2019 (Current)

2018 – August 2019

Mount

• SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro with EQ6 8in extension pier and Altair TMS Dual Losmandy Side-By-Side mounting plate.
• QHYCCD Polemaster
• Pegasus Pocket Power Box (for dew heater power and control, power 183C TEC cooling and Pegasus Motor Control)
  

Telescopes

• Ostara HR152 Achromat Refractor with Pegasus Motor Focus Controller and Kendrick Dew Heater
  
• Altair Starwave 102ED-R Refractor with Pegasus Motor Focus Controller and AstroZap Dew Heater
  
• TS Optics 65mm Apo Quad Refractor (TSAPO65Q) with Pegasus Motor Focus Controller
  • Guide: Orion 50mm Guidescope with USB powered dew heater strap
    

Cameras

• ZWO ASI294MC Pro Cooled (Previous: Altair 178C and Altair 183C)
  
  • ZWO 5-Position Electronic Filter Wheel (ZWO EWFmini)
    

• Altair GPCAMv2 130M (for Guiding)

Imaging Capture Hardware + Software

• Gigabyte BRIX
  • Intel Core i3 1.7GHz, 8Gb Ram, 512Gb SATA
    
  • Connected to TP-Link outdoor CPE510 in Client mode (5Ghz)
    
• EQDir cable (direct connection between remote imaging PC and EQ6-R Pro Mount; avoids using the handset)
• Cartes du Ciel for remote positioning and control
• ASCOM6 Platform for controlling mount
• SharpCap Pro 3.x for imaging
• PHD2 for Guiding

Processing Hardware + Software

Remote Desktop Clients:

• Windows 10 Pro HP 14 Laptop (Core i5, 8Gb Ram, 256Gb SSD)
• Linux (Ubuntu Xenial) Desktop (Core i5, 24Gb Ram, 256Gb NVMe)

Image Processing:

• Windows 10 Pro HP 14 Laptop (Core i5, 8Gb Ram, 256Gb SSD)
  • PIPP, Registax and AutoStakkert!3 for Lunar and Solar processing
  • Astro Pixel Processor (APP) for deep sky processing [for quick
    “in the field” processing]
  • Adobe CC for post-processing
• Linux (Ubuntu Xenial) Desktop (Core i5, 24Gb Ram, 256Gb NVMe)
  • Astro Pixel Processor (APP) for all my deep sky processing
• Hackintosh (Core i5, 16Gb Ram, 256Gb SSD)
  • Adobe CC for large post-processing

Backup Hardware + Cloud Backup Service

• QNAP TS121 with 2Tb HDD
• IDrive 1Tb Cloud Backup
• Seagate Expansion 4Tb USB3 HDD

 

 

2017

Mount

• SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt + Ceramic Bearings
• QHYCCD Polemaster
• SkyWatcher EQ3 with Motors

Telescopes

• Altair Starwave 102ED-R Refractor with Pegasus Motor Focus Controller
• Altair Lightwave 72ED-R Refractor with Pegasus Motor Focus Controller
• Guide: Orion 50mm Guidescope

Cameras

• Altair Hypercam 183C V2 (for Imaging)
• Altair GPCAMv2 130M (for Guiding)

2016

Mount

• SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt

Telescopes

• GSO 8RC
• SkyWatcher Equinox Pro 80ED
• Guide: Orion 50mm Guidescope

Cameras

• Altair Hypercam 174C (for imaging)
• QHYCCD QHY5L-M (for Guiding)

2015

Mount

• .SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro

Telescopes

• SkyWatcher Equinox Pro 80ED

Cameras

• ZWO ASI 224 (for imaging)

2013 – 2015

Mount + Telescope

• Celestron NexStar 6SE – my first scope

Camera

• Nikon D3200 DSLR