SPICAEYES TELESCOPES
  All Aluminum Telescopes with
   Platform Drive
  SlipStream GoTo Drive
 

EQUATORIAL PLATFORMS
 
About Our Platforms

Pictures: Telescopes on Platforms
The Awesome Aluminum Platform.

Platform Accessories:

    Cordless Slew Control
    Polar Alignment Tool
    Built-in Battery
Platform Pricing

Used/Demo Platforms
We Buy Back Platforms.


PLATFORM REVIEWS
Full Review: 20" f3.0 SpicaEyes Telescope on a Platform

CloudyNights Review

Owners Speak Out

A Customer Review by Markus Hagi

Customer Comment of the Month
   Updated 11/23/23


IMAGING
 Astrophotography with a Platform
 MallinCam Imaging
 MallinCam at the 2010 OSP
 Image of the Month Updated 7/9/24



 LINKS TO OTHER PRODUCTS

Equatorial Platforms
Phone/Fax 530-274-9113
E-Mail:
tomosy@nccn.net

 

 


ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY WITH AN EQUATORIAL PLATFORM


THESE EQUATORIAL PLATFORMS CAN BE USED FOR ALL TYPES OF ASTRO-IMAGING WORK.


Image Galleries

 
Comet 17P/Holmes

Color Photos by Del Johnson
 
Color Photos by Tom Osypowski
 
Color Photos by Dennis Allen
 
CCD Images by Doug Askew
 
CCD Images by Dan Judd
 
CCD Images by Matt Dawson
 
CCD Images by John Sefick

CCD Images by Pierre Schmid and Eduard von Bergen

Color CCD images by Bob Brunck

Planetary images by Glenn Schaeffer

A SINGLE-AXIS PLATFORM
, for instance, is quite suitable for LUNAR AND PLANETARY PHOTOGRAPHY through the main telescope. PIGGYBACK PHOTOGRAPHY (taking long- exposure pictures with a separate camera attached to the main telescope) is also easy -- if care is taken to polar-align accurately. Using the hand control to guide at high power with your main telescope assures good star images, even with long telephoto lenses. Short exposure PRIME FOCUS PHOTOGRAPHY can also be done with a Single-Axis Platform. This is particularly useful to those doing CCD imaging and video camera photography.

Long exposure PRIME FOCUS PHOTOGRAPHY through the main telescope requires a fine guiding motion in declination as well as right ascension. For this purpose I have developed a DUAL-AXIS PLATFORM which provides an approximate declination motion for a large part of the sky, especially near the meridian. The hand control gives a backlash-free fine guiding motion in declination. Also at your fingertips is a fast slew which, together with the right ascension slew, facilitates centering objects and sweeping an area at high power.



M13 -- a 10 minute exposure through a 16" f5 Dobsonian on a Dual-Axis Equatorial Platform, Ektar 1000 film.