Thinking of upgrading mount

[BigTfromNotts]

Hi All

I have had my scope for around 6 months now - A Skywatcher Explorer 150P. I am now thinking about getting into Astro-Photography and was thinking that the standard EQ3-2 is maybe not the best mount for photograhy.

I have been looking at the Celestron CG-5 GT GOTO mount from FLO, but it has given me some questions that I would be grateful if some of you could answer for me.

1. Maybe showing my naivety here. I appreciate that the mount is a GOTO which means if aligned correctly it will point itself to thye heavenly body I tell it to. However, will it track its target so I can take long exposure photographs?

2. Another example of my naivety. Will my scope "connect" to it without having to buy adapters, etc.? or will only celestron scopes fit on it?

3. Is the mount too big for my scope?

All answers are much appreciated.

Tony

[Bizibilder]

The CG-5 is the same as the SkyWatcher EQ5. If you are serious about astrophotography then neither is really suitable - they can't carry the load of scope and all the bits and bobs you need. The HEQ5 is about the minimum you can satisfactorially use and the EQ6 would be better.

Personally I use an HEQ5 with an ED80PRO/ST80 guidescope / finder / DSLR camera and find it works very well. I also have a 200P which, with all the gubbins, is a little too much for the HEQ5 for photography (but is absolutely fine for visual).

[stargazerlily]

Hi Tony,

I was in exactly the same position as you until fairly recently. I have a SW 150PL and wanted to get into astro-photography a bit more. I did a lot of research, asked lots of questions and finally ended up buying a HEQ5 Pro SynScan from a fellow Forum member (buying the item was a breeze ... couldn't have asked for a nicer guy and smoother transaction) .

I've not yet had the time to use the new mount but compared to a EQ3/2 that comes with the SW150, it is in a totally different league. It is much bigger, heavier and stronger.

The scope doesn't really connect to the mount as such (apart from on the dove tail joint). It is the mount that does all the work. The mount should come with all the cables and adapters.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Pete

[ollypenrice]

I agree absolutely with Bizibilder on choice.

Goto and tracking are two different things; you get mounts which track without having GoTo but not mounts with Go To which don't track.

Even when you have tracking and periodic error correction you will not have sufficient tracking accuracy for serious deep sky imaging. For this the mount needs an autoguider, though you can make a start without. An autoguider corrects tracking errors in real time using a continuously looping camera feeding information back to the mount.

I'd read Steve Richards' Making Every Photon Count (available from FLO) before spending a single penny. The worst place to garner imaging information is from manufacturers' blurbs which are shamefully misleading at times.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/

[JamesM]

I would second Olly's suggestion of "Making Every Photob Counts" (FLO £19.95) which will tell you all you need to know, what you need and why you need it to get the quality of image that will meet your expectations. It is very easy to spend a lot of money so this will help you prioritise your spending. After all, we don't want your first image being the black hole in your wallet!

James

[BigTfromNotts]

"After all, we don't want your first image being the black hole in your wallet"

That just made me spit my coffee out. lol.

Many thanks for the advice - will get the book. Will also save up the extra pennies for the the HEQ5 or EQ6. If after reading the book and doing more research, I am stiil interested, then I will need the extra cash.

Cheers

Tony

[ollypenrice]

"After all, we don't want your first image being the black hole in your wallet"

That just made me spit my coffee out. lol.

Many thanks for the advice - will get the book. Will also save up the extra pennies for the the HEQ5 or EQ6. If after reading the book and doing more research, I am stiil interested, then I will need the extra cash.

Cheers

Tony

Me too. Great line. (Though strictly speaking we should call that 'The shadow of the black hole...')

Olly.

[JonnyP]

Just to hijack this slightly....

Do the mount titles mean anything sensible?

I understand that EQ means 'equatorial' but what, for instance, does the H stand for in HEQ5?

The numbers are a sequence of ever improving, or perhaps more expensive, mounts?

It's probably something very obvious....

[JamesM]

I would assume that the 'H' indicates a heavier load capacity than the earlier mounts. They are more expensive but the HEQ5 and NEQ6 include GOTO and the tracking I gather is slightly better but those who image would be able to give you the details. As an observer, tracking for me is not so critical but I use a NEQ6 purely to carry a large scope.

James

[bamus]

Heq5 or eq6 will track better than CG-5 GT or EQ5, but without guiding final results doesn***8217;t justify spending so much on heavier mounts IMHO. If I were you I would go for CG-5 GT GOTO and rest of the casch invest into guiding set up.