William Optics RedCat 51 WIFD with ZWO ASI6200MC Pro
3.10″ per pixel across a 8.24° × 5.50° field, at 250 mm and f/4.9. 25 of the catalogue's 29 equatorial mounts carry the 4.72 kg train within the imaging derate.
Every figure is computed from catalogue rows that link their maker's page. Rows marked provisional have not yet had a second, human check.
Optics
At the native focal length.
Image circle: 48 mm, the telescope's stated figure (William Optics RedCat 51 WIFD). Source
Sampling
Seeing divided by image scale: how many pixels a star's core spans. Each band is a tradeoff, and wide-field work is undersampled on purpose.
At 2.5″ seeing a star’s core spans 0.81 pixels on this sensor. Undersampled; the standard, deliberate wide-field trade.
| Seeing | FWHM | Band |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5″ | 0.48px | badly undersampled |
| 2.5″ | 0.81px | undersampled |
| 3.5″ | 1.13px | undersampled |
- Badly undersampled: the pixel is wider than the seeing disc, so stars land as blocky squares.
- Undersampled; the standard, deliberate wide-field trade.
Framing
The 13 catalogue targets against this field, by the fraction of the frame each fills along its tighter axis.
M45 Pleiades fills 45 % of the frame and M27 Dumbbell Nebula 2 %. Of the 13, 3 fill the frame, 10 are small in the frame.
| Target | Size | Frame filled |
|---|---|---|
| M31 Andromeda Galaxy | 178′ × 70′ | 36%fills the frame |
| M45 Pleiades | 150′ × 150′ | 45%fills the frame |
| NGC 7000 North America Nebula | 120′ × 30′ | 24%small in the frame |
| NGC 1499 California Nebula | 160′ × 40′ | 32%fills the frame |
| IC 1805 Heart Nebula | 60′ × 60′ | 18%small in the frame |
| M42 Orion Nebula | 90′ × 60′ | 18%small in the frame |
| NGC 2237 Rosette Nebula | 80′ × 50′ | 16%small in the frame |
| M101 Pinwheel Galaxy | 24′ × 23′ | 7%small in the frame |
| M27 Dumbbell Nebula | 6.7′ × 6.7′ | 2%small in the frame |
| M51 Whirlpool Galaxy | 13.7′ × 11.7′ | 4%small in the frame |
| M81 Bode's Galaxy | 22′ × 11.3′ | 4%small in the frame |
| M13 Hercules Globular Cluster | 16.5′ × 16.5′ | 5%small in the frame |
| NGC 4565 Needle Galaxy | 16.8′ × 2.9′ | 3%small in the frame |
Target sizes: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga (tag v20260501), CC BY-SA 4.0. This table is shared under the same license. Source and license
Spacing
The corrector rows this telescope links in the Backfocus Solver's catalogue, with the face each figure is measured from.
No separate corrector is needed. The maker: “Optional Flattener: No Flattener Required” Source
William Optics RedCat 51 WIFD (built-in flat field)
- Backfocus
- 55mm ±3 mm stated
- Measured from
- rear thread surface (WO's site-wide datum statement), as a recommended back spacing; rack-and-pinion focuser with 0-23 mm travel
- Focal length
- the telescope's own
- Image circle
- 48 mm; this sensor is 43.27 mm
Mounts
The catalogue's equatorial mounts that carry this train within 60 % of their rated payload, the imaging derate. The sum is the Rig Reality Check's.
On the saddle this train weighs 4.72 kg, 2.25 kg of it assumed. 25 of the 29 equatorial mounts in the catalogue carry it within the derate; the smallest rated is the ZWO AM3N, at 59 %. 4 more would run it over 60 %.
| Mount | Rated | Used | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZWO AM3N | 8kg | 59% | Workable; more sensitive to wind, little room to grow |
| iOptron HEM15 | 8.2kg | 58% | Workable; more sensitive to wind, little room to grow |
| Sky-Watcher Wave 100i | 10kg | 47% | Comfortable |
| iOptron CEM26 (AccuAlign, 1.5" tripod) | 12kg | 39% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| iOptron GEM28 (AccuAlign, 1.5" tripod) | 12.7kg | 37% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| iOptron HEM27 | 13.5kg | 35% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
The other 19 mounts that carry it
| Mount | Rated | Used | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow Astro RST-135E | 13.5kg | 35% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| WarpAstron WD-17 | 13.5kg | 35% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Celestron Advanced VX (AVX) | 13.6kg | 35% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Pegasus Astro NYX-88 | 14kg | 34% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Sky-Watcher HEQ5-R Pro | 15kg | 31% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Sky-Watcher Wave 150i | 15kg | 31% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| ZWO AM5N | 15kg | 31% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Celestron CGEM II | 18kg | 26% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| iOptron CEM40 (with tripod) | 18kg | 26% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| iOptron HEM44 | 20kg | 24% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Pegasus Astro NYX-101 | 20kg | 24% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro | 20kg | 24% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| WarpAstron WD-20 | 20kg | 24% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| ZWO AM7 | 20kg | 24% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Losmandy GM811G (LW tripod) | 22.7kg | 21% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Celestron CGX | 25kg | 19% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| iOptron CEM70 (iPolar) | 31.8kg | 15% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Sky-Watcher CQ350 Pro (with tripod) | 35kg | 13% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Sky-Watcher EQ8-R (head with counterweights) | 50kg | 9% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
What the 4.72 kg is made of
| Component | Mass | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| OTA: William Optics RedCat 51 WIFD | 1.77kg | maker’s figure |
| Rings and dovetail | 0.90kg | assumption |
| Camera: ZWO ASI6200MC Pro | 0.70kg | maker’s figure |
| Filter drawer and filter | 0.20kg | assumption |
| Guide scope and guide camera | 0.80kg | assumption |
| Cables, dew strap, focuser motor | 0.35kg | assumption |
| Total | 4.72kg |
Assumptions are the Rig Reality Check’s round placeholders, not measurements; replace them with your own figures there.
Run the Rig Reality Check with the ZWO ASI6200MC Pro as yours, then give it your budget, sky and targets.
Sub length
The shortest sub at which read noise adds no more than 5 % to the stack's noise, from the Exposure Planner. Each figure opens the planner with the same inputs.
At gain 100 (high conversion gain on, 1.34 e⁻ read noise), 51 mm at 250 mm. Under a Bortle 6 sky it is 5.0 s with no filter and 92 s through a 7 nm dual-band filter.
| Sky | No filter | 7 nm dual-band |
|---|---|---|
| Bortle 421.00 mag/arcsec² | 32 s27 s to 37 s | 579 s496 s to 11 min |
| Bortle 619.00 mag/arcsec² | 5.0 s4.3 s to 5.8 sbelow the 30 s floor | 92 s79 s to 106 s |
| Bortle 817.90 mag/arcsec² | 1.8 s1.6 s to 2.1 sbelow the 30 s floor | 33 s29 s to 38 s |
- The read noise is read off the maker’s chart; the small figures give the range its reading uncertainty allows.
- Under 30 s, download and dither time dominate, so the planner raises shorter results to 30 s. The dual-band column uses the reference’s approximation: Dual narrowband 7 nm (Ha + OIII).
Prices
Dated readings from the maker's store or a major US retailer, with the page each came from. A first-year total needs a mount and the essentials, which the Rig Reality Check adds.
| Part | Price | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 WIFDProvisional | $798 | manufacturer, 2026-09-27OTA, Red or Space Grey; store lists included adapters: Tilt Adjuster, Rotator, M54 → M48 Adapter |
| Camera: ZWO ASI6200MC ProProvisional | $3,999 | manufacturer, 2026-09-27variant ASI6200MC-P25 (2025 version) |
| $3,999 | retailer, 2026-09-27ASI6200MC-P25 (2025 version) |
Provisional rows have not yet had a second, human check against their source. The Rig Reality Check prices whole builds, essentials included.
How this is computed
scale["/px] = 206.265 × pixel[µm] / focal length[mm]
field[°] = 2 × atan(sensor side[mm] / (2 × focal length[mm])) × 180/π
sampling = seeing FWHM["] / scale["/px]
frame filled = max(major axis / field width, minor axis / field height)
utilization = Σ imaging mass[kg] / rated payload[kg]
shortest sub = R² / (e_sky × ((1 + p)² − 1)), p = 5 %Focal length is the telescope’s, times a corrector’s factor only where its maker states one. The image scale and field use the exact forms; the worked example shows the arithmetic. The sampling bands are the physics reference’s presentation choice, and every band is printed so the tradeoff can be read in full.
The payload sums every part on the saddle, the way the Rig Reality Check does, and the bands encode the 50 to 60 % imaging derate, which is forum practice rather than a maker’s figure. Spacing figures are the Backfocus Solver’s rows; sub lengths are the Exposure Planner’s.
Source: docs/03-physics-reference.md §§ 1, 3 and 4. Implemented in packages/physics (optics.ts, payload.ts, exposure.ts, scoring.ts), each with the reference's worked examples as unit tests.
Last updated Computed from the catalogue when the site is builtEvery camera on the William Optics RedCat 51 WIFD