Ocelot

Hi all, thanks for the responses so far. Yes unfortunately we're stuck with the EQ5 PRO not the HEQ5! It's certainly an option for the future, but I feel with the EQ5 PRO and a lightweight refractor, we might be able to buy some time before getting the mount upgrade. Looking good for the ED80!

Hello, I'm after some advice for my dads equipment & possible next purchases. I know a little about the subject and would like to get involved more with him and help him out. Currently, he owns: EQ5 PRO Skywatcher ST80 Skywatcher 200P Skywatcher 9x50 straight finder with ZWO 120mm mini (autoguiding) Nikon D5500 Laptop with APT & PHD2 He's great at setting the scopes up (collimating, polar aligning etc.) He has dabbled in astrophotography with the above, but finds with the 200P, autoguiding & DSLR, the mount struggles with the weight. He struggles focusing with both scopes. He's quite happy going after the "easy" DSOs (big & bright) for now, until he gets better! My solution would be to purchase a small apochromatic refractor (with appropriate flattener), with a good dual speed focuser, which hopefully the EQ5 can deal with. A future option would be to upgrade this mount, but preferably after he has the hang of focusing/autoguiding/APT and hopefully some evidence in the form of pictures! Would the EQ5 PRO handle something like a Skywatcher Evostar 80ED or William Optics Zenithstar 61? Or any scope around the f/6 mark... with the above autoguiding & Nikon? I suppose the lighter the scope, the better chance we have with the EQ5? Hopefully a quality focuser (unlike the one on both the current scopes) would make a big difference helping him focus, but I'd like to try purchase/3D print a bahtinov mask to help further. I think he has his hands full with APT/PHD2 without adding extra software aids for now that would achieve autofocusing! Again perhaps something for the future. Note: I will end up taking the raw exposures and running them through the stacking and editing stage for now. Can PHD2 quantify how good our scope is tracking and is that a good way of judging if the EQ5 with loaded equipment & setup? Is there any way we can do some maintenance on the EQ5 pro? Take apart, clean, grease, tighten etc. Could you let me know your thoughts and advice, I'm open to all suggestions (even sticking with the ST80!!)... I think the essence of this post is: What is the minimum investment we can make to survive with the EQ5 PRO for another few years? Thanks, Ocelot