CaptainShiznit

I am actually intending to do imaging. I'm just trying to do all I can to minimise the learning curve when we finally get a clear night so I can give it a shot with as little frustration as possible

Cheers So it's out of the question to just buy a cheap standard webcam for sharpcap? I had a little read of the manual online and that's what this led me to believe.

I've looked into these alternatives for polar aligning but I'm hesitant to spend more right now as I'm just at the start of my astro journey. Already owning a laptop and a spare 70mm refractor, what would be the minimum I could spend on a webcam to have some success with SharpCap?

Cheers for this. What does the calibration actually do? What would happen if I skipped it? (Just trying to understand). I'm not trying to be negative about the videos because I do appreciate the effort of making them but from a critical standpoint I find them a bit lacking, like the poor quality camera and mic used, the lack of a script etc. They are helpful but I just think they could be made better

I'm aware there's a few active HEQ5 posts at the minute so apologies for making a new one, I just didn't want to hijack someone else's topic. I've been following along these tutorials on YouTube of setting up my mount. While the videos are good to see, they're a bit hard to follow at times and I had some questions about the reasons behind certain things. 1. When he levels the tripod at the start, what's the point of this when it's going to be moved outside where the ground is different? Should this be done every time when setting up for real outside? 2. At approx 13:30 he aligns the polar scope to a random star, moves it to the bottom of the Polaris circle, then rotates the RA axis to get the star where Polaris should be and zeroes the clock. It's not until the next video that he then aligns Polaris. He states that this step makes polar alignment easier but as he doesn't state the reason I don't follow why he's suggested this step. 3. When he locks his clock and then moves the RA axis, the clock moves with the axis. However, when I lock my clock, it remains locked to the mount and doesn't move with the axis. Is this just a difference in design with my HEQ5 to his NEQ6? Should I have mine unlocked when his is locked and vice versa? 4. Are there any better setup videos than these about? While these are thorough, they aren't terribly well made and I find them difficult to make sense of a lot of the time. Cheers

Might sound silly but I've never owned one before. The instructions are a bit pigeon English but said to charge initially for 12-16 hours but when I plug it in, both the red charging and the green fully charged light are lit. I'm wary of over or under charging it. Is it already charged?

Ah okay, makes more sense now.

Thank you I was a little unsure about the T-ring going off the description but it pops up under recommended accessories or, well, "frequently purchased with" for the scope so I was a little confused. Glad I asked.

So I think I'm ready to pull the trigger on my new scope from FLO but I wanted to get a quick check from the wise lot here. This will be for my attempt to get started in astrophotography but I am also keen to do some visual observing too. I have a newly purchased used HEQ5 waiting at home that needs power, hence the PowerTank and I have a used Canon 600D arriving in the next couple of days. I was torn between the 130PDS and the 150PDS but went with the 130 for better potential AP use. The T-ring and adapter (do I need the adapter?) are for obvious reasons. The eyepeices are so I can enjoy some observing right away as the scope only comes with a 28mm. I'm a bit confused as to whether I need an adapter for the 1.25" eyepeices, and if I need the 1.25" T mount adapter at all, or if the scope already comes with one or accepts both 2" and 1.25"? Cheers

That's just what I was after. I am just starting out so only have the mount to power and just want to get at it, so thank you

I apologise for repeating threads. I have searched and read some older ones, but there's a lot of dead links in the replies. I have no idea about electrics, it's just not my thing, so I was hoping someone could explain like I'm 5 how best to power my new (second hand) HEQ5 safely. The power lead it came with is the cigarette lighter plug type, and the seller supplied an adapter for that with crocodile clips to connect to a leisure battery. For the moment however, I just want to power it at home. Would mains power be best or should I just buy a battery? What other power accessories do I need? I tend to glaze over when confronted with volts, watts and amps 😅 Cheers.

Thanks for this, it's answered one of my main questions about whether I could do both DSO and planetary with a single scope. I've decided to start out with a DSO setup and have already found a second hand HEQ5 mount to collect this weekend. I'm also looking to pick up a Canon 550d as they are a lot cheaper than the newer DSLRs I was looking at previously and have the live video cropping thing available for when I try out planetary imaging at some point with a different scope. I'm still deciding between the 130PDS and 150PDS scope.

I'm not fully understanding the field of view thing for DSOs (as I said, novice here), but I'm doing as much reading as two small kids permits right now. Intuitively, I imagined that you would need greater magnification to see DSOs, a more 'zoomed in' look, rather than, counterintuitively, more 'zoomed out'. I understand now that it's to do with gathering more light from a greater FOV (?). With that in mind, what would the differences between a 130PDS and 150PDS be in real terms of the types of images I could make and/or what I could visually observe?

I think this is the way I'm going to go to get started. Thanks again for your help.

A used HEQ5, used 550d and new 130PDS or 150PDS is exactly what my shopping list had turned into before your comment so thanks for the reassurance

Just to clarify, do you mean a go-to model such as https://www.tringastro.co.uk/sky-watcher-eq5-pro-synscan-goto-equatorial-mount-2869-p.asp?gclid=CjwKCAiAo7HwBRBKEiwAvC_Q8dIqCckphRxVzADjVbIqk8OxBvUPJOO_HeAKYUyQyatHX8SxZLonShoCOgcQAvD_BwE ? And these do sound better, thanks for the recommendation.

That tool is really good, thanks for that. I'll have a proper go later on my PC but even on my phone it gives me a clear look at the differences I'll see between DSLR and webcam. The HEQ5 looks awesome but definitely a future purchase once I know a bit more about what I'm doing. If I was to go with the 200p/EQ5 and a Zwo webcam, would a future DSLR purchase in the future allow me to at least scratch the surface of some DSO imaging or would I also require a mount like the HEQ5 first? Also regarding a DSLR with the 130p, I came across this article https://www.firstlightoptics.com/blog/skywatcher-explorer-130-vs-130p.html where it says: However, neither model is suitable for use with a DSLR camera because their focusers haven't enough inward focus travel for a DSLR to achieve focus. Attaching the DSLR to a suitable barlow lens will overcome this but field of view is reduced so it is a compromise. I don't fully understand what this means but does the 200p have the same limitation? Thanks again.

Just a correction that the 130p I'm looking at comes with an EQ2 not 5.

Hi, first time poster here. I'm looking to take my first steps into astrophotography while being relatively novice at both astronomy and photography. I am familiar with a lot of concepts and terminology on the subjects but lack understanding and experience in many of the processes. I have done lots of research but I've come to a point where the sea of information is getting overwhelming and I feel like I could go on reading forever without ever being sure what to make my first purchase, and I'm itching to get going and looking for some guidance. I currently own a small refractor (Celestron Travelscope 70) which I've only used for observing. I have no camera equipment other than a phone. I do own a decent laptop. I don't have a specific budget in mind, maybe in the £500-1000 range but I'm hesitant to spend a lot right out of the gate and would prefer to build something up gradually rather than be the guy with all the gear and no idea. I'm interested in starting with planetary stuff with a webcam as it appears to circumvent a lot of the photography knowledge required for DSLR use (I could be wrong), but also I would like to own a telescope and mount that leaves the option open for me to acquire a DSLR for capturing DSOs in the near future. Does such a scope exist? I've read that the Canon 550d is a camera that can do both which would make acquiring the webcam pointless for me. Is this outdated information or still valid? I've been looking at both the Sky-Watcher Explorer 130p and 200p with EQ5 mounts as either of these plus either a ZWO ASI120MCS (and a DSLR in future) or a used Canon 550d would be within my intended budget to get started. Basically my bottom line questions would be: Can I buy a telescope/mount and a webcam to get me started with planetary imaging but be able to purchase a DSLR at some point for deep sky imaging with mostly the same setup? Do I even need to buy a webcam or would the Canon suit my purpose? Would the telescopes above suit my purpose? Please bare in mind my lack of experience in this hobby and also my hesitation to want to jump straight into buying expensive kit that would be wasted on me. Thanks in advance.