Analysis Paralysis

Hi Carole, thank you. It's useful to hear what you think about the relative noise. I am probably going to buy new, so if the option of the belt being already present is available, it makes sense to buy it. Thanks Mark

Thank you.

Thanks. I've heard of eqmod. How do you use it?

Thank you. Is this based on using both for visual and imaging?

Thank you. I have my eye on a new heq5 pro with Rowan belt mod already built in for only £120 extra cost. Every time I look at astrosell, heq5 mounts are already sold or wanted! The resell value is always pretty high too, so buying new is less risky. My finger is hovering over the trigger! Bit like Davros, if you remember him! I think it is the high cost that is causing the finger to shake. But, I have a secondhand ED80, a Nikon D7000, knowledge of Photoshop and camera adapters etc. The mount and a lithium polymer battery are the missing links, but a hefty outlay. Thanks for your comments Mark

Thank you. I would like to do both equally. I know some people say they prefer alt az for visual observation, but I can't see why visual observing with a goto, tracking eq mount would be difficult? Regarding the slewing, I am just a bit nervous that I'll wake the neighbours if I'm changing target frequently. I've seen a YouTube video of slewing with and without belt, and the belt really was whisper quiet whereas the worm gears sounded quite loud. Thanks Mark

Hello, Does anyone have experience of using both these mounts for imaging? If yes, can you advise on which you think does the best job of accurate tracking and is the az eq5 gt quiet in its native form, i.e. doesn't need a Rowan belt mod? I was going to buy the heq5 pro with belt already installed, but now I see this other mount with az capabilities as well. I wonder if there has to be compromises in its performance somewhere? I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks Mark

Thank you all for your a answers especially you Billy for a particularly interesting reply. I currently have a secondhand 80 ed refractor and intend to use it for DSO imaging. But I also would like to do visual on doubles, planets and moon, and brighter DSO. I'd like to avoid 2 mounts. I am thinking of the heq5 pro with goto and WiFi control and Rowan belt mod for quiet accurate tracking. Given the cost of that lot, I'm looking for inclusivity of visual and imaging! I would like to add a 150 mm F12 or 180 mm F15 mak to the collection later on to compliment the 80 mm refractor. Again you can see I'm looking at visual and imaging with these choices ( although I am going to have a crack at the impossible task of trying the Mak at DSO too!). About 30 years ago I had a dark Star 8.75" dobsonian. I could never get on with having to push it around and view at same time especially as the magnification rises. For me, tracking is absolutely essential in my next choice! No doubt whatsoever. I want to observe rather than constantly battle to keep on target. But also options for astrophotography like we see now were way beyond most amateurs reach 30 years ago, so I fancy my hand at this now! Before I am too old to lug a mount around. Thanks Mark

Please can I have your opinions on how easy/pleasant it is to use this mount for visual observation? I've heard some views that it is a pain? I'd like to do both visual and imaging. Thanks for any opinions Mark

Wow! That image is fantastic. I wonder what aperture he used? I have seen a wonderful M51 taken with a Mak at F12, but I believe it was a 12 inch aperture, and I believe aperture is important, although I have seen very good 150 mm F12 M51 images, so I know it's possible. Mark

I will have to download this. It looks useful!

Hi. What would you say was a typical resolution limit for photography(arc seconds per pixel) in Midlands in UK? This would be useful in decision making. Thank you

Thank you. One thing I did notice when I was playing around with the camera options in the website another poster provided, was when I selected the atik 420 with 8 micron pixel size, the image size of M51 looked much bigger. Would you be able to advise on other camera options? Thanks for the 150 mm f5 suggestion. I was kind of hoping I could combine visual superiority of mak for planetary with bigger images of DSO. I have seen some very good images of M51 taken with 150mm Maks. I am based in UK. With a heq5 using Rowan belt mod and good seeing, I wonder if - with the minimum sub time- it would be possible to achieve similar results with imaging, whilst being able to use the Mak for visual- i.e. having my cake and eating it! Thank you Mark

Thank you. This may be what I'm after, but do you know how to see how much of the total image area is occupied by the image. I tried M51 but I can't tell if the whole black rectangle would be the image area or something else. Do you know? Thank you Mark

Thank you. What I'm after is how much of my image would be covered by an object, let's take M51. Using 13' = 780" and 1.8 "/pixel, this would be 780/1.8 = approx 400 pixels. Assuming horizontal, this would be 400/4928*100% = approx 8% of horizontal image. So, on a 7.5 inch print it would be about 0.7 inch wide? Is this thinking correct? Mark