Astrophotography with an old C90 Maksutov Telescope?
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- The original Celestron C90 was sold in 3 variants - Astro Telescope, Telephoto lens and Spotting Scope. In this video I try to do astrophotography of the brighter planets and moon using a de-forked C90 Astro optical tube assembly. Initially I used a piggyback mount to attach the C90 to my nearly new Celestron 8" Evolution telescope, and then I move onto using a lightweight equatorial grab and go setup. Is the old Maksutov any good at AP?
I can now see why Celestron stopped using the helical focuser. Thanks for sharing Graham.
There's probably a load of these tucked away in peoples lofts not getting used so it's a pleasure to see you breathing life into this vintage scope Graham. It also looked pretty cool piggy backed on the Evo8. The colour fringe from the corrector just goes to show how things have improved but still some nice sharp images I reckon, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Chris, I was tempted to leave it sitting atop the Evo8 as a "super finder", but then I loosened the altitude clutch and it spun round alarmingly - definitely not easy to balance! I agree it shows its age with the colour, it's just a niggle though. Have a good Christmas and clear skies for the New Year.
I also own a Celestron C90. Got it from my aunt. We used to stargaze with it when I was a kid. I got a 1.25 upgrade for it a few year ago and it really breathed new life into it.
Quite nice. Mars and the Moon is beautiful. Fantastic video. Very nostalgic.
Thanks Garnett, have a good Christmas.
Wow I have the exact same orange tube c-90. The focus system requires practice but it’s great with the 1.25 upgrade. Fun backyard scope glad to see another one still in use. Thanks bro
I picked one up a few years ago for $25.00 and have had some fun with it. I had no luck using it for photography, but I am not really into this hobby. I did get some ideas from your video.
Thx a lot for this interesting Video. I really like to do astrophotography with unusual components. I don't habe a C90 but an old 60mm F900 where i replaced the original focuser and now waiting for clear sky to test.
Hopy you will do more videos like this.
Kr and Cs
Olli
Picked one up on eBay. Built well, but wow... focusing is an art. Best for me seems to be one hand on the tripod head, one on the focuser. I don't have a surplus of riches, so I'm going to practice, as it's about like focusing a camera lens. Edit: I have the hang of it now: it helped to clean and regrease the focusing mechanism. A two-handed focusing technique can work well also. The light weight and relative short length of the scope really make it nice for travel.
I have this Orange version as well as a newer rubber coated one. A great scope to set up in a hurry.
Graham,
Thank you for the quick response. We will look into getting the camera and sharing with our grandkids.
Thanks
Bill
I refurbished mine to reduce scattered light and both visual and photographic performance improved. I did a bit of astrophotography but I agree that the helical focusser is a showstopper. If only you could attach a fine focusser easily !
When you say refurbished, what do you mean? I have one of these telescopes, and I can not get it to focus. It was given to me by my step father and I have zero experience star gazing. But am excited to get this working.
You can do it, you can attach a fine focuser on it.
Please more vintage scope reviews...❤
Nice telescope.....😎👍
Even visually it's not easy to focus when it's cold outside. For a daytime spotter it's great.
True, not so smooth on a cold night.
1:58 The colour cast on the Jovian disk reminds me of chromatic aberration through my achromatic refractors, especially the purplish equatorial bands...
Yes I think it must be CA from the corrector. I checked that the debayer matrix was correct, and Jupiter and the Moon were high enough to rule out dispersion. Not sure what else could have caused it.
Amazing what you have done with it, i just got one of these out of a closet LOL, am wondering where you get the adaptor to go to a camera?
Not the neatest thing but if you have an astronomy camera with a 1.25” nosepiece then you can fit it using a 0.965” to 1.25” adapter which is cheap to buy online. If you want to use a DSLR you can you the same approach by adding a t-ring and t-adapter. The latter isn’t the sturdiest way of attaching a heavy DSLR and you need to make sure everything’s tightened up, but it works. You can spend quite a bit on various other adapters eg from Baader but this isn’t perfect as you end up with quite a distance from the C90 to the camera, so I’d stick with the cheaper route.
@@JenhamsAstro Thank you, i dont want to spend a lot of cash on hookups, i managed to get a nice pic of the moon yesterday when there were no clouds. I used to be into astronomy in my teens. so it has been a while. So anything helps to rekindle a lost interest. :)
New to this, so can explain what the red attachment is to the eyepiece tube? I’m assuming it is a Bluetooth connection for your computer app?
Thanks
Bill
Hi Bill, that’s the camera, in this case a ZWO ASI-224 colour camera. Its video output is sent to the laptop via a USB link. Hope this helps, Graham
Thank you very much for your video. Upload more content please. I have a question. Could this C90 lose the factory collimation? What would be the procedure to install it? Thanks in advance !
Thanks. The C90 can lose collimation but it isn’t common with Maksutov designs. There are 3 screws on the rear cell which should enable adjustment. Most Maks have 6 screws and operate in a push or pull arrangement. I’ve adjusted this config on my 127. I haven’t needed to adjust the C90 so I’m afraid I don’t have the procedure for it. My advise with Maks is if it isn’t broken - don’t fix it! Sorry I can’t help more, a procedure can probably be found online. Clear skies.
@@JenhamsAstro Thank you my friend best regards
good
There's a spotting scope version of a 90 Mak by Sky Watcher and others I'm sure.
Yes, there are Skymax 90 and new Celestron C90 scopes that feature more conventional focusers and which use modern 1.25" eyepieces.
Do they make t-adapter for old C/90 as I have read the newer ones have a different TPI?
The was a “Large Accessory Ring” made years ago but I have never seen one for sale used. There are some options - you can use a 0.965” t-adapter with a standard t-ring, or Baader make an adapter but it’s not cheap.
Hey mate! I have very important question for me, im gonna go straight to it, im buying my first binecoulars for astronomical purposes, whitch one shoud i buy ( on budget), celestron cometron 7x50, celestron upclose G2 10x50, or delta optical Discovery 10x50?
I've got the Up Close G2s and they are OK for the low cost. I read that the cometrons are decent but the 10x of the G2 is worth having i think. I haven't come across the delta optical model. I doubt there is a huge difference between any of them at this price.
@@JenhamsAstro thanks!
Hi,
Are you still using your StellaLyra 10", if so what is your opinion on it now?
Thank you
Hello, no I decided to sell it in the end along with a couple of other scopes, to fund the Evo 8. I really liked the Dob though and would recommend it. But I decided that the Goto and tracking of the Evo would allow me to see more targets. A compromise as always.