Kurt's Equipment

After finding a junked 8" dob, repairing it, and seeing how easy it was to take out, and how enjoyable it was to do visual observing,

I got to thinking that my scopes were not getting used enough. MY AP140 on a Tak EM-200 was too big and too much trouble and I was doing very little astrophotogrphy with it. My 6" SCT on the Meade LX65 AltAz mount was easy enough to take out, but 6" doesn't let you see much and the AltAz mount was no good for astrophotography. My wonderful AP Stowaway was not getting much use on either of my mounts. So I sold everything except the Stowaway and now I have a lightweight high quality mount (CEM26) I can use for deep sky (Stowaway) or Planetary (7" Mak) photography and a very large "light bucket" with the 12" Dob that is excellent for visual use. My Tak mount held its value very well, and of course the AP140 aprreciated far better than most investments, so I ended with $4000 in the bank.

AP Stowaway 3.62" (92mm) f/6.65 triplet

I was lucky to get on the wait list very early and got this from AP in July 3, 2019. The guide scope is a cheap Orion 90mm fully coated achro, 500mm f/5.6 The mount is an iOptron CEM26EC Equatorial GoTo Mount

Precision Stepper Motor, 1.8º/128X micro-step
Tracking Accuracy (PE): Realtime PEC; less than 0.3 arcsec RMS
Worm Diameter: Φ15.2 mm, Brass
Right Ascension Worm Wheel: Φ88 mm, 144 teeth, Zero Backlash
Declination Worm Wheel: Φ88 mm, 144 teeth, Zero Backlash
Max Payload: 26 lbs (12 kg)
Counterweight Shaft Diameter: 20x305 mm
Hand Controller: Go2Nova® 8409, 4 line 21 character LCD
Guiding Port: ST-4
Communication Port: USB
WiFi: Built in WiFi
iPolar integrated electronic polar finder scope

Orion 180mm Maksutov-Cassegrain

Also rides on the iOptron CEM26EC.
7.1" aperture and 2,700mm focal length (f/15) Maksutov-Cassegrain for high-power solar system viewing and photography of the Moon and planets. 22" long and weighs less than 16 lbs.

Explore Scientific - Generation II - 12-inch Truss Tube Dobsonian Telescope

The 305mm mirror collects more than 1,800 times as much light as the naked eye.

Item Number DOB1245–00
f/ratio f/5
Focal length 1,525 mm
Primary mirror diameter 305 cm (12 inch)
Secondary obstruction 24%
Theoretical limiting magnitude 15.11 mag

Meade ETX Maksutov-Cassegrain Tube 1250mm f/13.8

Got this cheap from someone who had a broken ETX mount Mar 2015 for terrestrial or astro photography
on a Bogen/Manfrotto Tracker Tripod and Compact Geared Head #3275.

For widefield sky shots

I use a SkyWatcher, my Bogen tripod, and a red dot finder on my camera,
and then my 14mm, 50mm, 135, or my Nikkor lens
I found 2 older Nikkor manual camera lenses for wide field shots -- great optics, very cheap
1) Nikon Nikkor-ED 180mm f/2.8
Ser# 381090 of 380004 - 454048 made Mar 81 - Dec 05, so made in first year, 1981
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/EQ_TESTS/NIKON_180MM.HTM
2) Nikon Nikkor-ED 300mm f4.5 AIS
S# 213004 of Ser# 210001 - 238835 made Dec 81 thru 1999, so made in first year, 1982