new mount for astrophotography

[cal1985]

HI all.. im guessing this is a question that brought up alot!! i am looking at upgrading m current mount (eq2) to something sturdyer... im currently using a skywatcher 130 that is motorised and a canon 350d. so far im getting subs of around 45sec without trailing however i am having to use a barlow on the camera as the scope does not have enough inward travel.... i want to get longer exposures but on a budget (lol everyones dream!!) i have around £300 to spend for the mount alone and need all the help possible. i have seen a eq5 mount going for £235 and thought this was a bargin but is this mount going to be enough? and is it worth the money. also what kind of improvement will i get? any help advice or critism is greatly welcome... many thanks in advance. cal

[malc-c]

The EQ5 is a nice sturdy mount which will support scopes up to a 200P, so it will make a very sturdy platform for your 130P. However, you don't say if for the £235 it includes drive motors, as for any imaging work you really need to have a mount that tracks the target. Even then, with excellent polar alignment you may only get 60s - 180s before trailing when using your dslr due drive accuracy etc, unless you start looking at a guided system.

[Stephen]

If you can't get a S/H basic HEQ5 for £300 with a little patience I will eat my t-thread extension tube

[cal1985]

no with that price there is no motors included.. i have seen the motors for £50 for a ra motor.. so is it not just a case of a good mount for long exposures? you really need a second scope to track ?

[Stephen]

If you are buying new then £235 is the going rate for a new non motorised EQ5.

If you want very long exposures, yes you're going to want to look at guided setups eventually

[hemihaggis]

they are not so popular these days bit you can get them for a real good price ... meade ldx75 goto mounts . some people give them a bit of hard time , but mine works great

[JohnnyD333]

You need motors, the idea is that your mount will track an object in RA and DEC. They require motors to run. The mount needs to be polar aligned, which even if perfectly done will only give you a minute or 2 max without star trails. The Guidescope compensates for periodic error and slight polar alignment issues which become problems after long exposures. However, the guidescope does not make up for an inadequate or poorly aligned mount. I would say KH3LdAR 's recommendation of an HEQ5 is your best bet. This is something you want to invest a few extra dollars in, its very important if you want to get into the DSO imaging world. Get the HEQ5 mount, and save for a guidesccope lwhen you can.

[Sp@ce_d]

As above.. the mount is the foundation. It needs to be solid. I think this is a tough one to realise when starting out imaging but the HEQ5 is the minimum to consider. I went through this and moving from a Meade deluxe field tripod with a wedge to the EQ6 was night & day. I really think it's false economy to skimp on this. I had good advice on here and waited that bit longer till I could afford one, as much as I wanted to rush out and get something that would "just do"

On the guiding side, which you will want to do really. I use the 9x50 finder. First with a SPC900 & then a QHY5. Works really well even though I have an ST80 with guide rings I've hardly used it.

[malc-c]

Whilst the defcyo HEQ5 is always recommended, the OP has a 130P, which will be well within the capabilities of the EQ5. However, as mentioned above, £225 for an unpowered EQ5 is way too much. They are £229 NEW so the seller is ripping you off.

If you really want to get into imaging. Save your cash, keep watching the Forsale section and put an offer in on an EQ5 Pro goto or HEQ5 when they come up (which is fairly frequent). £500 - £550 seems to be the going rate for a s/h HEQ5 pro synscan. If you opt for the HEQ5 then you'll have a really stable platform for a future scope, and you'll probably get youy money back should you ever come to sell it.

[ollypenrice]

I wouldn't upgrade to anything less than a second hand HEQ5. The EQ5 does not have autoguiding potential and so will never take you very far into imaging. The motors don't have the right characteristics for precision tracking. With an HEQ5 you can go all the way. I'd be patient (easy to say!!) and hang on for a used HEQ5.

Olly

[stargazerlily]

I had exactly the same thought processes. Do Igo slightly 'cheaper' ... or do I bite the bullet and go for something better. If you can wait then it's worth hanging around the For Sale section. I did and eventually bought a second hand HEQ5 Pro SynScan. The transaction was fantastic ...

I've only used the mount once so far but it is the bees-knees, way, way better then my EQ3/2 mount.

Pete

[cal1985]

this is all fantastic advice and well apreciated.. i just wanna make sure i have everything clear .. pretty much everyones advice is to go for the heq5 pro synscan other than the stability and the fact this is goto so can track objects. how is this going to differ from a motorised eq5? and what does the 'H' stand for ? also if i go with the HEQ5 with the synscan will my exposures be noticably longer? as i cant afford a guide and mount in one go! so if i got the mount that is recommended first off what improvment will the guide scope give me ?

[rightguard]

its a much sturdier mount, and the pro versions have better motors which give better precision when tracking. i mysel fonly havre the standard heq5 and modded the handset for an st4 port, but i beleive the pro versiosn have an inbuilt st4 port.

a guide scope (plus a guide cam + laptop and guiding software or standalone guider/camera) will allow you to lock onto a guidestar and take say 10 minute exposures - the guider/guidiung software telling the mount, via the st4 port cable, when to move each motor and what direction etc, so as to keep the guide star in the same place, thus keeping your imaging stars in the same place.

[malc-c]

this is all fantastic advice and well apreciated.. i just wanna make sure i have everything clear .. pretty much everyones advice is to go for the heq5 pro synscan other than the stability and the fact this is goto so can track objects. how is this going to differ from a motorised eq5? and what does the 'H' stand for ? also if i go with the HEQ5 with the synscan will my exposures be noticably longer? as i cant afford a guide and mount in one go! so if i got the mount that is recommended first off what improvment will the guide scope give me ?

The HEQ5 has double the weight carrying capacity of the EQ5. The Synscan has twice the precision of the EQ5 for tracking due to better class of stepper motors, and controller board. The HEQ5 synscan also has built in ST4 guide port for use with a guiding system at a later date. The Synscan is also goto, so has all the features of alignment, tracking and locating objects in the handset. Even with this, and with good polar alignment, don't expect 10min exposures without a guide system. You'll probably get between 60 and 180 seconds before small amount of trailing will set in, and this is dependent on what target you are imaging.

For gathering the 10+minuet subs you'll need to guide the scope. This can be done using an off axis guider, which is basically an eyepiece and camera connection in one, so you can manually track a star in the target field of view. Or you use a second guidescope of some description. This can be as basic as a webcam hooked up to the 9 x 50 finder (called a finderguider) through to a second scope (often a refractor such as an ST80) with dedicated guide camera like the QHY5. The webcam / finder guider needs a PC / laptop with free software running to both control the mount and track the target star (search for PHD and EQMOD), whilst the QHY5 can do the same or use the ST4 connection to make the corrections. Here's my set up

The good news is that the HEQ5 can handle the weight just fine. Yes it can get costly.. but it all depends on what you actually want to get out of the hobby. Whilst I was at SGL6 there was a really nice imaging rig... the scopes new would be around £15K each, and they sat on a mount probably not shy of £7K, with imaging CCDs costing more than I paid for my car.... well out of my league !

But you don't need to rush out and spend all this money in a hurry. Invest in an HEQ5 synscan pro goto (either second hand for around £550 or new for just over £900). If you want to try basic guiding, get a Phillips SPC900 web cam from Morgan computers for £40, and an adapter to connect it to the finderscope (around £28) and then download the software. Make a simple EQDIR cable for around £20 or use the handset and serial cable to connect to a laptop and then have a go. You should be able to get long enough exposures that the LP glow becomes a problem and not star trailing.

These are just my suggestions. Others will suggest an EQ6, which will handle the above equipment and more, but is not really classed as a portable mount. IMO the HEQ5 is the right compromise between stability, portability and accuracy. But at the end of the day it's your money and your choice.

[cal1985]

thank you so much for all this input.. malc-c this advice was great. im happy i dont have to sell a kidney to afford this all just save a little longer ! i think im gonna go for the advice given, i have the SPC900 so i have a start. i think im gonna go with the heq5 synscan and then go for the guidescope in a few months. at least that way i can get used to and learn how to use the mount before i worry about guiding. the advice has been great and so helpful from every one thank you so so much