Back in May, I watched a video from AstroBackyard about building a portable astrophotography setup. I was a little frustrated with my current setup. Specifically, I had a hard time finding deep-sky objects, and the quality of images was never great. I decided that I would basically take his recommendations and go from there.
Recommended Equipment
Here is the list of equipment he recommends. I think the links are his affiliate links.
| Item | Name | Link | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera | ZWO ASI2400MC Pro | https://bit.ly/asi2400 | $3499 |
| Filter | Optolong L-eXtreme | https://bit.ly/l-extreme | $309 |
| Telescope | Radian 61 | https://bit.ly/raptor61 | $999 |
| Guide Scope | StarField 60mm | https://bit.ly/guide-package | $410 |
| Guide Camera | ZWO ASI120MM Mini | https://bit.ly/2Aj6Tc6 | $150 |
| Star Tracker | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi | https://bit.ly/staradventurerGTI | $640 |
| Tripod | Radian Carbon Fiber | https://bit.ly/3nOlhPf | $389 |
| Camera Control | ZWO ASIAir Plus | https://bit.ly/ASIAIRPlus | $299 |
| Mount Cable | RJ45 Control Cable | https://amzn.to/3PhuuLL | $28 |
This adds up to $6700! It is portable, but it is expensive. Luckily I had some things already, and could swap out a few other things
My equipment list
| Item | Name | Link | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camera | ZWO ASI294MC Pro | ZWO | $999 | Not full-frame version |
| Filter | Optolong L-eXtreme | https://bit.ly/l-extreme | $309 | Ordered |
| Telescope | RedCat 51 | High Point Scientific | N/A | Owned |
| Guide Scope | ZWO 30F4 | Kit with the ASIAir | ||
| Guide Camera | ZWO ASI120MM Mini | Kit with the ASIAir | ||
| Star Tracker | Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi | https://bit.ly/staradventurerGTI | $640 | Ordered |
| Tripod | Benro Adventure 2 Aluminum | Amazon | N/A | Owned |
| Camera Control | ZWO ASIAir Plus | https://bit.ly/ASIAIRPlus | $547 | Included guide scope and camera |
| Mount Cable | RJ45 Control Cable | https://amzn.to/3PhuuLL | $28 | Ordered |
I already had a tripod and the nice RedCat telescope.
The biggest savings was getting a different camera, not the full-frame version. That saved me $2500. Maybe someday I’ll upgrade, but this was getting expensive enough. This one will be an upgrade to my old DSLR.
This got me down to $2500, which was closer to my budget.
Back-orders
Of course, most of the stuff was back ordered. The things from ZWO (ASIAir, guide camera, guide scope) took about 5 weeks to ship. The Star Adventurer GTi took 4 months! It didn’t help that it was highly popular, a new product, and there were global supply-chain issues.
I went all summer without taking pictures as I patiently waited for the new equipment to arrive.
Additional Hardware
As parts started rolling in, I found I needed a few more parts to get everything connected. I had all the wires, but I needed ways to mount everything.
For mounting the guide scope and ASIAir to my telescope, I got the RedCat Saddle Handle Bar. This attached so easily.
I wanted the ASIAir to hang off the telescope as well, so I got a little 3D-printed mounting bracket from Etsy
Final Result
You can see what I ended up with in my 2022 Gear Overview