200p on a HEQ5

[Pete D]

Does anyone know what length of exposures I could do if a put my Skywatcher 200p on a HEQ5 mount or would I need a HEQ6 mount or is the 200p not really compatible for deep sky objects.

[SlipperySquid]

I've just had this dilemma mate and to be honest if you want to image with a 200p (which are very capable scopes for dso's) I'd go for the neq6 I have the 200p and a heq5 and I think it's pushing the limits of the mount I weighed the tube with my CCD filter wheel etc attached and it came in at 12kg which would be the astrophotography limit for an eq6 never mind the heq5! Any small amount of wind will ruin the tracking as the HEQ5 is try to track with a large sail attached to it!

[BertUK]

the 200p is very comfortable with dso,s,i had mine on an EQ5 with synscan goto,a cooling fan at the primary,a philips spc900 astro modded cam and did some nice dso shots,i was managing roughly 120 second exposures without any trailing or movement,ive since mounted my scope on a steel pier and can get maybe another 30 or 40 seconds exposure time then the need for guiding kicks in.

[SlipperySquid]

I should have clarified the sub length I am trying to achieve are 10 minutes plus! I'm sure it would be ok for a couple of minute subs as stated by Burtuk but honestly if you can afford to go for the EQ6 then I would go for it to future proof your ability to use other scopes on the mount.

I'm using a Megrez 72mm at the moment and I've got up to 20 minute exposures with good guiding (I haven't tried for longer at the moment ) so until I can afford an EQ6 I'm sticking to wide field shots of the larger nebulae and clusters! There should be more than enough to keep me going

Cheers and clear skies!

Matt.

[Simon Dunsmore]

On 04/09/2011 at 20:56, BertUK said:

the 200p is very comfortable with dso,s,i had mine on an EQ5 with synscan goto,a cooling fan at the primary,a philips spc900 astro modded cam and did some nice dso shots,i was managing roughly 120 second exposures without any trailing or movement,ive since mounted my scope on a steel pier and can get maybe another 30 or 40 seconds exposure time then the need for guiding kicks in.

Hi, 

I know that I'm late to the party with this, but just came across this thread.  And I'm interested to read your comments

I have a lovely 200pds and after saving for a long time just purchased a Heq5 (used) which I collect this weekend but since doing so I've read so many posts that say the scope is just too heavy and will not work on this mount.

Thanks 

Simon