Lobo Cielo

I just want to thank everyone for your replies to my questions. It is much appreciated. I have requested the 2” legs; hope the dealer can get them OK. Cheers!

Jazza I would love to see some pics of your rig if that is O.K.. I am fairly new to astronomy and this mount will be my first ‘proper legs’. Cheers

Hello to all, I have got a chance of going for a IOptron CEM25P that I want to use in my back garden. I also would like to take it on my travels around the UK and possibly abroad. I have organised a deal for this mount together with an 80 mm triplet refractor and guide scope. I can order the mount with 1.5” or 2” legs; weight difference is about 3kg for the heavier version, extra cost about £100. I just wondered if anyone could advise if the 1.5” legs would be good enough and stay stable in the wind? Does anyone own this mount and have either of the two sizes of legs? I would love to hear your experiences before I finally put in the order. May I thank you in advance if you can offer any help. Cheers!

Thank you TareqPhoto for the feedback. You have raised some good points. I will give the equipment choice some more thought before I purchase. I just can’t wait to get stuck in and have a go. I used a Star Adventurer the other night and loaded it up with my 300 lens. However the mount seemed to struggle despite it being within the payload tolerances. I then swapped to a 70-200 zoom and managed to catch a spiral galaxy, albeit small, on the final image. Can you or anyone advise on the post production workflow after taking a series of light frames? How does taking multiple images amount to a single long exposure when stacked? Many thanks.

Thanks to you all for your advice which I will take on board. I have some further questions to ask; if I use my dslr ( I have both a Canon 5D mk iii and a 1DX) coupled to one of my big lenses, probably a 300 mm f2.8, how would you attach this to the EQ head and how would you mount a spotting scope or guide scope to the setup. Also I have read about the effects of dark current, especially on the 1DX. Am I better just going for a astro camera in the first place? The other thing is would you mind clarifying the point about large filters. Are these the ones that fit behind the lens over the DSLR sensor to remove light pollution of enhance different bandwidths of light? I have read books like Turn Left at Orion, the Backyard Astronomy Guide and Digital SLR Photography by Covington and tried to absorb as much information as possible. However there is so much to learn! Making Every Photon Count sounds really interesting; I am guessing that the thrust of the book is using as few glass elements in your collector lens or telescope as possible, to gather as much light in the shortest possible time and stacking multiple images. Don't know if m assumption is right? I come from a background of semi-pro photography and I appreciate quality optics, and have come to realise that you get what you pay for, and sadly to secure good gear you have to fork out major dosh for it Any further advice regarding the above is greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts!