open totem
I might try planetary with my 200 PDS. The problem is that I don't have a barlow and I heard it's pretty much critical. I am looking at a Celestron X-Cel LX 3x Barlow lens for about 130$. Could anyone who know planetary tell me if it's decent? Would appreciate any advice.
I am also considering this Sky-Watcher Laser collimator for about 70$. I use a collimation cap right now
iron flame
I might try planetary with my 200 PDS. The problem is that I don't have a barlow...
Amazing barlow. I just got one. You might wanna check around second hand though because I got mine for $60 USD on cloudy nights
safe frigate
I am also considering this Sky-Watcher Laser collimator for about 70$. I use a c...
Don't use a laser to collimate 
open totem
Don't use a laser to collimate <:PepeHands:853356001776107530>
What would you recommend then? Should I stick to the collimation cap?
safe frigate
a cheshire is a little better, you can also add to that a all sky lens on a guide cam and do something similar to what the ocal collimator does
those lenses are cheap on aliexpress
iron flame
There goes fenice, aliexpress fanboying again 😂
safe frigate
yeees
it just makes no sense to buy some stuff from local retailers when they're 3x cheaper on ali
open totem
Alright thanks
safe frigate
same deal for the x-cel, they're 80 or so € on ali
open totem
Amazing barlow. I just got one. You might wanna check around second hand though ...
Is cloudy nights a UK thing or is it also for EU?
iron flame
Is cloudy nights a UK thing or is it also for EU?
oh it's mostly US I think sorry didn't see your country
but check other second hand websites
just in case
safe frigate
oh it's mostly US I think sorry didn't see your country
he did say the prices in dollars so it was an educated guess
open totem
oh it's mostly US I think sorry didn't see your country
No worries. The reselling market where I live is sadly very small.
open totem
he did say the prices in dollars so it was an educated guess
Thought it would be easier for Americans to understand 😅
safe frigate
just use whatever currency you have, people here are from all over the place
open totem
just use whatever currency you have, people here are from all over the place
Also, wont you have to pay insane taxes if it's from Ali?
safe frigate
so far I never had to pay vat, I bought stuff up to 90€ or so, now I have a touptek eaf coming for 130€ so I guess we'll see
open totem
so far I never had to pay vat, I bought stuff up to 90€ or so, now I have a toup...
That's lucky, the collimation cap I have I got from the UK for 10€ aswell as another thing for 50€. Had to pay almost 75€ in import taxes and fees to get it
safe frigate
yeah buying from the uk sucks, I only bought once from flo and had to pay tons of taxes relative to what I spent for the product
and it took ages
open totem
yeah buying from the uk sucks, I only bought once from flo and had to pay tons o...
Yea, but doesn't it also take ages to get from Ali in china?
candid moon
Also, wont you have to pay insane taxes if it's from Ali?
It depends on a lot of things.
I have my RisingCam from Ali and the seller wrote 300.- instead of the 1'500.- in the documents.
So I only had to pay 24.- for VAT and 15.- for clearance.
Other sellers may not do this or use a different shipping method, which can lead to higher clearance.
safe frigate
as far as I know most seller will declare a lower value if you ask them
safe frigate
It depends on a lot of things.
I have my RisingCam from Ali and the seller wrote...
are you sure the difference wasn't just the price - 20 or so% of vat?
candid moon
are you sure the difference wasn't just the price - 20 or so% of vat?
No it was the 8% VAT of the 300.-
...Switzerland
iron flame
yeah buying from the uk sucks, I only bought once from flo and had to pay tons o...
I want to buy tube rings from FLO (I live in the US). Will I have to pay lots of import fees/taxes?
safe frigate
Idk how it works when buying from the us
open totem
I just had a thought. Would a 3x barlow be to much paired with my 585 mc camera in my 200 PDS?
In terms of usefull Useful Magnification
candid moon
I want to buy tube rings from FLO (I live in the US). Will I have to pay lots of...
Ask FLO, they're nice people.
safe frigate
I just had a thought. Would a 3x barlow be to much paired with my 585 mc camera ...
according to astronomy tools .58 is the limit and you'd be at .2
open totem
according to astronomy tools .58 is the limit and you'd be at .2
so no barlow is best?
open totem
ohh I read it wrong, so 3x would be well within the limit?
safe frigate
you read it right, but limits for dso are slightly different than for planetary
open totem
you read it right, but limits for dso are slightly different than for planetary
I see, What would you recommend then? Shuld I just go without barlow since it goes over the limit?
safe frigate
you can use a 2x barlow at least, that's what I also do with my guide cam when shooting planets
same pixel size
@potent mauve sry for the ping, do you remember how the limits worked for planetary? I remember that you can shoot with a resolution like 3x less the seeing but Idk about the telescope limits themselves
potent mauve
<@321956957588291584> sry for the ping, do you remember how the limits worked fo...
np, as far as I know you just want each pixel to see a distance that is 1/4th of the scopes dawes limit, that is around the maximum.
Formula to figure out what barlow gets you roughly that is:
7 times pixel size in um divided by focal ratio. @open totem
You'd need really nice seeing for that, so you can use a 5 in that formula if your seeing at the time isn't good enough.
I think I originally got that info from point 6.1 on this thread:
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/812022-planetary-imaging-faq-updated-september-2024/
open totem
np, as far as I know you just want each pixel to see a distance that is 1/4th of...
Alright, so a 3x barlow would be fine then for planetary with my setup?