KcajCousland

Hi, I suppose it depends on what you want to do and the scope you have/plan to upgrade to. But without any more information, yeah, those two seem like good options if you have the money and don't mind moving around these heavier mounts. Cheers

Hi Everyone, Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We are aware now is not the best moment for planets, which is why we are planning to get our planetary scope by August. Sad to read the Dobsonian won't do a good job for planetary imaging. Regarding the crappy photos haha I really mean crappy photos. Just point at the sky and shoot with the cellphone. We recently got a plastic cellphone adapter for the binoculars and I think it could also work with our scope. We'll see if that helps get a somewhat less crappy image 😜. Regarding our future options, the more we read, the more puzzled we get 🤣 One thing seems consistent though. People everywhere in the internet seem to always recommend the HEQ5 almost no matter what. Could someone explain why? I mean, technically the EQ5 Pro or an EQM-35 which was just recently brought to our attention https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eqm-35-pro-synscan-goto-modular-mount.html can handle around 6 to 7kg for imaging. Assuming something like our Option B 127Mak weighs around 5 Kg, giving around 1.5Kg-2kg for the additional equipment. Also the Mak would be for planetary imaging, which I understand is more forgiving regarding tracking. The 80ED refractor (for DSO AP) weighs 4.1Kg, giving even less trouble to the mount. Yet I am almost sure if we say want to purchase the EQ5 or the EQM-35 we will still be recommended to get an HEQ5. Are the EQ5 and EQM-35 mounts bad? Don't they work as advertised? Thanks again for all your help!

Hi, I'm a beginner myself, but here's my opinion: Given your scope, I agree with you on the EQ5. For visual astronomy it should handle the scope with ease. As for Astrophotography, for planets and doubles you can get away with cheaper mounts than you would if you wanted to shoot DSOs, since you don't need long exposures and incredibly accurate tracking. As for other options If you have the money and don't mind carrying something heavier, you'll see a lot of people highly recommending the HEQ5 everywhere on the internet.

Hi there, Sorry in advance, I imagine this kind of topics have been posted a gazillion times already, but for some reason I can't seem to find an answer, so here it goes. I have been using a Natgeo 114CF telescope and cheap binoculars with my gf for visual astronomy. So far we've seen the moon, the pleiades, Orion Nebula, and a few random stars. It's safe to say we are getting hooked. We know the equipment could be better (specially the mount and tripod) but we are just getting our feet wet. If our interest keeps growing, we are planning to get a telescope later this year, maybe in the summer when the planets are in opposition giving us lots of time to make a decision. We have thought about it and even though it was nice seeing the Orion Nebula, we were expecting to see a little more (some shades of colour). So we understood why people get into Astrophotography. Additionally, I've even found myself taking crappy pictures of constellations with my phone and sharing them with my friends. There's a strange joy in sharing these. That being said, we live under terribly light polluted skies, and even though we'd love to get away from them from time to time, we know most of our observations would be from the city. So we would like to get a scope that can give us a good observational experience and be useful for planetary imaging. I've read everywhere EQ mounts are the way to go for imaging, but these add a substancial cost to the system. I've also read the 200P Dobsonian is a great scope and fantastic bang for the buck. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html Would a dobsonian be good for planetary imaging? If not, then we would like to get scope and mount that can be used for great observation and imaging. Sadly we'd have to reduce aperture since the 200mm scopes tend to be too heavy for the cheaper mounts. Option A https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150pl-ota.html Mount: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-deluxe.html I understand this mount could also be used with the shorter 150PDS, so if we were to transition to DSO astrophotography, we could improve the mount with the GoTo System and buy the new OTA over time. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ds-ota.html . Option B: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-127-eq3-2.html and if we transition to DSO, upgrade the mount with the GoTo system and get this small one over time. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-ota.html If you've read this far thank you haha and I'd appreciate your opinions and suggestions. Clear skies!