Chris

Oh very good point! I'd totally forgot what I pain the wind was! It's a real shame I can't afford An ED100 f7 on an EQ5 that would have been perfect. I guess I could either get the 130pds, to avoid the wind sail, or get the 200p for planetary, lunar, and observing, then just use the mount with the camera and 200mm lens for deep sky imaging?

Nooo honestly, I've sold so much kit in the past either because I was stupid and the grass looked greener, or I simply needed the money. I had 3K of kit until the beginning of this year, but very much needed to sell it all to buy the house we will stay in and raise our kids. We had to buy a new boiler in the first week so it was a good job I sold the shirt off my back! lol. Trust me I've owned 30+ scopes and have regretted selling at least 10 of these. But I tend to use astro kit as money sometimes, hence they come and go.

Thinking about it the 150p or 200p EQ5 would work if I purely piggy backed my camera with lenses for DSO imaging. I have an old 200mm M42 fit lens somewhere.

Hey Nadeem Actually before I started this thread the 130pds or 150p were in my head for their performance per pound. I even had the 200p EQ5 with motor drive kit in my head thinking it would great for Lunar/planetary and visual, but then realised maybe the focal length would be too much to get reliable 60 second subs for DSO's even. I'm checking out YT vids on the SW AZ-GTI but not sure after my bad experience of tablet controlled scopes when reviewing the Astro FI 90. That scope drove me nuts lol I still have the mask from my old 130pds, but very much appreciate the offer.

I agree Pete, for the above quick snap I should have really stuck to the 500 rule, so using a 28mm lens on a 2x crop M43 sensor I should have been around 10 seconds. However, when I tried 10 seconds you couldn't really make out the galaxy, so I tried up to 30 seconds but found 15-20 seconds to be the best compromise. Keep in mind the above is a severe crop so the smearing wasn't as apparent before I 'zoomed' in Absolutely, if you're purely into DSO imaging the ED80 on an HEQ5 is the starting point for very good DSO images upwards. FLO even sell this as a bundle for £1275. I don't however believe this setup is the starting point for any type of DSO imaging, or the setup for anyone with varied interests in astronomy. I know my above images aren't amazing by any stretch of the imagination (Look at my old processing for a start!) but they were taken with really cheap kit! For example the M27 was a 150p and a motor driven EQ3 or EQ5 (I've owned both but can't remember which) plus self modded Canon 350D. I didn't even have a coma corrector! but I still imaged M27

So basically, with regards to DSO's I'm looking for an improvement in this fixed tripod shot of m31 the other night.

Thanks, I'll head over and do some research on the AZ GTI now

Ok, thanks vlaiv, I'll try and explain a bit more precisely. With regards to DSO imaging I would be looking to use my mirroless cameras either piggy backed on a scope with lenses for wide field, or attached to the scope for multiple 60 second to 120 second exposures stacked in DSS to get a bit more image scale. I would prefer to use the cameras in camera noise reduction at this stage (which takes a dark frame every shot) rather than bother with a dark library. And I would be looking to stack maybe an hour of two total exposures to give a reasonable amount of signal to noise so you can see the DSO reasonably clearly. At this stage I would probably just crop out the vignetting and coma rather than take flat's and buy a coma corrector or flattener. This is similar to the style of imaging I did years ago in the first year or two of starting out, and I was happy at the time. All I have at the moment is a flimsy tripod for DSO imaging so any improvement would be a bonus (I'll post a pick I took the other night. you may see why I want something a little better lol) I feel this level of imaging falls somewhere in between proper guided AP and EEVA. I wouldn't be looking at anything more serious until further down the line when I've built another observatory, but that's a way off as it turns out. Maybe late 2020 for the obsy if I'm a very lucky boy. I'll post some of my old DSO images so you can see what I achieved with a basic clock driven mount unguided years ago. I'm maybe looking to achieve close to these.

Hi, thanks. I'll take a look at the AZ gti as I didn't know it had an EQ mode. Do you know if it has some kind of polar scope? or would you need to drift align it each time? The only other worry regarding the mount is I believe you need to use a tablet for the goto? I'd probably want to add a hand set if it takes one? Small and light is a good shout, I wouldn't want something too large as It would need to fit in small shed and easily be taken out and carried a few metres each way. I did pick up a 12" dob a really cheap a little while ago, but moved it on even cheaper because I couldn't store it in the shed nor carry it more an a couple of feet without making all sorts of unpleasant pained noises lol Cheers

Hmm? I'm not sure a Dob will cover the DSO imaging pete? I Just need the OTA and mount. I thankfully still have EP's, cameras, RDF's etc

Hi vlaiv. Thanks for your well considered reply, very sensible. Well, being brutally honest I always end up wanting to take quick pics of things if the past is anything to go by. E.g. If I'm looking at the Moon and planets, it's just a few minutes observing before I want to grab some AVI footage with a webcam. If the Moon and planets aren't about I like to try and find a few DSO's to observe, but again I do like to grab some images either by piggy backing a camera and lens for longer exposures at shorter focal length or go a bit deeper with some unguided 1 to 2 minutes max exposures with DLSR or mirrorless camera attached to a scope. I just need an OTA and mount with some kind of RA tracking. I have a modded webcam, and a couple of mirrorless cameras (all in my sig). I have some bit's and bobs such as Plossl EP's, collimation tools, focus mask, a decent diagonal, and an RDF. I would probably need a new T ring for my camera, and would probably opt for the Fuji with it's inherently weak IR filter as if should work reasonably well on nebs as a stock camera body. Something like the EQ5 pro and 130pds would work well. I see the goto as a bonus really. Only really expecting some kind of tracking for my budget I guess in summery imaging is more important to me, but I'm not fussy about long exposure guiding, goto, PC's being involved and all that until I get an obsy back further down the line

The refractor lover in me wants to say yes to this. I have had some cracking high contrast views of Jupiter through an ED80, as well as taken some of my best DSO images in past. I did see the second hand ED80's you mention. If I don't decide to buy new from FLO I might revisit the ads. I already have a WO dielectric diagonal tucked away in a drawer somewhere and a cheap RDF, plus some Plossls, webcam, Mirrorless cameras, so I would only need an OTA and mount and a T ring. I also have a ton of focus masks in a drawer up to 6" diameter. Thanks

I've kept my eyes open on the second hand market just in case, but would like to buy from FLO both for the piece of mind and in way of thanks for what they've done for me over the years I don't think it's impossible to find something to cover many of these bases. I'm just a dabbler and have no expectations of APOD's and the like I don't even need goto.

It's tricky but doable. Reflectors are cheap and have good aperture and colour correction, and RA motor drives aren't too expensive either. This is just an example of course, but I wouldn't be looking for high end goto mounts and large triplet apo's on such a budget. I'm nuts but not that nuts

Hi Martin, exactly! I'm going to need something that will initially cover most of these bases to some extent as I have a feeling I won't have any other free cash for a while with all the house plans. I obviously wouldn't expect a pro imaging rig for such a low budget, but something that isn't cornered into one purpose. If the Moon is about I like to both observe and image the Moon, same with the planets. But if they are not about I like to dabble in some DSO's both observing and imaging. I wouldn't be looking at super long exposures, so don't need a high end mount. Maybe in the future when I have more money lol The Celestron SE range isn't a bad shout as I really liked the 5SE I once had. A bit slow natively for any short exposure DSO imaging but you can pick a 0.63 reducers for 50-60 quid. Worth considering cheers

Well I don't mind wacky I didn't think of two setups so I'm liking the lateral thinking! Also I didn't really expect to get goto on such a tight budget, rather maybe RA driven imaging and observing, but it may be possible. Thanks.

Ooh good set of replies! I'll go through and reply to each between other duties

Hi all, For quite some time now I've undergone quite a kit drought! Other than FLO very kindly loaning me beginner telescopes to review for YouTube. It doesn't feel right to just keep on pestering (lol)/emailing Steve to send me scopes, so I want to put together a full scope setup, OTA, mount, tripod with what money I've pieced together, and of course I want to do this via FLO. Now I'm not new to scopes so should be able to pick what I need for myself. However, I don't seem to be able to settle on what to buy. This is partly because my budget is relatively low and I need the setup to cover a lot of bases! E.g. Observing the planets, the Moon, and DSO's as well as imaging these objects too! Solar would be a bonus. My budget is around £600-700. I already have in my head what I think could cover most of these bases, just that I could do with hearing from others what they think as I'm only going to have this money ring fenced once before I have to go back to throwing money at an house renovation. I may be able to stretch this budget a little as it's payday soon, but not by much. Penny for your thoughts?

Are there any markings on the back of the mirror which could indicate how well figured the mirror is e.g 1/4 wave is average diffraction limited, but 1/8 or 1/10 would have a very good quality figure. Having said the above, even with a 1/4 wave mirror you wouldn't be getting ripped off paying for a recoat considering what you paid.

Nice shot's. Skywacther LP filters work well for very little outlay I've found. It might make post processing a little easier.

Very nice Nadeem, and the corners look pretty good to me as is. By my standards at least! Oh I do miss imaging p.s. Does anyone else think the Soul nebula looks a bit like a heart as well as the actual heart nebula? I can see the chambers of the heart and everything. I guess the actual heart neb has a bit of an Aorta nebula at the top.

Oh! 250mm focal length! I was going to say lol

Interesting bino, thanks for sharing.

Thanks Mark, and likewise! Also I have to say you have one of the best hand shakes I've ever encountered! Also great story about how you travelled to the show. That will tale some beating!

Glad to be of service I'm surprised but glad it looked fine on a TV! The footage does intermittently show macro blocking when the camera pans too quickly but at least I've solved this for next years IAS. p.s. As a Radiographer I dig your avatar!