My Astrophotography Equipment and Software
My gear:
Used to photograph the Moon and all Deep Sky objects (Galaxies, Nebulas, Clusters, Comets, etc) up to magnitude 7.5.
- SkyWatcher Evostar 72ED Apochromatic Refractor Telescope, 72/420 mm F/5.8
- CCD47 0.67x Flattener / Reducer (72ED becomes 72/335 mm F/4.6)
- ZWO EAF (Electronic Focuser 12V/USB)
- ZWO ASI183MC Pro cooled camera (21 MPixels dedicated One shot Color Camera) + ZWO EFW (Electronic Filter Wheel - 5 Filters) - Note 1
- Askar FMA135 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope, 30/135mm F/4.5, normally used as guide scope (Also used for Wide-Field captures together with the ASI183MC Pro OSC camera)
- ZWO ASI120MM mini guiding camera
- Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO Mount (Rowan Belt drive) + Tripod
- ZWO ASIAIR PRO Controller. - Note 2
-TS Optics TSShorty 3-element APO 2.3x Barlow
- APM 2" Mirror diagonal
- Wooden base w/ 3 rollers (custom built)
- 24 AH 12V Power bank
- 300W inverter (12 V DC-220V AC)
Software and Computers:
Capturing/Controller software:
- Asiair Pro for iOS / Android version 2.1.2 (firmware: 10.98)
Photo stacking:
- ZWO ASI Studio v 1.10.1 (22/01/2024) - free
- DSS-Deep Sky Stacker 5.1.5 (30/11/2023) by Luc Coiffier, David C.Partridge, Tony Cook, Mat Draper, Simon C. Smith, Vitali Pelenjow and Tomas Tatara - free
Photo processing:
- Adobe Photoshop 25.5.0 (04/03/2024)- not free
Moon/Planets stacking/processing Software:
- ZWO's ASI Studio v 1.10.1 - free
- PIPP 2.5.9 - Planetary Imaging PreProcessor - by Chris Garry - free (occasional use)
- AutoStakkert! 3.0.14 - by Emil Kraaikamp - free (occasional use)
- Registax6 - by Cor Berrevots - free (occasional use)
- Adobe Photoshop 25.5.0 - not free
Capturing and sequence processing computers:
- Raspberry Pi based, ZWO ASIAIR PRO Controller running software v 2.1.2 and Firmware v 10.98 (Beta)
- TCL 20R 5G Android based smartphone (human interface) as from August 2022 (running ASIAIR v 2.1.1 - 10.74 (actual production version)
- iPhone X smartphone - Running ASIAIR v 2.1.2 - 10.98 (Beta)
- iPad Air - Running ASIAIR v 2.1.2 - 10.98 (Beta)
- Windows 11 PC, using Bluestacks 5 Android Emulator for Windows to run ASIAIR v2.1.1 -10.74
Processing and data backup:
- Lenovo Legion Y540 (gamer grade PC)
Intel 6 Core i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60 Ghz
16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Hd, running Windows 11, version 22H2
Array of 2x 2TB SSD for storing
1x 4TB Fast HDD for backup
Notes:
Note 1: Filters mounted:
- Astronomik Light Pollution 1.25"
- ZWO Dual-Band ASIDB125 (Ha/O3)
- ZWO Sii (Narrowband Sulpur) 1.25" 7nm
- Optolong L-eXtreme dual-band 7nm (Ha/O3)
Note 2: Raspberry Pi based computer which controls all Astrophotography session matters like Polar alignment, Focusing, Photography sequence, all controlled via Wi-Fi from an iPad App. This controller is used in the two sets
ASTRO EQUIPMENT CURRENTLY FOR SALE:
All Equipment is actually for Sale
Note: In case you are interested on all or any of the above mentioned items, please contact me via the contacts area of this website, or visit my ads on FB group "Compra/venda Astronomia Iberica" or OLX.pt.