As of September 2012, the observatory uses a Takahashi Epsilon 180ED hyperbolic astrograph as its main telescope.  With a native focal length of 500m, and focal ratio of f/2.8, this instrument is capable of gathering light almost four times as fast as my previous telescope.  Its wide, flat field makes it ideally suited to imaging the larger objects in the night sky.



The main camera is an Atik 4000 Mono and EFW2 filterwheel, housing narrowband and LRGB filters.



Unfortunately, the Epsilon 180 has insufficient backfocus to use an off-axis guider.  Guiding is instead achieved with an Altair Astro 60mm finder-guider carrying an Atik Titan Mono planetary camera.  This is mounted directly onto the tube rings of the Epsilon 180, to offer as much rigidity as possible.

 

This apparatus is all mounted on a Skywatcher NEQ6 equatorial mount.  While adequate for the time being, this mount lacks the capacity for heavier scopes, and has mechanical limitations that would make it unsuitable for very long focal length optics.



The cameras and mount are operated via a PC, but can also be operated remotely.