Quetzalcoatl72

You reminded me that I can use stellarium to do that, thanks. Surely though that's where focal reducers come into play no? is the quality reduced? My ED80 can pick it up, but imaging doesn't show any colours

Ok, lets say I want objects I've tried to do but yielded no results, horsehead and rosette for example

vx10L, quattro, v200L, C9.25. I'm interested in those

Trust me it's the scope lol, having a little orange c5 on a big eq6 mount is embarrassing. Maybe not twice the kick, because that would mean something like a c10 which Is over my budget, bigger images, more light gathering, sharp contrast etc those kicks

Everything, I want to photograph all objects possible with the budget

To fit my NEQQ, my c5 did exceptionally well in all front but I need an upgrade, something with twice the kick! I've been looking at newts but I read so many forums about them bendy with a heavy camera and the focussing being shoddy and awkward collimation. Hopefully that will not be a problem as I'm exclusively in the garden. Price range of up to £1300, that's including anything I need to improve the scope such as a better focuser etc. I have a 80ed but i'm not replacing that as it's newish, thanks.

Below is pictures of my set up that I have problems with: First picture shows my tube extension and t ring, without it I can't focus on the stars Second shows my new GSO 2" barlow x2, i took the 1.25 adaptor off it but it leaves a hole which light can get into and it wont even screw tight properly it keeps falling off Third shows that the barlow wont go all the way into my ED80, there is a lip inside stopping it from going any further. And lastly is unrelated but its more of a hinderance than anything else, i attched my 120 asi guider to the finder scope, but it wouldn't focus so I removed the tightening ring and the lens is now wobbly which is a worry but the stars can get picked up on sharpcaps polar alignment setup. Another thing is that my new 2" LP filter wont fit my extention tube but it does fit the other, they almost have exactly the same thread size which is weird. Can anyone help, I fear that I've wasted so much money on this

I'm looking for an OTA to go with my neq6 purely for astrophotography, I currently have a celestron nexstar se c5 which needs to be replaced and a ED80 which I haven't used that much so I need to keep that. I've used my c5 for both planets, nebula and galaxies all came out great imo, but I'm after a scope that can do all of that but bigger and brighter! I've looked into the C9.25 but I heard it's only good for planets, surely that's just them being picky, something about poor wide field of view? Isn't that just if you want to image larger nebula or galaxies? then surely you can reduce the focal length with a piece of kit? My budget is about £1700, again I'm after larger images in planets such as mars, mercury, neptune etc, and nebula like the eskimo, ring and dumbell, and other smaller objects of interest. I'm using a canon 600da, and a asi120 as a guidescope, currently debating whether or not to get a proper CCD because my dslr doesn't seem to pick up certain nebula for some reason, i've never imaged horsehead. Not sure if that's light pollution or what, which is bad in my area might I add, but I've gotten great pics regardless, I have a filter for that which I haven't used yet, and the other piece of kit I have is a x2 barlow 2". With my budget can I get something that can do all of the above? or do I need 2 scopes like what I've been hearing a lot, which I don't understand because my little c5 can do all. Thanks. I'll attach pictures of what my c5 can do:

Thanks for taking the time to write that extensive information. I'm almost positive I have all the basics right, I balance my scope in 3 directions (ED80 btw), I was told to have it slightly east heavy. When slewing at max speed it makes a crackling and whirring noise at the beginning and just whirring until I slow it down to stop that's where the crackling begins again otherwise it's just a high pitch hum when tracking. I bought it brand new in 2016 but I've only used it a dozen or so times, I worry that carrying it around the way I do could damage the mount (cradling like a baby, arm under the largest part, bottom piece hanging downward) I have no carry case they cost just as much as the mount itself!!. I did get the original bolt stuck in the mount day one and had to bend the screw and unscrew it back out which threaded it a little bit, I bought professional az-alt screws and it seems solid so I don't know why that should have an effect. I know I'm polar aligning correctly because the go-to functions more than it used to when I didn't PA the right way(goes right to the objects every time). I have recently upgraded the handset for the first time, I've yet to try it out.

I was thinking about that, I already have marking at the moment but the patio will go over the top, I'll make them subtle enough so it doesn't ruin the tiles somehow. I'm not sure exactly what the mount is supposed to sound like, wish i could compare with someone on a night out but that's impossible at this current climate. When I try to fix things I always seem to make them worse so I'll leave the gears till guiding is sorted.

My main issue is tracking, I can only get 10 seconds with PA, my PA isn't 100% because I'm not guiding, recently purchased an adaptor to use my 120asi to get into guiding as a first timer. I just mentioned this topic as the warm weather is around the corner and the garden is due to be done up and the patio is the main feature because I have limited space to walk around at the moment. Just worried that the patio wont be stable enough.

My garden is my almost permanent setup, and it's not completely ideal. My overall setup probably weighs 45kg as a own an neq6 sitting on what I call 'crazy paving' the slabs don't move currently but they are thin. I aim to have a large circular slab set up for chairs in the summer and the telescope at night, without spending thousands on thick concrete and a permanent pier are there any other ways I can have that will improve my setup? Anything like tripod upgrades? anti vibration feet or something along those lines? thanks.

Just as i suspected thanks a lot guys!

I finally updated my neq6 synscan handset for the first time to hopefully fix my tracking issues, and I found a new routine in my set up It now asks for 'elevation' after the time zone option, what is this and is it important for imaging?

I've got a while yet before i'm that age, i'll probably get a 10" newt or the 9.25 because seeing in my home town is pretty bad anything past a 10" sct is wasted

I'm mostly in the garden, weight isn't too much of a concern for me, only for the mount which the payload is 20kg

The other scope I have is an ED80 which I could use for andromeda as I'm sure these big scopes are too big to capture the whole thing, both my small scopes look embarrassing on my neq6 😆

No I already have an NEQ6, that's another reason I want a huge upgrade instead of buying a 6 then a 8 etc.

I'm after a cassegrain reflector but I don't know which one to buy, I have a celestron c5 and it worked wonders for all fields, I now want the same but twice as powerful as my final upgrade I am looking at a c9.5 for £1350 or a c11 for £2000, My question is an extra 2.75" focal worth it for £750 more? I will likely purchase one this week

After a very sturdy tripod and 'head/mount?' for general photography at the current moment but to also use for a Sky guider when I get one in the future My questions are; Which tripod do I need to handle a small scope and or camera with a big lens attached to sky guider, Tripod budget less than £100 Which sky guider should I go for to image the milkyway and nebula? probably 6-8 lbs payload? Budget less than, £400 Do sky guiders come with their own mount? I heard something about a ball head, mount budget less than £50 Is there anything else I may need with what I have mentioned, power, adaptors, filters etc. Much appreciated, I am new here so I hope this is ok to ask. I currently own a NEQ6 with two small telescopes which I have problems with that I will discus in another topic, so I know how to image that way, but I fancy something small and less stressful in the meantime.