Jimbo64

Grand, thanks for that. On the picture, is there a format that works best on here for sharing, I thought I'd used PNG first time (but might have changed that when transferring from my astro-laptop) and JPEG the second time?

Sorry about the formatting on my post, does this work?

I've been there myself. One other thing, it's only certain posts that count to the 25 target, so some things (like here in the 'Welcome' section don't seem to count.

After a wee while of camera ownership (ASI585mc) followed by having to renew a broken rig and then all sorts of hardware and software issues, I managed to get first light proper last night and captured the Orion Nebula, breaking my EEA virginity and capturing the Orion Nebula as my first DSO. I'm delighted with this as my first snapshot, 24 x 4 second frames at Gain 378 through my 200PDS on an HEQ5pro. Feedback and any hints and tips appreciated, my only complaint is that my plate solving (using ASTAP) was very patchy, but that's a minor issue. Getting SharpCap/ Stellarium/ ASCOM/ EQMOD all talking the same language was an achievement for me as was getting good tracking after thinking my new mount was a duffer, but the culprit was a poor (old) power supply. 1st astro - Orion nebula

After deliberating and researching this topic for a while I've just bought a F/5 200PDS, the weather hasn't been great, so I've not used it much at all yet. Once I had decided to go down the large(ish) newt route the advice to me (specifically for imaging) was to conncentrate specifically on focal ratio, F4 being faster and 'better' for photography, but more challenging to manage (collimation and more in need of a coma corrector_ - something like: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-10-f-4-m-lrn-newtonian-reflector-with-3-focuser.html. I must admit that I bottled it a bit and opted for the F5 - it seemed to me a good compromise and easier to work with as well as being a good all-rounder for both imaging and visual use - and I settled on Skywatcher as it was bundled with the mount I needed also (HEQ5 pro). If you can cope with the technicalities, a fast newt seems a good option, and the price (and sail effect) drops considerably if you drop aperture.

Hi again, After lots of consideration and some great advice from FLO (thanks Chris) I went with this option: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200pds-heq5-pro.html It's arriving this afternoon, Clear Outside is suggesting it will be late on Christmas Night before I get good enough weather for first light!

It was only after posting that I saw that there had been previous threads on this topic and that it's been bubbling under for a while. @VulishaIt'll be great to hear how you get on with this, hopefully you're near to getting your hands on it and we can then hear first hand what you think!

I've just watched an interesting video on this new bit of tech. It looks very gimmicky, has anyone here any experience or views on this for EEVA?

Good points (as usual) Peter, and I totally get that having the choice of OTAs is a big benefit in having a versatile mount. An idea has just struck me though, if I opt for the goto dob and at some point down the line I fancy adding a more wide-field option (possibly an apo like yours), could I not just plonk it (somehow?) on my newtonian and use my Dobsonian SynScan GoTo to do EAA through the apo?

Great invention, Peter. Make sure you patent it soon or you could see ASIAR paint it red and put a sticker on it!

I'll give this some thought, but it may well be that I seek a new home for a great piece of visual kit...

I only had 2 years use - bought it second hand and the previous owner had done the same, so I'm not at all sure how old the scope was, but it was a SynTrek model, so I'm guessing its at least a dozen years old.

Yup, but my mount/ scope is busted, so I'm pretty much starting over!

I keep flip-flopping on what my next step will be. I first thought that it was certainly going to be on an equatorial mount (HEQ5/ 8" Newtonian?), then my thinking moved to a more modest size system (eq3/ azgti? I totally empathise with @shirva) with decent enough goto and maybe an ASIAR control system would be it. But I did love my 8" goto dob and the alt-az was more than good enough for my expectations of EAA, so I'm now on the cusp of just getting a bigger goto Dob. My dilemma now is how big, anything over 12" seems too heavy and cumbersome, 10" would be better and more similar than my old rig, so 12" looks just about right. Dilemma, but I'm also building it backwards from having a ASI585mc as my starting point!

There's a dedicate forum here (https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/286-eeva-discussion/), in terms of buying new gear (upgrading to HEQ), one of the driving theories with EEA is to use what you've got!