Upgrades for a 150mm Dobsonian

[Orion_42]

Hi everyone,

After trying out some imaging of the moon and saturn last weekend I now want to upgrade my mount to allow for longer captures and possible exposures (Would the spc1 mod for the spc900 be sufficient for imaging M42 and M31?).

I know a HEQ5 is considered to be a lot better, but unfortunately that mount is far beyond my budget - even secondhand. However, since I'd only be using 10-20second exposures (spc1 mod limitations?) I'm hoping the EQ5 mount would be capable of this?

To anyone to has bought a dobsonian and later attached the tube to a EQ mount, what additional items did you need to buy? I assume the tube rings, do you need to buy the dovetail too?

I'm looking at getting this mount: Skywatcher - Skywatcher EQ5 Deluxe

along with either single or dual axis motor (surely if the mount is polar aligned I'd only need single?) and perhaps a polarscope

and maybe a decent plossl + UHC filter for observing DSOs (will unlikely be able to image the DSOs this summer due to cost of modded spc900 - unable to do it myself)

Sorry if this post is incoherent, have so many questions and the learning curve from Alt-az to EQ seems steep

[david o]

As an entry point into astro-photography you'll find this book, Making Every Photon Count (by SGL's very own steppenwolf, now into it's 2nd Edition), helpful in getting started.

Easy to read, it's full of advice aimed at the imaging novice, including choosing the right equipment, tips 'n' tricks and lots of other vital stuff.

Have a trawl through the imaging sections too, They're full of info and some very experienced, talented folk who, I'm sure, will be more than happy to share advice and guidance with you.