Astronomy equipment house cleaning in progress... Preliminary List of Items for sale, pricing TBD. Everything works (but check with me on specifics as to last time tested, item condition/details/etc).
QHY8 cooled camera (see QHY8 cooled CCD camera) - It is a large-format (APS-size) one-shot color camera with a 28mm diagonal chip size. Some info: * Total pixel: 3110 x 2030 * Active pixels: 3032 x 2016 * Pixel Size: 7.8um x 7.8um square * Color method: RGB BAYER film on CCD
SBIG STV Autoguider - guides without a computer
ST80 telescope adapted for rock-solid guiding - works great with STV - can be accessorized with rings and plates
Vixen Polarie sky tracker for lightweight camera setups
Manfrotto 496RC2 ballhead that I used on a Vixen Polarie tracking mount
Astronomy Technologies AT66ED Refractor with case (info below)
Tripod head(s) I'm not using - (details TBD)
William Optics .8 Flattener II for 66 APO with Canon adapter (never used)
Astro-Physics 15x70 Binoculars with case
Losmandy D dovetail rings (various rings not getting used)
Takahashi 11x80 finder scope
Takahashi bracket for 11x80 finder scope
Celestron 2X barlow
Manfrotto (maybe Bogen, gotta check) metal monopod
Astro-Physics CP3 controller (just upgraded to a CP4)
Various DC power connectors - cigarette plug type
This summer 2006 acquisition is a small, inexpensive, but good quality refractor. It's offered by Astronomics, and seems comparable to the small Williams Optics 66mm scopes that were favorably reviewed in one of the astronomy magazines. The problem with the Williams Optics version is that nobody seemed to have them to sell, where Astronomics just received 300 of these in various colors. They sell for $329 plus ground shipping. There is no diagonal or eyepiece included in that price.
This is nominally an APO (apochromatic) scope, and I agree with that designation. I could find little if any false color of the moon with a wide variety of eyepieces. In my initial use I've only seen a trace of color when using a 3.6 mm EP on Jupiter. This is 111x magnification, which is over the listed highest practical power of 100x. I used a Takahashi 1.25" diagonal, along with a variety of eyepieces: generic 20mm & 10mm plossls, 18mm TeleView Radian, and Takahashi 5mm and 3.6 ED. Note the 18mm Radian did not come to focus with this setup, there was not enough backfocus. A work-around was to lift the EP up a bit in the diagonal.
There's a very nice review of this scope at "Cloudy Nights." I have used this scope with a Nikon D100 DSLR camera and a Bogen/Manfrotto 410 gear tripod head and Bogan 3401 tripod. With legs fully extended, this setup can comfortably handle this much weight, but it is pushing the upper weight limits. While it would be fun to put my 2" diagonal on, that extra weight would scare me.