I own a trio of extraordinary refractors made by Roland Christen of Astro-Physics. For visual use, I finally obtained one of the truly great apos, a 180mm (7.1”) f9 EDT. It is set up on an Astro-Physics 1200GTO mount. Together, they rest on a variable-height Pier Tech III.
Equipment
For imaging, I use the 155EDF on a second 1200GTO mount and a permanent AstroPier. Its fast focal ratio (f7) shortens exposure time, and its 4” field flattener provides coverage of a 6x7 film format with room to spare. Hopefully, there will be an affordable medium format CCD some day. When it arrives, I’ll be ready! In the meantime, I am imaging with an SBIG STL11000M, whose 11-megapixel detector is the same size as 35mm film. Mounted on top, I usually have the 105mm f5.9 Traveler. This is a wonderful widefield scope for imaging or visual use. BTW, that’s Marj Christen, Roland’s wife, posing with the scopes.
The A-P mounts are sturdy, yet light for their capacities. The polar and dec axes are cleverly designed so that they come apart for transport. This means each part that has to be lifted up to the pier is lighter, and they mate in seconds.
Pending completion of an observatory, I have been imaging from this deck in our back yard. The permanent pier is set in concrete, and does not touch the deck. This way, no vibrations are transferred to the scope.
