WiltshireChris

I asked for food for thought and I've had a feast! Thank you all, LotR quotes are always welcome, someone needs to send a West wind to blow back the fumes of Mordor! As an only occasional dipper into new developments I hadn't twigged the emergence of EAA and that's been a bit of an eye opener and also helped clarify my thinking. It appeals to me as it is more like getting out on a clear night and looking at whatever is interesting. It also seems a nice way to show other people the wonders of the sky in an easy way. Longer term we are due to move house in a couple of years and I've got it in mind to find somewhere that has room for a more permanent site for a scope and so allow a proper pier to be built and used. If that happens then I can see a more chunky mount being a sensible choice. For the next couple of years I'll be lugging telescope in and out and so reducing the weight and bulk of that seems a sane idea. I think what I'm going to do is try some live stacking with Nina/Sharpcap and just get familiar with the tools and set up needed accepting that the mount/scope combo compromises the results but it costs me nothing to try. I may end up getting the 130PDS but don't know whether I'd sell the 200P or not. As I said I've built a motorised focuser for the 200P and I'd want to switch that to the 130PDS. I wonder whether the dual speed focuser from the 130PDS could be swapped over to the 200P as it might be more useful there for visual work and the 130PDS can then benefit from auto focus. More thinking needed... Thank you all again for your time and ideas, they are appreciated

That's a good question. I have a birthday coming up and a few family members are aware I'd rather choose my own gifts and so it's there to be spent. However if there isn't a clear 'thing to do' then I'm happy to put it back for future purchases. There is still more I can do with the rig I've got (mostly take photos of the undersides of clouds at the moment!) Thank you, there's some great pictures in there which gives me inspiration. The money pit is definitely an issue. On the one hand I'm spending money on creating images that can easily just be seen on the internet but, at the end of the day, I will probably enjoy the process . I guess I need to look at whether I'll get any more enjoyment with having better equipment. I hadn't seen the Seestar, that's an interesting piece of kit. Oh, and yes, nice try @saac Thank you all, more food for thought...

I've lucky enough to have about £300 to spend on upgrades to my rig and I don't know what to do for the best. Currently I have a (second hand, eBay impulse purcahse) SkyWatcher 200P on an EQ5 mount that I've converted to be controlled by a teensy 4.1 powered OnStepX controller. I've also built a motorised focuser. The camera came with a SkyWatcher Guide scope and a Telrad finder as well as an adaper for my Canon 1100D which I've used to take some OK photos. The question is what do I spend the £300 on? As I am interested in photography I thought about adding an ASI120MM as a guide scope. However, the advice from FLO I had a while ago was that the 200P is at the upper end of what the EQ5 can handle and so trying to guide it might be a slightly futile exercise. The options I've thought of are: Accept that the 200P is too much for the mount and buy the FLO recommendation of a 130PDS, then either sell the 200P or just use it for visual astronomy Put the money somewhere safe and wait until I can afford a better mount Spend the money on useful accessories like a collimating eyepiece and perhaps a better lens than the stock ones that came with the rig. Sod the experts, they're over-rated and buy the guide camera anyway just because I love tech! At the moment I'm unsure what my balance between observing and photographing will be and I realise that makes things harder. Any other thoughts or opinions would be welcome, thank you Chris

Hello, just thought I'd stop lurking and register. I've picked up my lockdown purchase telescope again after a year or so off. My astronomy journey started a long time ago as a teenager in the late seventies when some friends and I managed to see the rings of Saturn through what I think was an old army refractor on a wooden tripod, it had brass lenses that were friction fit so focussing was a pain. I stil have a copy of The Stars by HA Rey which I enjoyed at the time. After forty years away from the hobby I finally got myself a scope at the start of lock down and our village has recently revived its stargazing group so I've starting getting my rig in fighting condition again. I currently have a SkyWatcher 200P on an EQ5 mount. I've built an OnStepX mount controller and focuser for the mount and have taken some reasonably OK pictures with my Canon 1100D strapped to it. I've been offered some money to spend on my hobby and don't know what to do for the best, but that can wait until my question in the equipment forum!