do i need a go-to mount?

[cheeseontoast]

hiya, i have an eq2 mount for my newtonian refractor. i recently started taking astro images with a web cam, my problem is, i always lose the object i'm photographing. i'm wondering wether it would be better to get a go-to mount, which i must say i find very appeling, or go for some sort of tracker drive. help is appreciated, tom

[chemtom24]

are you imaging the planets and the moon and taking avi videos and processing with regsitax? if so, just buy a cheap RA axis motor, get roughly polar aligned, find your object and turn the motoro drive on. this should keep the object in view for a good 5 minutes or so if polar alignment is ok, so you should be able to get some good footage

dso imaging with a dslr needs a better mount. alot of people reccommend heq5 as a minimum but if you have a light small scope i reckon you would get away with an eq5 which is half the price - tho many will disagree with me on this and scorn me for giving 'bad advice'

[cheeseontoast]

awesome, thank you

[brantuk]

I agree with Chemtom - an RA motor and polar alignment will make the world of difference to video with a webcam on your EQ2. You'll get planets no problem.

And it's very easy to build a complete dso imaging rig with guiding on an EQ5 Goto or CG5GT Goto. I've done that and got 10min subs with no problem - you just have to pick the right scopes and watch the weight and balance - but very do'able

[JohnnyD333]

There was a big debate over using Go-To on this site a few months back. Yes, you are using a computer to find targets for you, which takes away from the experience of discovery. But you will save a huge amount of time finding DSOs and planets. In the end, you get more time viewing and less time finding. As Brantuk stated, you can build the rig yourself if need be.

[JamesF]

Is there any easy way to do polar alignment with an EQ2? It looks very similar to the EQ1 in having no means to attach a polar scope.

I've found that if I use the polar scope on my EQ3-2 then with my 127 Mak I can just about keep the image in the frame for five minutes, but that's about it. I guess the wider field of view that the newt is likely to have will make it less critical.

Someone posted some details on building a bracket for an EQ1 that allowed an RDF to be fitted as a first approximation to a polar scope. I can't immediately recall who though. Failing anything else it might work well enough for the EQ2 as well.

James

[chemtom24]

when i had an eq3/2 which didnt have a polar scope i did the following with pretty good success.

its easier if you remove the ota before doing this as it allows you to move the mount easily.

first set your latitude as accurately as you can. then look down (or up!) the axis on the mount where the polar scope would be, and line up with polaris as best you can. stand back and try to imagine a straight line from the axis of mount to polaris, if it looks out then adjust it. once youre happy with it it should be a good enough alignment for basic tracking.

have the manual dec control at the ready to make adjsutments when tracking every now and then and you should be fine

[brantuk]

So long as the mount is pointed North and the altitude set to your latitude on Earth then you are roughly polar aligned. The will be accurate enough for your stated purposes

(Yup - all you'll need is odd tweaks in Dec)

[chemtom24]

I agree with Chemtom - an RA motor and polar alignment will make the world of difference to video with a webcam on your EQ2. You'll get planets no problem.

And it's very easy to build a complete dso imaging rig with guiding on an EQ5 Goto or CG5GT Goto. I've done that and got 10min subs with no problem - you just have to pick the right scopes and watch the weight and balance - but very do'able

brantuk, may i ask what you used on the guided eq5 setup? ive got a 200p on it atm which im sure will be too much with a guidescope and dslr.

would a 150 b ok? or should i go for a smaller frac? basically im gonna mod the handset and get a usb guider when i return to uni, so il b looking to get a guidescope and get some guided images. im aware its not the ideal mount but i still think il get some good images (good to me anyhow )

thanks,

tom

[brantuk]

I used the CG5GT Goto cos it's got bigger legs and a spot more beefy and solid than the EQ5 (although it's basically the same mount). The software is better too.

With a side-by-side bar I mounted a Meg72 with 1000D for imaging and ST80 with webcam (SPC900NC) for guiding. It also took a Kendrick dew controller/tapes.

The setup works very well - here's a pic of it, and a pic taken with it (under guidance of an imaging expert lol):