EQ5 mounts?

[boabsta]

I am looking to get a skywatcher 200p which will be mounted on an EQ5 mount but what mount would suit me best?

I would like to attach my dslr directly to the ota and maybe piggyback a small scope for guiding but that will be for the future. I think I will mainly use it for visual but would like to try astro and maybe even some dso ap but again that will be something for the future.

It would appear my options are along the lines of the EQ5 pro or the HEQ5. Both with the goto options.

Would the pro be sufficient or do I realy need to spend extra on the heq?

I dont have much of a budget and only have the money the now thanks to the poker gods so realy want to get what would suit me best and not whats prettiest or most expensive.

Cheers, Rab.

[boabsta]

Actually forget it, just found a thread that says neither of these are realy up to it.

My thoughts now are "why bother"

Seriously I am getting more than disheartend at the sheer price of everything astro related and even then they probably wont do what you want them for. Now thinking of just calling it a day. £1000 on a scope and mount that wont realy be suitable for anything other than viewing, forget it. Can google anything I realy want to see for free in the comfort of my own home. Away to calm down

[ollypenrice]

My starting point would be to say that an amateur with about £2000 to spend can take a better image of M42 than could the professionals with the Anglo Australian Telescope about twenty years ago. You have some idea of what the AAT looks like? And cost?

What are you complaining about??

Olly

[boabsta]

I would love to have £2000 to spend. As it is I'm very l am I think very lucky to have any money at all to spend on astro gear.

But as a Noob and strictly amateur looking to step up from my wee mak to what I had thought would be a suitable setup at a out of reach price for a lot of us only to find that even then that might not be good enough, THATS what I'm complaining about.

[Qualia]

There's an old tale of Japanese origin - true or false, I have no idea, I really don't care - that tells us that an aspirant to a given field of investigation or enlightenment would have to kneel in the snow or rain or baking sun at the doors of his potential teachers or masters for several days, weeks, or even months before either gaining entrance or being simply turned away. Now, we don't have to go to quite these extremes, but we get the idea.

In the West, I feel we've been pampered a little too much towards immediate realization, where more, bigger, faster, quicker and easier seem to govern a lot of our choices, but sometimes we have to slow down.

"Paso a paso, amigo", the Spanish would say. Don't get disenheartened, my friend. Take your time, take it easy, save a little, bit by bit. As the Brits gently inform us, Rome wasn't built in a day.

[Ant]

I don't agree that the HEQ5Pro isn't good enough to image with..!

You just have to be realistic with the scope you put on it.

The simple fact that an 200p on a EQ5(pro or otherwise) will when everything goes well, give you some OK results. However it will react to every vibration, gust of wind and WILL stress the motors etc.

The HEQ5 is a great mount, capable of carrying more weight and is built for the task. I would still say that the 200P is at the upper end of the limit.

Check out the link >>HERE<< this shows a 140mm F5.7refractor (which is quite a bog scope) on my HEQ5. (move your mouse over the image to see my setup)

You can see the result >>here<<, I'm suite happy to admit that these are not the best images I've seen but I think that they do show that an HEQ5 is a good mount for imaging.

Maybe start off with the HEQ5 and a small refractor - maybe a ED80?

Ant

[malc-c]

Have to agree with Ant, the HEQ5 is an excellent mount and there are lots of SGL members with the 200P / HEQ5 combo taking very acceptable images with both dSLRs and webcams, and for under £1000 I feel the 200P/HEQ5 represents good value for money.

If you want something a bit more stable then sure reduce the load by using a smaller scope such as the ED80 that Ant recommended. The alternative is to move up to the more serious mounts like the Astro-physics range, but then these start at prices way over the £2K that you have stated you don't have available.

[Spikey]

Have a look at Quatermasses imaging using a 200p and an EQ5. Then imagine beefing the mount up to a HEQ5. The HEQ5 is a brilliant mount but a 200p, guidescope and camera is just about at it's upper limit for imaging. Swap the 200p for something like an ED80 and it really starts to perform. Balancing is easier, guiding is easier.....not easy ! but easier

Second hand you could ge a decent HEQ5, Canon 1000 & ED80 for about a grand.

This is one of my pics taken with my old HEQ5 and ED80 scope.

I had even less of a clue what I was doing and I'm still a novice but I was pretty pleased with the result.

[RikM]

The HEQ5 is a great mount for astrophotography when paired with the right scope. Ideally a small refractor For visual use it is fine with a 200P and with a bit of effort you will be able to get some nice images.

If you click on my deep sky album, most of the pics were taken using a 150P on an unguided EQ3-2! The newer ones with an NEQ6. The picture comments say which is which.

It is really up to you to decide what kind of results you are expecting for your money. Astrophotography can be hideously expensive but it doesn't have to be if you are realistic about what you hope to achieve.

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[Herbig]

I have both an HEQ5 and an NEQ6, the 6 is very stable but also very heavy whilst the 5 is much more portable and reasonably stable.

My son has the HEQ5 at Uni with a Celestron C6 SCT and a William Optics Zenithstar 66 Refractor, he gets some really good images, his Andromeda galaxy was on the closing credits of the first day of Stargazing Live 2012. However he's also got an Atik 314L+, Atik USB filter wheel, Baader LRGB and narrow band filters which add another £2k!

[JamesM]

Rab, in addition to the reassurances above, may I recommend that you get hold of a copy of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95). It's a very comprehensive guide of what kit you need and why you need it in order to produce good consistent images that will meet your expectations. Having this knowledge up front will help you evaluate the best course of action to take with the budget that is available to you. You are already doing the right thing by researching posts and comments in response to your suggested ideas and together with the above book will help you make the correct decision. The HEQ5 is such good value for money when you think what it is capable of and we have the chinese to thank for that. Deep sky imaging requires a degree of investment and to be honest, although it might at first appear expensive, the choice of kit that is now available at modest prices along with the development of affordable digital cameras and processing software (some of which is free), has made imaging for many out there a distinct reality.

The above book will set it all out for you and will make a difference in helping you come to the right decision.

James

[boabsta]

Thanks for the supportive comments and advice, and pm's, all much appreciated.

I have had a think about what I realy want and have decided to go for a standard EQ5 with goto and a 200p. The reasons being are that I will mainly use the scope for visual. The ap was more so I can show my friends and family on facebook and such what it is that I can see and why I have chosen to get into astronomy in the first place. (and prove that I'm not perving on doggers!)

I think I will be happy enough having a decent scope on a mount that without extras should be solid enough and the goto to show me what my eyes can't see.

Ive had my moment of doubt and you have all helped deal with it. Besides I've already got the ep's and barlows and t-mounts and laser pointer and spare rdf and ep case and filters and a load of excuses why I have to go out when its clear that I'd be mad to stop now.

The ap will come but after I've read more and on my mount.

[Quatermass]

You will love it I have used mine for some time now and its like an old freind that has shown me some amazing things. Observing and imaging its great for both.

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[boabsta]

You will love it I have used mine for some time now and its like an old freind that has shown me some amazing things. Observing and imaging its great for both.

Sent from my GT-S5670 using Tapatalk 2

Cheers

I've looked at your pics and they are amazing and helped me come to my decision. I'm not looking (yet) to have the same quality but at least I know that it can be done when the time comes to try.

[Quatermass]

Its all possible but be prepared to put the hours in outside any help I can give you just ask away

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[sgazer]

if you do fancy imaging, you don't need a scope. Just put your Nikon on the EQ5 with any lens (faster is better), you'll get some truly amazing images. I'm sure the EQ5 will cope admirably with just the camera on there. You certainly don't need an 8" newt for imaging.

[boabsta]

if you do fancy imaging, you don't need a scope. Just put your Nikon on the EQ5 with any lens (faster is better), you'll get some truly amazing images. I'm sure the EQ5 will cope admirably with just the camera on there. You certainly don't need an 8" newt for imaging.

Was going to be trying this soon but thought about just piggybacking the cam on the scope. might by a mounting plate for it tho.

I only have the nikor 18-200 vr which should hopefully be ok but I wil need to be carefull if using it at 200 as the lens can move back into the housing if near vertical.

I have access to a 500mm but its f8 so longer exposure needed but the mount should be ok tracking for a few mins or more.

Time shall tell.

[ollypenrice]

The trick with budget mounts is to keep the focal length short. At short FLs the need for tracking accuracy is far less. You can do great stuff with camera lenses as well as scopes provided you have a tracking mount.

My earlier comment was meant to sound more humorous than serious but reading it agan that isn't clear, maybe. Sorry about that. I still think that coming down from sevral million to a couple of thousand is not bad going on the part of the imaging industry, though. It is remarkable that amateurs can take such images as they do.

Olly

[GrantR]

Funnily enough, I'm also in Edinburgh and just bought exactly the same kit (minus the goto option but with drive motors). Theory beind it was to get the best I could for visual and imaging and accept any limitations I would get as far as imaging goes as I simply can't justify the expense of a more expensive mount. Will be interesting to see what you can get from the same area as me.

Interesting to read to about just possibly mounting my D7000 on the EQ5, never thought about that and certainly a lot more portable than the mount and 200p.

[sgazer]

Yep just use the camera, no scope as it will overwelm the eq5 and make it difficult with no gain..

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[malc-c]

To be honest I would recommend opting for the HEQ5 over the EQ5. My recent return to astronomy just over a year ago resulted in the purchase of an explorer 200P on the EQ5 goto as I kept telling myself I couldn't justify the extra for the HEQ5 / 200P combo. It was an excellent introduction into visual astronomy, and like you wanted to take pictures to show family and friends what's up there. That's when the limitations of the EQ5 started to show, and I was soon on the lookout for a S/H HEQ5 mount. OK I jumped in with both feet in the deep end and built a large observatory to put it all in, but that's another story... but I haven't really looked back and have now ventured into the dark art of imaging with a dSLR camera.

If the HEQ5/200P is out of your budget then the EQ5 goto will do just fine provided you are up to putting a lot more effort in to get the results out... QM's images (all be it from an excellent dark site) are proof of that.

[boabsta]

Thanks again for all the input.

Alas as the good lord giveth, he taketh away. My laptop has just went fzzzzzpop and now is dearly departed. This means that had I waited a day i wouldn't have asked.

Anyway shall now be a 200p on eq5 and maybe if I've any change left some motors but that's the goto and heq out of the question now. Well until I get another lappy and fire the poker up again

Grant any chance o meeting on a clear night so I can try before I buy. Pm me please.

Cheers again and remember, what doesn't kill you, probably wasn't trying.

[Quatermass]

Feel for you my lappy did the same so got a cheap second hand dell running xp much better

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[boabsta]

I think I will be splitting my budget between scope and lappy. At least now I don't have a dillema

As for the ap, im up for the challenge

[Quatermass]

The eq5 and 200p are a great combo but mybe the 150p on the eq5 would be a better balanced set up for astrophotography as you need to add a camera to the set up.

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