Bob's AstroGallery

A.k.a. NGC 6218
Type: Globular Cluster
Distance from earth: Approx. 15.700 ly
Constellation: Ophiuchus
Telescope: Robtics 115mm triplet apo @ F/6.9
Camera: Atik 383L+ monochrome
Exposure: 10x 300s + 1x dark pixel map
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Additional accessories: Robtics field flattener, Starlight Xpress USB filter wheel

A.k.a.: NGC 7078
Type: Globular cluster
Telescope: Robtics 130mm triplet apo @ F/6.9
Camera: Atik 314L
Exposure: 17x300s, 4 darks, no flats
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2

The first version was made 1 year ago, minus 10 days, with the DSLR.

After many weeks of bad weather and no clear skies, last night finally showed proof that there is actually something behind those clouds.
Unfortunately it was short-lived, after setting up my gear, I was able to take only 3 frames of M3; the clouds were already coming back, fast.
But it was worth it, I could finally test the Intes Mikro 0.6x focal reducer.
This reducer does not correct for anything, unlike most SCT focal reducers, and I had hoped it would produce coma-free pictures.
As you can see in the picture, it isn’t nearly coma free – and this was taken with a small CCD camera!
Vignetting is also quite apparent. I didn’t make any flats though, those would take care of this problem perfectly.

This really is unfortunate, because it means I still have to wait for Celestron to produce their dedicated C9.25 EdgeHD focal reducers, which will undoubtedly be very costly.

Wolfgang Ransburg, from Teleskop-Service, was kind enough to sell me a discount Intes Mikro focal reducer, with the option to return it in case it wouldn’t live up to our expectations (he thought, or hoped, that this reducer would fit the EdgeHD series).
So, from this short test alone, I think I can safely conclude that this focal reducer is not compatible with the C9.25 EdgeHD.
If I would use my Canon DSLR, with its much larger CMOS chip, the coma will be much worse.

Type: Globular Cluster
A.k.a.: NGC 5272
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance From Earth: 33,900 light years

Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 3x240s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats.
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: C9.25 EdgeHD
Focal reducer: Intes Mikro 0.6x

Type: Globular Cluster
A.k.a.: NGC 6205
Constellation: Hercules
Distance From Earth: 25,100 light years

Camera: Atik 314L color
Exposure: 26x30s light frames, 0 dark frames, 0 flats.
Filters: Hutech IDAS LPS-P2
Telescope: C9.25 EdgeHD

A.k.a.: NGC 6838
Type: Globular cluster
Camera: Canon EOS 550D (unmodified)
Exposure: 6x50s @ ISO800, No darks, no flats
Filters: none

A.k.a.: NGC 7078
Type: Globular cluster
Camera: Canon EOS 550D (unmodified)
Exposure: 27x40s @ ISO800, no darks, no flats
Filters: none

Type: Globular Cluster
A.k.a.: NGC 6341
Camera: Canon EOS 550D (unmodified)
Exposure: 23x40s @ISO800, no darks, no flats
Filters: none

A.k.a.: NGC 6205
Type: Globular Cluster
Camera: Canon EOS 550D (unmodified)
Exposure: 20x60s @ ISO 800, 20 darks, no flats
Filters: none