Star Tracker Gear
Telescope Connection Breakdown - right to left
Recommended back focus for RedCat is 55mm to the 54mm adapter
Camera: threads 42mm female, space to sensor 6.5mm
Spacer: threads 42mm male/female, width 11mm (comes on camera)
Filter drawer: threads 42mm to 48mm female, width 21mm
Spacer: threads 48mm male/female, width 11mm
Adapter: threads 54mm male to 48mm male, (hey my spacing doesn't add up)
Telescope: threads 54mm female, (with adjustable focus for when your spacing doesn't add up)
A star tracker designed with the primary considerations of low cost and high portability. If you have to carry your gear to a remote shooting location this is the tracker for you.
Simple polar alignment by pointing a laser at Polaris.
Weight Capacity: 4kg
Power: internal battery and/or external USB-C
5% off if you use the code: MrRat
Not wanting to spend time fighting my photos I wanted a camera that was capable of usable one shot color images. In order to keep costs down this is a smaller, less expensive, version of the camera I use on my no-expense-spared EQ setup.
Sensor: Sony Back-illuminated 9mp 1" Color CMOS.
Quality Specs: 3.76 pixel size, 50ke well depth, 13 stops dynamic range, 80% peak QE
Power Camera: 5v, 1.5amp (USB)
Power Cooler: 12v, 3amp
Focal Length when paired with the RedCat: 676mm (35mm equivalent)
APO Triplet Refractor. Refractor telescopes are the most like camera lenses and so the easiest to use for those of us coming from a photography background, and have low comatic aberration. The APO Triplet part just means that your money is being spent on correcting chromatic aberrations.
Diameter: 51mm
Focal Length: 250mm
Aperture: f/4.9
Weight: 1.8kg
Weight as pictured, fully loaded: 3.25kg
Although the RedCat has a place to screw in 2" filters, using a drawer makes it easy to swap filters during the night.
Threads: 48mm on telescope side and 42mm on the camera side. (we're using a small sensor so 42mm is ok)
The RedCat 51 Gen 2 was not designed for an electronic focuser so a custom mount was necessary.
Connects the ZWO ASIAir, EAF, and WO finder to the William Optics RedCat 51
Welcome to dedicated astro cameras; they're stupid. The ASI533 pretty much consists of a sensor and an air conditioner, that's it, no brains. You can use a laptop and freely available software (linked to at ZWO site) or you can buy one of these dedicated astro computers and control the camera over WiFi with an app on your cellphone. This Mini version is smaller and more light weight than the others.
Power In: 12v, up to 6amp
Power Out: 4 x 12v, 3amp
USB Ports: 4 USB 2.0
This will make you the envy of all the other astrophotographers. Electronically controlled focusing that can be fully automated to recheck focus based on time passed and/or temperature change.
Power: 5v, .5amp (USB 2.0)
An overpriced red dot sight; except it includes everything needed to mount it securely to your telescope or the accessories mount. This makes aiming the telescope much easier.
Power: CR2023 battery
Miscellaneous
You can never have enough stuff:
Dew Heater - by slightly heating your lens it keeps dew from forming and blurring your shot. I've forgotten to turn mine on before and actually had the lens frost over.
Portable Power Supply with 12v DC Port - something like this with a 12v DC port to power the ZWO ASIAir, which powers everything else.
Optolong L-eNhance 2" - Dual Narrowband Filter blocks all light except for Ha & OIII which are the primary colors of deep space objects.