Charis

Yes i did, that's why i decided to go with this build since i found this second hand mount in my area. Thanks again for introducing me to this topic. As i saw, a lot of great pictures can be achieved without an eq mount.

On 19/06/2021 at 14:09, happy-kat said:

You will want to check very carefully as I think the 130PDS laden with camera is likely too big and heavy for the az-gti.

Take a look and see what other people are using telescope wise with that mount before deciding what you want to do.

Thank you for advices. They are really helpful. After a lot of consideration i will start by buying the 130pds tube and a second hand star discovery mount. It should be stable based on what i found online. I will perform some basic lunar, planetary and short exposure DSO AP while i save enough for a EQ5-6 mount.

12 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Did you look at the Az-gti mount? It is alt-az goto by default but has the ptential to be EQ with firmware update.

Thank you for your answer!
I didnt know these mounts existed. I am seriously incline to buy one to hold the 130 pds and later turn it into an equatorial mount. Thank you!

3 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Be careful what you wish for.  The cheaper alt-az GoTo mounts are usually sold bundled with a entry level scope, and are intended for visual use with scopes weighing less than 5 Kg or so.  Then there's a big gap to the heavy duty alt-az or alt-az/EQ mounts that you can buy separately, which cost serious amounts of money.

Have you a budget? A small ED refractor will cost several hundred pounds.  A 102mm Startravel achromat will let you do some basic imaging, and it's cheap, and you can screw on a helical focuser, but it won't be as good or as versatile as an ED scope. 

You can start wilh the cheap stuff, but if you are serious about deep-space imaging you will eventually want an ED refractor and a heavy-duty equatorial GoTO mount. (and keep your entry level kit as a grab'n go?)

Thank you for your answer!
I was thinking the 130pds which weights ~4 kg with the mount "Skywatcher Mount Star Discovery AZ SynScan WiFi GoTo" (which holds up to 5 kg) or the mount suggested by happy cat. Both mounts can be sold separately. I have also found  a used Canon 550d relatively cheap. What do  you think about this entry level setup for AP? Is it viable?

Thank you all for your answers! After reading about the prime focus problems on Star discovery I am thinking about buying separately an optical tube designed for astrophotography and a sturdy ALT-AZ GOTO mount. I am still not sure what these products will be so if you have any recommendations please inform me!

On 01/12/2017 at 15:45, Ulysses31 said:

Hi everyone just thought I'd say thanks for all the advice.

Finally got myself up and running not the greatest effort but think it not bad for a Manchester back yard!!! 

M42

Skywatcher Star Discovery 150p AZ GOTO V4

Nikon D5100 x2 Barlow 

10x6secs exposures 

ISO 1600

Stack in DSS 

Processed in GIMP 2.8 

Hello, I am in the same exact position as you were 4 years ago. May i ask you what did you do to counter the prime focus problem?

Hello, i am new in the astronomy and i would like to buy an average all around telescope with an inclination to imaging. I came across SD 150p which is good for observing and capturing lunar and planetary photos (for what i have found online). So the question is "what can it do for both lunar-planetary and DSO imaging (without modifying the focuser so prime focus is only achieved through a barlow lens)? Do you have any photos i could look to or any recommendations to telescopes with similar price? The plan is to start slow with an average telescope (and practise my skills in editing astrophotos :D) and then move on to more expensive and sturdy equatorial goto mounts so i dont have to worry for field rotation and stacking thousands of raw files. Tell me what you think!