JoshHopk

The way I used to do this is to take my barlow, and remove the lens from it. This left a 1.25” thread to screw my filter into. The only problem with this is that the barlow has to be secured into a visual back via thumb screws, not threaded, which is slightly less secure but will be fine if the screws are done up tight. I’m sure there’s a more reliable and easier way than this…

The tube is slightly front heavy I believe, which is causing the DEC axis to become unbalanced. Loosen the two bolts that grip the dovetail and move the tube backwards a small amount and tighten the bolts again. Keep testing the balance after each nudge and leave it once it’s balanced.

Hi Kris, welcome to SGL

The second cable i linked (Identical to the one that Dave has also linked I believe) should work fine

Hi Emilis, To connect your hand controller to your laptop, you'll need the cable that came with the mount, which should have a RJ-12 connector on one end and a female RS232 on the other. The RJ-12 goes in the bottom of the hand controller and you'll have to get an adapter for the other end that goes from male RS232 to USB, like this. Alternatively, you can use a direct RJ-12 to USB cable, like this. HTH

Hi Niko, welcome to SGL

Yes I hadn’t thought about that. As Louis mentioned it can be broken down into two manageable pieces. You could get a mount for it later down the line, which would certainly help with manoeuvring it.

That is true, I’ll keep an eye out

Thanks Michael, I had considered refractors, but they exceed the budget a bit

Thanks Olly, I hadn’t considered resolution

Welcome to the lounge, and thanks for the kind comments; there was someone on the forum earlier who seemed to think the exact opposite... Anyway, in terms of a scope, I believe something like this will be great for you. It slightly exceeds your budget, but will be worth it if you can spare the extra 23 euros. These types of scopes (Dobsonians) are really superb value for money, very easy to use, portable and will give great views of the moon, planets and this one in particular will give good views of deep sky objects as it has a whole 8inches of aperture (which essentially means it's great at capturing light). You do have to manually navigate the sky with them however, which is worth learning and won't be hard for planets or the moon. Enjoy the hobby Josh

Thanks for the reply. I thought it may come down to personal preference, but thought I'd ask anyway.

Thanks for the info. I definitely think that Jupiter was out of focus, perhaps only slightly. Yes, I think you should crank up the exposure or gain next time, it looks a touch underexposed. The capture software should also give colour options, if you're capturing in RGB.

Hello all, hope everyone's staying well I've been into lunar and planetary imaging for a while, but I'm keen on getting started with deep sky AP. I've read Steve Richards' book and I think I've got a good understanding of the requirements. I know that the mount is the most important part of the whole operation, so I managed to pick up a belt modified HEQ5 Pro for a very reasonable price. Now I'm a bit stuck on choosing a scope; I've tried my Nexstar 5SE, but it's slow with a F ratio of F/10, and with a FL of 1250mm, it's in dire need of guiding, so I was left wondering if it's even worth trying to get working well. I've been looking at the 150P-DS, which is much faster and has a more manageable focal length; It's also easier to guide I believe. I've also seen the incredible images the 130P-DS provides, but I'm unsure if it has any advantages over the 150? I was just wondering what scopes people would recommend, with a budget of about £500. I would be using my Canon DSLRs with whatever I end up going for. Would I be approaching the limits of the HEQ5 with a 150pds, CC DSLR and guiding? Also what coma corrector is most suitable for these f5 newts, the Baader MPCC or the SW 0.9x CC? Thanks in advance

From the provided image I'd say that your focus is out. The reddish look is likely because of this and also the image is a bit underexposed. It could however be because you're taking single frames as opposed to a video and then stacking the individual frames, if you could perhaps provide more info then others will be able to help you a bit better. As mentioned before, the Galilean moons are usually composited in post. One image with a higher exposure/gain for the moons, and then a lower exposure/gain image for Jupiter are blended together.

For slightly less than the Meade, you could pick up one of these. They’re very portable, versatile scopes and punch well above their weight for the price. The moon and planets will look great with a decent set of eyepieces and a barlow. It has a larger aperture as well, so using high magnification eyepieces and a barlow will still give respectable results, not sure if the Meade will however, as it has only 70mm of aperture.

Hi and welcome to SGL

I believe that for dust lanes and other faint details, you may have to use longer exposures. I’m unsure if a Ha or other filters would bring any benefits.

My first ever equatorial mount from a lovely member of SGL Tonight will be the first night of many capturing the stars with this beaut...

Hi Oli, welcome to SGL

Hi and welcome to SGL Josh

Something like this is very highly regarded among beginners (and experienced stargazers even) as as they are great value for money, portable and give great views of pretty much everything our night sky has to offer. Add a barlow and you’ll be set

Gorgeous, well done Ian

Hi Zac, welcome to SGL

Hi Rich, welcome to SGL