old geezer

please find my todays pictures in my album taken with a qhy5 and sw 80mm f5 guided with a atik ic16 and 6in newtonian at f3 and the whole lot on a sw eq3-2 well above its maximum carrying weight.pictures processed with dss and posted as jpegs.outside temp was -5dc.these are first attempts with this guide camera and any opinions would be appreciated:icon_confused:

hi martin from suffolk england :hello2:.ive looked at your choice the explorer200 a 200mm scope on an eq5 and its quite large.it wont be hard to setup as it has instructions.if it doesnt have synscan you should see some stars ok and it will track depending on how level the tripod is and how good your polar alignment is.for that i sit under it to see thro the alignment scope rather than stand on my head.you mite need a box 2c thro the scope at high angles.with synscan put in you lat/lon from a web site time,daylight saving,date etc.go for 1 star setup to start as 2 or 3 is much harder.then you can look for objects near you start point and use pointing accuracy enhancement to improve the accuracy as you look at new things nearby.i have an eq3-2 on a pillar and a new heq5 both with synscan.its ok if you understand it by trial and error.i hope this will be helpful if/when you get one.i use my 5 or 6 inch newtonian,one with a webcam or dslr so being smaller its easier to setup etc.if you are intending to use it on a patio mark where the tripod feet go,i drilled shallow 1cm holes about 5mm deep so that if you align it ok then move it then when you put it back in the holes its allready polar aligned.hope this helps.sincerely richard aka old geezer