Over the past 6 months, I grew very fond of imaging with the C11. If you visit my Astrobin, you will see that most images I acquired since July were acquired by the standard C11 paired with a 0.7x reducer. After being introduced to imaging with big Cassegrain designs, I thought in my head, how could I find the best scope that fits my style of imaging. After much thinking, I realized that there is probably a good amount of resolution wasted because of seeing limitations, so a shorter focal length would be fine Somwhere between 1200-1600mm would be idea for my backyard. I also definitely wanted it to be a faster scope, f/4 to f/5. I also wanted it to correct for a full frame sensor and to be light enough to sit on my HAE69ec. While browsing Astromart I came across a used AG Optical convergent FA12. The price was frankly a bargain, especially when you consider similarly priced items from Planewave and Officina.
So I went down that path of getting a new big OTA for my backyard. Few days later, I set it up.
Took a few nights too collimate and adjust the tilt. Primary mirror had to be cleaned. But overall, extremely pleased with this OTA! Paired very well with the 6200mm. Hopefully this is as large as I would go while I remain a backyard imager without an observatory.
The first natural choice is the Rosette. It was the first target I ever imaged when I started astrophotography a year ago with an Askar FRA400 and a 533mc pro / dual band filter. I don't have many clear nights these days, so I really can't do long integration on these Nebulae. Despite that it is really nice to have an f/5 scope with a full frame sensor to cover this much sky so quickly.
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