Husband put a spanner in the works re choosing a scope!

[MrsR]

Well I was all set to go for a 8"/10" Dob as husband is buying me a scope for my 40th in November but he has gone and increased the budget!!!!!!!!!

My want is to do AP and because I didn't have too much cash I thought I'd go for a Dob and then next year start with saving for an AP scope but now the budget has been increased to £500-£600 from him and possibly a little more I have thought I should stick to AP now rather than waiting.

I know I want a heavy duty mount but at around £800-£900 they are out of budget right now so do you think I am sensible going for the best scope I can and settle with just a basic mount and tracking for now? Or is this a really bad eidea and I should just go for a good enough scope with a decent (but not heavy duty mount) and tracking?

Hope that makes sense.

I am not bothered by GOTO at all.

[Carbon Brush]

My thoughts....

For AP you need a good EQ driven mount.

If you start on long exposures, you will want to add guiding. Think about this when you choose a mount motor system.

A big/heavy/rigid mount will take any scope now or in the future.

Nothing wrong with buying a used mount and saving a packet.

Big newts often come up for sale 2nd hand so you can get one anytime.

Another spanner? Daft ideas?

see what everyone else says..... David.

[ollypenrice]

It is a very bad idea I'm afraid. In deep sky imaging you build from the mount up. There is simply no way round this. The minimum mount is the HEQ5 plus guidescope and autoguider. You will not get the results you want with anything less. When you say you are not bothered by GoTo, this shows you have not done any imaging! GoTo is important. Taking out your camera to put in an EP is a disaster. Focus lost. Framing lost. Flats lost. Time squandered, clouds coming!!!! And remember, you will often, even usually, be imaging things you can't see in the telescope.

Every imager agrees that it is mount first. After that we don't all agree on whether scope or camera comes next but I vote Mount, camera, scope.

Olly

ollypenrice's Photos

[UTMonkey]

Stick with the dob and buy yourself some nice EP's with the extra (you never know an AUTO\GOTO model might come up for sale).

[Revs]

If you go for a good 8" dob for now, you'll be able to convert it to an EQ mount for photography as and when your budget permits. If you go much larger than 8" you'll have a spend a very large amount on a mount (when the time comes) that is strong enough to cope with the weight.

I'd get something like an 8" Skyliner for now (not a flextube as these can't be used on an EQ mount) and spend the rest on some EP's and/or filters. When you can afford, a HEQ5 or NEQ6 will cope with the 8" scope.

[Gina]

Every imager agrees that it is mount first. After that we don't all agree on whether scope or camera comes next but I vote Mount, camera, scope.

Yes, I've taken that on board - that's why I invested in an EQ6 Pro SynScan. Special imaging scope will wait - I'll practice with my small Newt in the meantime Plus an assortment of webcams and DSLR.