The Paramount ME II Large Dovetail is an optional accessory that enables the Paramount ME II’s Versa-Plate to accept optical tube assemblies that use the Planewave Instrument dovetails (including PlaneWave Instruments and Officina Stellare telescopes).

The large dovetail is rated to carry 108 kg.

Total additional weight is 1.5kg

This unit is included in the Multi OTA Mounting Kit

Capturing the most stunning astrophotographs possible is something our team is passionate about. From design to manufacture, our goal with the Corrected Dall-Kirkham (CDK) 20″ telescope was centered around performance and ease of use. The Planewave CDK20 f/7.7 OTA is an incredible breakthrough in telescope technology and produces no off-axis coma and no off-axis astigmatism. Additionally, the CDK20 provides a perfectly flat field so your astrophotographs will have stunning clarity from corner to corner of the image without field curvature degrading the photos. Offering the simplicity of single-mirror collimation, the stray light control of advanced baffles, structural performance created through finite element analysis (FEA), and decades of telescope design experience, the CDK20 is an exceptional diffraction-limited telescope. CDK20 users can experience pinpoint stars edge-to-edge and a 45 x 45 arcminute field of view when using large 16803 size camera sensors. When equipment fades into the background and simply performs, the astrophotography experience becomes even more fun and rewarding!

• The Delta T controller is an optional accessory for dew prevention on CDK14 through CDK24 OTAs and the CDK700 system.
• CDK12.5 to CDK24 and CDK700 telescopes come with primary and secondary mirror dew heating pads (CDK700 adds tertiary mirror heating), which are ready to accept the Delta T controller.
• Controlled via PWI3 software for CDK12.5 through CDK24 OTAs (PWI2 for the CDK700).

With Delta T you can:

• Have Full Control of Primary and Secondary Heater using PlaneWave Interface (PWI3) Software.
• Monitor current temperature of primary mirror, secondary mirror and surrounding ambient temperature.
• Automatically maintains mirror temperature set point as outside temperature changes.
• Displays real time graph of all temperature sensors.

The CDK400 Observatory System from PlaneWave Instruments is designed for the sophisticated astrophotographer and dedicated astronomy researcher. This premium package combines the high-performing CDK17 optical tube with the advanced L-500 direct-drive mount to provide a superior observational platform that excels in a range of applications, from detailed celestial research to high-end astrophotography.

Key Features of the CDK400 Observatory System

CDK17 Optical Tube Assembly

• Aperture and Focal Length: Features a 17-inch aperture and a 2939 mm focal length at an f/6.8 focal ratio, optimizing it for deep-sky imaging with excellent depth and clarity.
• Advanced Optical Design: Utilizes a Corrected Dall-Kirkham optical design, delivering a field free of off-axis coma and astigmatism and achieving a perfectly flat field across a 70 mm image circle, resulting in critically sharp images across the entire viewing area.
• High-Quality Construction: Made with lightweight yet robust carbon fiber, reducing thermal expansion and allowing for rapid thermal equilibration, which helps maintain precise optical alignment under fluctuating temperatures.
• Superior Mirrors and Coatings: Equipped with high-stability fused silica mirrors known for minimal thermal expansion, paired with high-performance coatings that maximize light throughput while minimizing stray light for optimal imaging quality.
• Thermal Management: Features an advanced cooling system with strategically placed fans that promote rapid thermal stabilization, essential for maintaining consistent high-quality imaging and minimizing focus shifts caused by temperature changes.

L-500 Direct Drive Mount

• Direct Drive Motors: Employs state-of-the-art direct-drive motors on each axis, ensuring smooth, fast, and virtually silent movement of the telescope with zero backlash and zero periodic error, perfect for precise tracking and swift repositioning of celestial objects.
• High-Resolution Encoders: Outfitted with high-resolution optical encoders on both axes, providing exacting positioning and movement, crucial for top-tier astrophotography and detailed astronomical studies.
• Azimuth Dovetail Balance System: Incorporates a finely adjustable balance system that improves the stability and performance of the setup in both alt-azimuth and equatorial configurations, essential for prolonged accurate tracking and reducing stress on the mount during extended observations.
• Rapid Target Acquisition: Achieves impressive slew speeds up to 50 degrees per second, allowing for quick and efficient targeting of celestial bodies and satellites, vital for dynamic observations and responsive astrophotography.

Application-Specific Advantages

Astrophotography

The CDK400 stands out as a formidable system for astrophotographers, offering unmatched tracking accuracy and image stability which facilitate capturing spectacular celestial images with detailed resolution and vibrant colors.

Astronomy Research

Researchers will appreciate the CDK400 for its consistent performance and precise data collection capabilities. It serves as a robust platform for sophisticated photometry, spectroscopy, and minor planet tracking, offering a solid foundation for scientific discovery and exploration.

Visual Observations

For enthusiasts of visual astronomy, the CDK400 delivers vibrant and detailed views of the universe. Its significant aperture and high-quality optical components ensure exceptional viewing of planetary, lunar, and deep-sky objects, enriching every observational experience.

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Domain Awareness (SDA)

With its swift and precise repositioning capabilities, the L-500 mount in the CDK400 system is capable of tracking satellites and space debris. However, it's important to note that while the L-series mounts are highly effective for astrophotography and research applications, they might not meet the optimal performance standards required for dedicated SSA/SDA operations. For those needs, we recommend exploring our T-600 Direct-Drive Gimbal, specifically engineered to exceed the demanding requirements for SSA/SDA applications, ensuring superior tracking and responsiveness in monitoring and cataloging space objects.

Mount System 

Control System

Optical Systems

Mechanical Structure

Motion control

System Performance 

Included items

IRDK17’s Key Features

Large Aperture and Optimized Focal Ratio

The IRDK17 features a considerable 432 mm aperture and an f/6.8 focal ratio, enhancing its ability to capture infrared light effectively. This configuration is ideal for precise infrared observations and long-exposure imaging, offering superior light-gathering capabilities.

Specialized Optical Design for Infrared

The Dall-Kirkham optical design of the IRDK17 is finely tuned for infrared wavelengths. There are no refractive lenses, only reflective components made from fused silica. The reflective coatings are a protected gold with better than 98% reflectivity from .65 microns (650nm) to 5 microns (5000nm), making it optimal for infrared astronomy or LIDAR applications. UV-optimized coatings can also be provided, enhancing the telescope's versatility—please contact our technical sales team to discuss UV optimization.

Robust Mechanical Structure

Constructed using carbon fiber, the optical tube of the IRDK17 ensures durability and stability with minimal thermal expansion. This feature guarantees consistent performance across various conditions and is suitable for intensive scientific and research applications.

Advanced Thermal Management

The IRDK17 has cooling fans and a system ready for Delta-T applications, promoting rapid thermal equilibrium. This system is essential for minimizing air turbulence within the tube, reducing potential image distortion, and improving overall imaging quality.

Integrated Dew Control

Given that infrared observations are prone to condensation, the IRDK17 incorporates advanced dew-prevention technology. Heater pads, controlled via PlaneWave’s software, ensure the optical surfaces remain clear from dew, maintaining consistent and sharp imaging performance.

Application-Specific Benefits

Infrared Astronomy

The IRDK17 excels in infrared astronomy, where its large aperture and infrared-optimized optics allow for detailed observation of celestial objects in infrared light. This capability is vital for uncovering astrophysical phenomena invisible to the naked eye or conventional optical wavelengths.

Advanced Research and LIDAR Applications

With its specialized design and infrared optimization, the IRDK17 is a robust platform for advanced scientific research, including applications in LIDAR, leveraging its specialized optical capabilities.

Optical Systems

Secondary Mirror

Primary Mirror

PlaneWave CDK 12.5 Fused Silica

Capturing the most stunning astrophotographs possible is something our team is passionate about. From design to manufacture, our goal with the Corrected Dall-Kirkham (CDK) 12.5″ telescope was centered around performance and ease of use. The PlaneWave CDK 12.5 Fused Silica is an incredible breakthrough in telescope technology and produces no off-axis coma and no off-axis astigmatism. Additionally, the PlaneWave CDK 12.5 Fused Silica provides a perfectly flat field so your astrophotographs will have stunning clarity from corner to corner of the image without field curvature degrading the photos. Offering the simplicity of single-mirror collimation, the stray light control of advanced baffles, structural performance created through finite element analysis (FEA), and decades of telescope design experience, the CDK12.5 is an exceptional diffraction-limited telescope. CDK12.5 users can experience pinpoint stars edge-to-edge and a 70 x 70 arcminute field of view when using large camera sensors. When equipment fades into the background and simply performs, the astrophotography experience becomes even more fun and rewarding!

The PlaneWave CDK 12.5 Fused Silica is a 12.5 inch (0.32 m) f/8 Corrected Dall-Kirkham Astrograph telescope. The telescope has a closed carbon fiber tube, with 3 cooling fans ejecting air from the back of the telescope. The PlaneWave CDK 12.5 covers a 52 mm field of view without any field curvature, off-axis coma, or astigmatism. The instrument weight is 21kg and comes standard with the large capacity 2.75 inch Hedrick focuser.

Technology

The CDK Optical Design

The CDK telescope is based on a new optical design developed by Dave Rowe. The goal of the design is to make an affordable astrographic telescope with a large enough imaging plane to take advantage of the large format CCD cameras of today. Most telescope images degrade as you move off-axis from either coma, off-axis astigmatism, or field curvature. The CDK design suffers from none of these problems. The CDK is coma free, has no off-axis astigmatism, and has a flat field. The design is a simple and elegant solution to the problems posed above. The CDK consists of three components: an ellipsoidal primary mirror, a spherical secondary mirror and a lens group. All these components are optimized to work in concert in order to create superb pinpoint stars across the entire 52mm image plane.

Optical Performance

Shown are two simulations showing the CDK’s stunning performance. The first is a diffraction simulation and the second is a spot diagram. In both simulations the small squares are 9×9 microns, about the size of a CCD pixel. In the diffraction simulation the star images on axis and off-axis are nearly identical. In the spot diagram 21mm off-axis the spot size is an incredible 6 microns RMS diameter. This means stars across a 52 mm image circle are going to be pinpoints as small as the atmospheric seeing will allow.

Both of the simulations take into consideration a flat field, which is a more accurate representation of how the optics would perform on a flat CCD camera chip. For visual use some amount of field curvature would be allowed since the eye is able to compensate for a curved field. The diffraction simulation was calculated at 585nm. The spot diagram was calculated at 720, 585, and 430nm. Many companies show spot diagrams in only one wavelength, but you cannot see the chromatic performance with only one wavelength.

Comparison: CDK vs. Ritchey Chrétien

The simulations shown compares the optical performance of the CDK design to the Ritchey Chrétien (RC) design. The Ritchey design was popularized as an astroimaging telescope due to its use in many professional

observatories. Although very difficult and expensive to manufacture and align, the Ritchey is successful in eliminating many of the problems that plague many other designs, namely off-axis coma. However the Ritchey does nothing to eliminate the damaging effects of off-axis astigmatism and field curvature.

The CDK design tackles the off-axis coma problem by integrating a pair of correcting lenses into a two mirror design. The beauty is that this design also corrects for astigmatism and field curvature. Because the lenses are relatively close to the focal plane (unlike the Schmidt corrector plate found in various Schmidt Cassegrain designs), and because these lenses work together as a doublet, there is no chromatic aberration. The CDK offers a wide aberration-free, flat field of view that allows the user to take full advantage of the very large imaging chip cameras in the market place today.

Having an aberration free telescope design means nothing if the optics cannot be aligned properly. Many Ritchey owners never get to take full advantage of their instrument’s performance because the Ritchey is very difficult to collimate. Aligning the hyperbolic secondary mirror’s optical axis to the optical axis of the primary mirror is critical in the Ritchey design, and the tolerances are unforgiving. The secondary mirror of the CDK design is spherical. It has no optical axis and so the centering tolerance of the CDK secondary mirror is comparatively huge. With the help of some very simple tools, the CDK user will be able to set the secondary spacing, collimate the optics and begin enjoying the full performance potential the instrument has to offer within a few minutes.

The drastic difference in performance between the CDK and the RC is apparent. The biggest component that degrades the off-axis performance of the RC is the defocus due to field curvature. In many diagrams shown by RC manufacturers, the diagrams look better than this because they are showing a curved field. This is fine for visual use because the eye can compensate for some amount of curvature of field. But CCD arrays are flat and so in order to evaluate the performance a spot diagrams and/or diffraction simulations requires a flat field as shown.

PlaneWave CDK 12.5 Specifications

OPTICAL SYSTEM

SECONDARY MIRROR

PRIMARY MIRROR

LENS GROUP

SHIPPING

INCLUDED ACCESSORIES

Collimation and Spacing Instructions

PlaneWave CDK 14" Fused Silica

The CDK (Corrected Dall-Kirkham) Optical Design is an innovative solution for unsurpassed astroimaging quality at an affordable price. The CDK telescope design provides excellent imaging with large format CCD cameras while remaining superb for visual use. The CDK design far exceeds the off-axis performance of most commercial telescope designs including the Ritchey-Chrétien design.

FUSED SILICA

Fused Silica is a synthetic amorphous silica glass of the highest purity and one of the most transparent glasses made.

The optical and thermal properties of fused silica are superior to other types of glass due to its purity. Its transmission and homogeneity exceed those of crystalline quartz without the problems of temperature instability inherent in the crystalline form.

Fused Silica has a coefficient of thermal six times lower than Borosilicate glass, which means that as fused silica cools down, it preserves its shape to a high degree of accuracy. This translates into consistent optical performance and unchanging focus over temperature changes.

With high melting temperature (~1,600 degrees Celsius), a very low coefficient of thermal expansion and resistance to thermal shock, fused silica is the material of choice for professional observatories as well as various scientific applications.

This no-compromise design is unique in making the optical alignment forgiving and collimation very easy. This guarantees the user the best possible performance from the telescope. The end result at the image plane of the CDK design is no off-axis coma, no off-axis astigmatism, perfectly flat field (no off-axis defocus). The CDK design will give you pinpoint stars from the center to the corner of the field of view.

More about our Optical Design

Features:

PlaneWave CDK 14" Fused Silica Specifications

OPTICAL SYSTEM

SECONDARY MIRROR

PRIMARY MIRROR

LENS GROUP

STANDARD FEATURES

SHIPPING

NOTE: This product has a lengthy lead time. Please contact education@bintel.com.au for further information.

The PlaneWave L500 combines versatility, simplicity and affordability by combining all the technology of our Observatory class telescopes into a compact stand-alone mount. In its Alt/Az configuration it is considerably more compact than its equatorial counterpart, allowing a larger telescope to fit in a smaller enclosure. The mass it takes to make a rigid alt/az mount is substantially less, leading to cost savings. Unlike German Equatorial mounts, there are no meridian flips to deal with, and no large protruding counterweights to create a dangerous hazard in a public observatory. Alt/Az is more intuitive to use and no polar alignment is needed. Besides, it is the way the pros do it!

Planewave L500 Mount Features:

• Direct-drive motors on each axis for smooth, fast, and virtually silent movement of the telescope
• Slew speeds up to 50 degrees per second
• High resolution encoders on each axis for precise positioning
• Zero backlash
• Zero periodic error
• PointXP mount modeling software
• Enclosed electronics
• Through the mount cabling

FEATURES:

MOUNT SYSTEM

CONTROL SYSTEM

MOTION CONTROL

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

Check the PlaneWave website for Instructions and Schematics.