RST-300 First Light (TOA-150, CYG48P)

Leo triplet

Telescope : Takahashi TOA-150

Camera : Nikon D810 (Central DS Astro D810)

Mount : RainbowAstro RST-300

Tripod : SuperMount CYG48P

Guide scope : Takahashi FS60

Guide CCD : ZWO ASI120mm mini

Exposure : ISO 200, 300s x 67

Location : YeongYang-gun, Korea

Date : 2020-03-22

This is a picture taken with the RST-300 mount under development.

The tripod used SuperMount’s CYG48P, which was great for the RST-300 and TOA-150. There was no anxiety that the stiffness was unsatisfactory or would fall. (The rubber foot is attached to the photo, but the rubber foot was removed from the observation site.)

The RST-300 mount did the job as expected. It was equipped with about 25kg, but it did well for slewing and tracking (auto guiding) without counterweight. I tested it with OAG on Celestron EdgeHD 14 at different locations on different days and the results were similar. The polar align adjuster also moved smoothly and precisely, without much effort.

This is the screen of ASIAIR during shooting. As the seeing improved for a while, the auto guiding Total RMS error appeared in less than 0.5 arcsec, so I took a screen capture. On this day, Total RMS seems to have averaged about 0.7 ~ 1.0arcsec.