Plunged into the deep dark cosmos...Gear questions abound...
So, I got the permission of the wifey to splurge on a "complete" rig about a month ago.
This is what I have so far, and not sure where I want/should go from here....
Sky-Watcher Esprit ED80 OTA
Sky-Watcher AL-EQ55i mount and tripod
Explore Scientific 30mm eyepiece
Explore Scientific 14mm eyepiece
SVBONY 6/9/15/20 mm eyepiece set
SVBONY 3x Barlow
SVBONY OAG and filter drawer along with 905c camera
Canon EOS M ring adaptor
I already had an EOS M50, so I figured before going "whole-hog" I would try it for astrophotography.
Now, I'm trying to figure out my best options for controlling all this gear.
I've looked at ASIAIR (obviously can't), looked into StellarMate, AstroberryOS, and stumbled across ToupTek StellaVita. I may, in the near future, go with dedicated astrocam, along with filter wheel, EAF, etc, so am leaning on going the ToupTek route for all of that.
Also thinking of using a spare Framework laptop mobo (that I have mounted in the coolermaster case, already loaded with windows 11 pro) for a control PC.
Does anybody have any thoughts, good idea fairies, or words of wisdom?
Thanks
Posted Apr 6, 2026, 1:13 AM UTC