200P & EQ5 for AP - Will I get away with it?

[Catweazel]

Hi everyone, as the thread title says, do you think I would get away with using a 200P with EQ5 for DSO AP? This would be using a Canon EOS 1000D, rather than a WebCam. 200P is the f5 and I have the dual axis tracking motors on the mount. I understand that this may be wishful thinking, but wanted to get some feedback from all of you knowledgeable folks

Any advice much appreciated as always. CW

[Spikey]

Quatermass does really well with that exact setup.

[Black Knight]

It would be very demanding though ...

I've done it, albeit without guiding and I found it quite frustrating.

[hemihaggis]

Yes it will work , less than 30 sec expos

[Black Knight]

I even got up to 2 minute exposures once .... only once mind!

[Quatermass]

I do it with guiding its pushing the limits but it does work if you want a low down on the images and how to set it up for guiding then just take a look at my blog where you will find a ton of info that should answer all your questions. Warning though its a big scope and it dont like the wind at all calm still clear night and your ok slight gusts and your subs will suffer been using mine since october 2010 and love it to bits but now craving an ed80 for a wider field of view. Took this shot of NGC2244 last night unguided 30 subs at 60 seconds with darks flats and bias shots stacked in deep sky stacker and finished in photoshop.

And guided image 5 min iso 800 from my first guiding sessions with my guiding conversion project full details on the blog.

[Gomtuu]

I was going to ask this too. This is really useful info. Is there anything I can do to improve the scope or mount stability?

[Doughzer]

After speaking to the guys at RVO about a similar set-up, yes it will work, but to what extent do you want the perfect image, and how much do you want spend?

If you intend to add bolt-ons here and there, then you will start to push it and an HEq5 would be better, more stable, a 6 more still, depends on your cost to expectations ratio, as I am finding out myself right now.

As in everything we buy, we set certain goals and expectations. I spent a fortune on a mountain bike, will never need to buy a another unless I meet a tree head-on.

I am looking at an Heq5 synscan with a 200p ds, as I know I will add a bit here and there, but not too much, and I can afford it, just lol.

[glowjet]

Those are excellent pics by Quatermass but I would dwell on what he remarked about obtaining an ED80 for wide field DSO work, as you really are asking a lot from your EQ5 with a 200P on board, it obviously can be done, but IMHO you are at the extreme limits of your equipment

[Quatermass]

You have to think about balance the 200p is a great telescope for observing and the eq5 is a sturdy mount but start adding a camera and a guidescope and you are pushing the Eq5 to its limit. Im at that limit with my setup my ideal set up would be an Heq5 mount with an ed80 but that costs a lot more. The 200p and eq5 is a nice for the price set up but you could go for a 150p instead of a 200p and get good results as Rick has done. Its the age old problem of how much are you going to spend for me the 200p and Eq5 was an affordable answer.

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk

[Catweazel]

Thanks all of you for your replies, they have all been really helpful. And thanks particularly to Quatermass; the blog is really useful

I appreciate that it will be at the limit of the equipment, but I really just wanted to 'have a go', and it seems more sensible to try with the gear that I have already. I also have a 120 refractor, which is lighter than the 200P, but I understand that it is not much cop for AP due to the CA.

To be honest, I didn't expect the answer to be that I would get perfect results with this set up, so I really wanted to just see if it was viable at all, and the answer seems to be that it is, with a lot of trial & error, which is better news than I was expecting. I want to see if it is something that I enjoy, before going down the 'ED APO, throw the bank balance at it' route

Thanks again, and I'm sure that I will be back with more questions!

[Thirdway]

Would they carbon tubed SW Quattro help the weight issue and give better aperture?

[paulk]

Would the ED80 be ok on a EQ5 mount?

[Quatermass]

If the telescope is lighter then the 200p then it would certainly help as the 200p is really at the max weight load of 9kg I weighed mine to check it with the camera on it and its just, just ok so a lighter telescope is better. The EQ5 like all mounts has a max carrying capacity and the 200p is at that max for the eq5 so although I use a cannon 350d attached to it and a webcam for guiding I have adapted the finder scope to be a guide scope so I dont add any more weight. The other thing to bear in mind is if you have a guiding set up you want gears on your DEC and RA axis that have a good gear ratio. The Dual axis kit or single axis kit sold for the eq5 are not as good as the synscan upgrade gears again pushing the limits but an ed80 on a eq5 would be better for weight and balance. So with my set up I reckon an e80 would lower the max weight carrying capicity and that in turn would help stability. The only issue I have is that I cant have a wide field view with out a focal corrector. But consider the cost again if your going to add all those extras as you go along and you will want to you might as well be sensible and save up until you can get the ideal set up Heq5 and an ed80. But having said all that if you took me back a year ago with the money I had then I would still go for the eq5 and 200p. Its your choice I guess just take your time and dont rush.

[RikM]

Would they carbon tubed SW Quattro help the weight issue and give better aperture?

It's all about the mount rather than aperture for imaging. the Quattros are great scopes but need a lot of looking after to get the best out of them.

The EQ3-2 and EQ5 mounts are great to get you started and to learn the method also they are ideal to see if you really like imaging because they are a lot of hard work to get good results. If you stick with it and put in the effort, satisfying results are very possible.

Just for comparison, this was with a 150P on an EQ6. (just a rough process on this so far though!)

[Quatermass]

I love that image Rik, I think if it was the 150p on my guiding set up then getting the Rosette all in the frame would be easy and this is the other thing about the 200p great for small targets like M81 and M82

here

But try getting a bigger galaxy like M31 and you can only get the middle section here

Then you find yourself doing a mosaic which is fun but harder to do.

Now take a look at Riks M31 and you can see that having the wider field of view really helps on those bigger targets. So you can see why a scope like the ed80 would be a good choice from the start.

[RikM]

M31

This was a 150P unguided on an EQ3-2. Hard work!

[Quatermass]

Its also a question of learning the ropes as well. I started into astrophotography in December 2010 and my blog details the journey up to the present day. There is a great deal to learn not just about the gear your going to use but also the processing of the image data you collect.

You can look back at when you first started and see how far you have progressed by keeping a blog so that is a good idea as it helps others as well. On this forum you get asked a lot of questions and get a great deal of help along the way. In fact if your going to get into astrophotography then the stargazers lounge is going to be your best friend. :)

[Quatermass]

M31

This was a 150P unguided on an EQ3-2. Hard work!

Hard work but well worth it

[badgers]

M31

This was a 150P unguided on an EQ3-2. Hard work!

Lovely shot Rick.

If I can get anything like that from my EQ3-2 and 150P I'll be over the moon.

I agree with QM, learning the ropes of imaging on a lower-end mount is harder for sure, but it will certainly be able to tell you if you've got the stamina for DSO imaging before you spend £1000s on kit.

B

[Catweazel]

Wow! So much info

Would my camera (Canon 1000D) fit straight to the EP of the 200P? and is that OK, or do I need a connector of some kind. Sorry for the daft questions

[Black Knight]

You can use a T-ring and the Direct Camera Connection. I.e. the 1.25" eyepiece holder unscrews into 2 parts: the eyepiece holder barrel, and the adapter part which goes in the focuser. This part has a screw thread which will allow you to attach a normal T-ring.

[Nadeem Shah]

You can just get away with it, but you balance has to be Super Good, as I use to do unguided work with a 200P & a EQ5, but if you want something simple - try imaging with a scope with a smaller focal length initially.

[Tinker1947]

Wow! So much info

Would my camera (Canon 1000D) fit straight to the EP of the 200P? and is that OK, or do I need a connector of some kind. Sorry for the daft questions

You know where i am, pop round i have that set-up....

[Neil McRae]

Quatermass

Fantastic images. I have the same set up and was getting star trailing at times but believe my balance was fine in RA and dec but had not considered rotating the tube to get balance better with camera attached. Will try again and hope for better results. I was going to answer original question with " Go for a HEQ5 or NEQ6 " but you have shown it can be done. Thanks

Neil