Upgrading OTA

[Geoffteeth]

Hi to all you experts, I'm new to astronomy and don't even have a scope yet. I was wondering, if I buy a telescope with say an eq2 mount will I be able to later add a larger dia scope/motordrive/goto facility onto it, or would that be a false ecomomy?

Thanks in advance

Geoff

[Parus major]

I don't think there's a kit for that mount and the mount i a little skinny so that telescope or smaller and not bigger.

If you're looking at reflectors then what I'd suggest is looking at solid tube dobsonians. The tubes can be fitted with tubrings and mounted on an EQ mount at your leisure when you have the funds and you can get a lot of telescope now for your money.

[Cornelius Varley]

The EQ2 doesn't have the facility for a goto upgrade and you will probably be wanting a larger mount for a bigger telescope.

Peter

[pete_l]

Those low-end mounts aren't really designed to be upgraded much. Sure, you can buy a motor drive for it which will (more or less) keep objects within the field of view. However there is a tacit assumption that a small, cheap mount will only be used for a small, cheap telescope. So all the component parts (bearings, tripod etc.), engineering design and manufacturing standards will be built down to its target price.

As telescopes get bigger and heavier, the demands they place on the mount goes up a lot - more than simply looking at the aperture size would indicate. Further, people tend to upgrade when they are unwilling to put up with the limitations of a starter system (despite what some advertisements will tell you starter 'scopes are not the greatest gift to astronomy since the Big Bang) and trying to upgrade a starter scope/mount does drag a lot of its in-built problems along too.

If you do buy a starter scope, but think that one day you'll want something better a good plan is to sell off your original kit to another astro-newbie. Provided you haven't broken or lost anything significant, they tend to hold their prices fairly well and you then get the joys of a brand new, better toy to start the journey all over again.

[Geoffteeth]

Thankyou for all the advise. think I will save a bit longer and carry on with the binoculars. 80)

[E621Keith]

If you plan on upgrading, you should consider either a EQ3-2 or EQ5. Both are designed to take the Vixen standard dovetails, so you can swap OTA easily. OTA for EQ2 are bolted onto the mount directly, so it will be less convenient.

The EQ5 will handle a 4" frac, 6" Newt, or 6" CAT without much problem. The upper limit should be around 8". You can start with something small like a 130p, and eventually upgrade to a 200p.