep's. Superb eye relieve (you can keep your glasses on). They served me very well for years until I got my 6mm TV Radian. Absolute bargain for the performance. There was flaring and ghosting but I did not give a crap as they were so cheap. Heaps better than the regular Plossl's. If you want to step up from Kellners, MA's and Plossl's, I totally recommend this ep's.
17. 6mm Expanse clone-See short review above. Exceptional performance for the price. More worth than the ED ep's in my opinion...very light and cheaper too.
18. 5mm Celestron X-Cel ED-Great chunky ep with exceptional eye relieve. Got this to use as a high powered planetary ep. My gripe with this ep was flarings. Seems like the internals were not very well flocked. Also the views were distinctly warmer than in the Radian an indication of poorer chromatic aberration correction.
19. 11mm UWA 80 degree-Both one new and one used over the years hoping they would remedy the weird problem with this ep. Nice expansive views but very very poor eye relieve. Even with my eyeglasses off I had problems taking in the views and had to press my eyeballs up to the glass, and in the process getting eyelash oil on the field glass. Not recomended. 
20. 6mm TeleVue Radian (current)-One of my dream ep's as well, and I have had this for a while. A great high powered planetary and lunar ep. Fantastic views of smaller planetaries as well as a globular cluster buster.
21. 13mm Orion Stratus 68 degree FOV. This is one big honking ep, almost up there with the 2" barrel 30mm UWA. In fact this ep can be used in both 1.25" and 2" modes. Its so heavy it made my Orion dielectric diagonal unscrew! Pretty good on axis, but image deteriorated beyond the sweet spot. Not as badly affected as the Expanse ep's though. Fully multicoated with excellent eye relieve. You could see the whole FOV with your glasses on and the rubber eye guards rolled all the way down. I sold this because I could not justify having a 13mm T6 Nagler and this...and the Nagler was heaps smaller and lighter, with totally corrected edge of field distortion. 
22. 17mm Japanese TeleVue Plossl-An older style TV Plossl, one of the original ep's that revolutionized amateur ep's. Got this one cheap just to try out. Great multicoated ep, but very poor eye relieve.
23. 13mm T6 TeleVue Nagler (current)-My dream mid range ep and I finally procured one for cheap off Astromart (got to love Astromart). Gorgeous multi coatings, expansive FOV, no edge of FOV abberations..what more could you ask for in a visual ep. My only gripe is its shorter eye relieve. I cannot take in the expansive views with my eyeglasses on.
24. 18mm Orion Long Eye Relieve prototype eyepiece  (current)-Got this on my recent trip to the Cupertino store for cheap. This is a prototype model so it does not look like its chrome barreled brethren. It is all black and looks more like their flat field line. Supposed to have one ED element, 20mm eye relieve and a 55 degree FOV. Performed brilliantly in both my fast scopes, the Orion StarSeeker II 130mm f/5 and in the Astroscan. Images were sharp out to the edges. Nice. No flaring on brighter objects.
25. 20mm KK Widescan 82 degree FOV eyepiece-Loved this ep to death and used it heaps in my C6 and 10" dob. I sold it as I needed funds and I was using my Orion 20mm Expanse a whole heap more. Better edge of FOV correction but poorer eye relieve. Multicoatings on this was awesome, and it was a rather small and light ep for its FOV. I would totally buy another one at some stage now that my ep collection is maturing.
26. Other not worth mentioning cheapies such as 20mm, 12mm, 6mm and 4mm HM eyepieces that came free with various scopes such as the Firstscope 76 and the NexStar 102GT.

2"ep's

1. 30mm UWA 82 degree-Bought this on a whim after looking through Andrew's 31mm T5 Nagler. The views are as immersive, but of course this one had more off axis abberations. Views got bad around 20-25% from the edges. Great wide field milky way sweeping eyepiece under dark skies. The background was too grey under suburban skies.
2. 42mm Orion DeepView 52 degree-Since I started using my C8 in earnest, I have had issues examining bigger and more expansive objects. The obvious solution was to get an eyepiece with a longer focal length. Through experience with multiple lens element eyepieces, This time I wanted something that would give me the lowest possible magnification, well corrected and flat field performance and minimal or no distortion. This three element multi coated eyepiece filled all the criteria above and more. A truly wonderful eyepiece, perfect for use with my long focal length SCT!

Filters  

1. Lumicon UHC 1.25"-Great filter. On the pricier side but it served me well for the longest time. In fact it was the only filter I had for a while until I discovered DGM Optics. Great views of nebulae both from the suburbs and from dark sky sites. Sold it as it did not enhance nebulae as well as the DGM NPB filter, plus it gave off a weird green tinge to DSO's.
2. DGM NPB 1.25" (current)-Best of the narrowband filters. Side by side with the Lumicon UHC, this filter showered more detail in extended objects like M42 (like the other tendrils that were all but invisible in the UHC), Tarantula, M20 and Eta Carina (dark lanes more pronounced). Passband is slightly narrower than the Lumicon UHC and it seems to be a hybrid between a narrowband filter, like the UHC and line filters, such as the OIII. Also gives more natural colors in comparison to the UHC. Also I understand it is hard coated and not a sandwich filter so there are no reflections like in the UHC.
3. DGM VHT 1.25"-Fantastic wideband filter. Passband was narrower than the Orion SkyGlow and it behaved more like a wide passband UHC type filter. I sold this and regret that decision to this day. I would probably get another one when the price is right.
4. Celestron 80A 1.25" (current) Great filter for enhancing Jupiter's belts!
5. Moon Filter green 1.25" (current)
6. Baader Moon and Skyglow 1.25"-Okay filter. Very minimal enhancement to any object. Helps with chromatic abberration in ST refractors.
7. Orion SkyGlow 0.965"-My first LPR filter and I used the heck out of this in my 76mm Newt. Sold it as it was of the smaller 0.965" format.
8. Orion SkyGlow 1.25" (current)-I liked the VHT and SkyGlow filter (0.965") so much I got another one later on when Orion was having an accessory sale. This filter does well for galaxies and star clusters from suburbia, as well as enhancing reflection nebulae. It also does double duty as my LPR filter for suburban CCD imaging of DSO's.
9. DGM OIII 1.25"-Got this on a whim. Does enhance some nebulae better than the UHC type filters (i.e. Veil Nebula comes to mind). Did not get much usage so I sold this off.
10. Celestron-Baader Planetarium OIII 1.25" (current)-The filter bug bit me again after selling the DGM OIII and this was going for cheap on Astromart so I got another one. Still does not get much use, but at least I have a OIII in my arsenal for nice views of the Veil in my 10".
11. Zhumell OIII 1.25"-Going for very cheap as a pair with the below filter on Astromart so I bit the bullet and got them. Since I already have an OIII, I got rid of this one and kept the below.
12. Zhumell UHC 1.25" (current)-This filter is weird, it gives views in between the NPB filter and the SkyGlow......but not quite as good as my old VHT....
13. Orion SkyGlow Imaging Filter 1.25"-My first non visual imaging filter which I got from Orion as a blem for more than half price off. Filter definitely works as advertised and much better than using the visual one in its place. Makes imaging from my red zone skies easy!!!

Barlows

1. Meade 2x tele-extender 0.965"-Used this a bit in my smaller scopes. Nice little barlow with all metal construction. Only fully coated.
2. Orion Shorty 2x barlow 1.25"-Used this a bit until I chanced upon a Shorty Plus barlow for cheap. Seems multi coated on one element.
3. Orion Shorty Plus 2x barlow 1.25" (current)-My barlow of choice. Has one ED element to correct color. I use the barlow mostly with my short focal length small newtonian's....and sometimes for planetary views with my 10", if the atmosphere permits. Multicoated.

Star Diagonals

1. StellarVue Dielectric diagonal. Great diagonal with 98% reflectance. Used this exclusively with my Orion 80ST.
2. ScopeStuff hybrid diagonal (2x current). Used this exclusively with my smaller refractors. I have one currently in use with my Celestron Cometron CO40 back in Malaysia so I can use my current 1.25" ep's in the scope for wider views.
3. Orion Dielectric diagonal (current). The is Orion's latest iteration and this made in Taiwan diagonal is super excellent with 99% reflectivity. I use this with my NexStar 102GT and hope to use it in my C8.

Astro-imaging cameras (both current)

1. Meade Deep Sky Imager (DSI) color one shot I CCD-Got this one for a very cheap price on Astromart. Just what the doctor ordered. I have been dipping my toes in the astroimaging pool for a while now, but was reluctant to take the plunge due to the cost associated with such endeavours. I found that for a little cash outlay, one could get some decent shots with this beginner CCD camera and an alt az GOTO tracking mount. Sure my piccies will not rival those taken by Hubble...or Jack Newton for that matter. What is important is that these were taking by mua. As Uncle Rod puts it, this is instamatic astrophotography at its best. I might upgrade to a larger chip CCD cam someday (probably a Meade DSI III or a Orion Starshoot Pro), but for now I am having way too much fun with this lil cam. Gives me a great reason to stay out under indifferent skies.
2. Orion Color Solar System Imager IV CMOS-Not used this much yet for some strange reason. I had a brand new one and returned it, only to find a super cheap unit on Astromart. Gives great lunar shots. Have not tried it on the planets yet! Note that  most of these cams will not work on newtonian's due to insufficent in travel on the focuser.
3. Orion Starshoot Deep Sky Imager II OSC-Got this as an upgrade for my DSI I OSC as this has a bigger sensor and TEC cooling. Only tested the camera out three times (two under dark skies) and the camera was harder to work with as it was, firstly heavier, and secondly I never got used to using MaxIm DL as an imaging software. Color balance was all wrong on the cam and I could not for the life of my get it to work properly. Sold it and wetn back to using my excellent DSI I, until the below came along....
4. Meade Deep Sky Imager (DSI) II OSC-I love Astromart. Can't say that enough. Found a used DSI II for an excellent low price a week or two after selling the Orion SSDSI II. The cam basically has the same CCD chip specs as the Orion in a package no bigger and heavier than the original DSI I. I did not even have to fart around with the software, etc etc as I have already gotten the Meade Envisage software to work well. Got to imaging right off the bat. I liek this cam so much, I sold my baby, the DSI I, as I wanted it to get used more......

Mounts

1. EQ1. This mount came with the black 127mm Powerseeker and it held this scope very sturdily. I am guessing this will be a great mount for ST scopes ranging from refractors right up to ST 127mm OTA's. Since the Powerseeker was bought primarily for its OTA, to be brought home to Malaysia, I sold off the EQ1.
2. EQ3-2. This was my primary mount from 2001 right up till 2012 when I got my Vixen Porta Mount. I hardly used it in EQ mode and used it almost exclusively in alt az mode. As it had slow motion controls, this was an ideal mount for this purpose. Held the 150mm Bird-Jones very sturdily but was marginal at best for the longer C6 6" f/5 Celestron/Vixen. I attributed its "un-sturdiness" to the stamped aluminium tripod extendable legs. After I replaced this with some black wooden legs I got off a fellow on Astromart (these were from the older EQ2 mounts available from older chinese and taiwanese made scopes), the mount was rock solid. Finally got replaced by my current alt az mount, the Vixen Porta Mount. This mount had a non standard dovetail mount too which was very inconvinient. Held my ex 102ST OTA with ease.
3. Optex  heavy duty photo tripod (2x and clone). This was my second mount for every other OTA I had when I was in oz. This mount had a removable shoe, so it was very convenient to use. Tripod was good for holding small to large binoculars and it held my Orion 80ST while I had it. Not good for views above 45 degrees for astronomy. You had to guess-timate and overshoot so the object can be placed in the FOV. I had a makeshift counterweight to allow the scope to be used at higher elevations. Heavy use of plastics, with stamped aluminium legs. Good for use with the Orion Precision Slow Motion Adapter.
4. Orion HD-F2 photo tripod (current). Got this used off Astromart. Fantastic heavyweight fluid head photo tripod with removable shoe, like the Optex one. All metal construction unlike the heavy plastics in the Optex photo tripod. This is a great wide field panning mount for my ST scopes and served double duty as my mount of choice for my mini tabletop Orion SkyScanner scope. It can also be used with the Orion Precision Slow Motion Adapter for binocular use. Again not an ideal mount for astro as anything above 45 degrees tended to have problems with tight locking...but better than the Optex. My only gripe is that this is the older model with the twist turn locks for the retractable legs. It gets slippery and hard to turn when the metal goes cold from being out under the stars too long. Has rubberized ends which helps with dampening times.
5. Vixen Porta Mount (current). Astromart is king. Wow dob like smoothness and stability, plus adjustable height for comfortable seated viewing. This mount takes the cake for sturdiness, lightweight and slow mo, since it has slow motion knobs. No fussing around with lock knobs and stuff, it stays where you push it. You can then track like a dob, but only better as it has slow motion controls. Super sturdy and it holds my C6 OTA with ease. Damping time 3 seconds or less.....NICEEEE. Can't wait to try it out with my C8. I have to date used the SkyScanner 100mm OTA, the Funscope 76mm OTA and the Travelscope 70mm OTA on this and each and everyone of them were a joy to use on this mount. A must have!

Other miscellaneous gear

1. Orion Steady Pix Camera Mount-Used this for a good year to image the moon and some of the brighter DSO's (such as Pleiades, M42). Was hard to use as you had to get the camera lens at just the right distance from the eyepiece. Speaking of which only long eye relieve eyepieces would work for this sort of prime focus eyepiece projection method. I used this mostly with my Kodak Z990 and an Orion Expanse 20mm ep. Also I had issues getting it to clamp down sufficiently tight as it would sometimes unscrew itself causing my heart to skip a beat (i.e. cam almost went crashing to the concrete). Sold it when I obtained my Meade DSI I, which is an awesome starter DSO CCD camera.
2. Meade Focal Reducer f/6.3 for SCT-Just got this and have not tested it out yet. Will update when I do. This brings the focal length of the C8 down to the level of the 10" dob so I will be getting wider views with my lower magnification ep, my 24.5mm Meade SWA. The focal reducer feels very heavy and well made and the coatings look to be fully multicoated. can't wait to get it tested out. It will act as a seal for the OTA too ;)