Neila1975

Yes, counter weight, DSLR & lens.

Yep, totally agree.

Thanks - yes should have pointed out I centered (or thought I had) the reticle on Sunday morning. From what I can see I have followed the correct procedure so something is off, I'm guessing my reticle alignment.

Yep, ive attempted this & thought i'd had it centred.

Hi all, Appreciate some advice on polar alignment. So far i’ve watched multiple tutorials but have essentially narrowed it down to… 1. Centre reticle 2. Level mount 3. Adjust height angle according to location 4. View Polaris 5. Move Polaris using mount height & left/right adjustments to location on the clock face as per Polar align app I attempted this yesterday but found after about an hour Polaris had moved inside the reticle 'clock face’ when viewing through the polar scope. I think i’m right in thinking that this suggests either my reticle isn’t quite centred and/or that I haven’t positioned Polaris quite correctly on the clock face. It maybe that I’ve the entire process wrong, so any help would be much appreciated. BTW the mount im using is an HEQ5 Many thanks Neil

Great post & thank you for the advice, very much appreciated.

thanks! Not sure what you mean by Aperture mask but will check it out!

Hi, Not entirely sure at this stage, but in DX mode the D810 resolution drops to 15mpx, which I'm guessing would be manageable..?

thanks Reezeh

Thank you so much for replying & yes the stock situation isn't good! Probably be the summer before I get started - perhaps longer!

Hi all, Newbie here just wanting to say hi! (Kind of a newbie, had a telescope nearly 20 years ago now!) Looking to get into AP (from being a landscape togger!) & came across the forum having spent multiple days, hours, weeks surfing the net & watching you tube videos on equipment & scopes & everything else! Heres hoping to learn a lot & maybe at some point be able to provide some advice back - who knows! Keep well Neil

Hi all, Hope you're all keeping safe & well. After some advice really. Currently a landscape photographer interested in taking a few more steps into the world of AP but not really sure where to begin. Initially interested in purchasing both a scope & a mount but on reflection since I already own several high quality DSLR lenses I wondered whether I should just stick with a mount & use my camera set up to get me going. I've been specifically looking at the Sky Watcher HEQ5 which looks to be an excellent mount albeit expensive & it's max payload would happily support my Nikon D810 coupled with a 70-200 or my 100-400. It would also allow a good sized dedicated AP set up for any future upgrade. Is this a sensible way forward? Is the mount 'overkill'? Any other things I need to consider? What would you do? Interested in mainly deep space imagery but will also want to take planetary shots. Many thanks Neil