EQ3-2 SynScan. Any tips??

[Welrod50]

All,

After much deliberating (and asking questions here and also at FLO) with regards to getting a Celestron Nexstar 4se/102 SLT......

I had a complete change of mind and yesterday afternoon, ordered an EQ3-2 SynScan GO TO mount instead. Truth is, I could not make up my mind and was giving myself a headache thinking about the pro's and con's of choosiing a different scope and then it hit me! I really liked using my SW Explorer 130 f900. Nowt wrong with the focal length or the aperture, and at f6.92, nowt really wrong with its ability to capture decent DSO images if set correctly.

Having a limited budget, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and purchased the new mount with powertank and dovetail bar for the scope. I know it will take the weight of the OTA with DSLR attached and although the whole kit is quite heavy for transporting to dark sites, I have concluded that the effort will be worth it!

I am therefore looking for some thoughts from owners of this mount, and some 'tricks of the trade' so to speak. It will be correctly aligned and I expect to be able to capture subs of 30 seconds or less with it for AP. I also realise that the power tank should at least last me for a single night's viewing before needign another charge.

Is there anything with the mount therefore I need to look out for/adjust/be mindful of?

Any tips greatly appreciated

Clear skies...

Scott.

[Andymac79]

Surely you will get more then 30 sec subs? More like 3 mins maybe? I have an EQ3 2 and am very happy with it. Very mobile which is key for me

[OzDave]

I started AP with this mount and without guiding, 30sec is about as much as it will manage before you start getting trails or bloated stars.

If you add a lightweight finder-guider, like a converted 50mm finder, you'll be able to get significantly longer, but count on having to throw away a lot of subs.

Also for AP, stability is important so dont extend the legs. This will improve things a lot. I've not tried this next one but I've heard if you weigh down the mount by hanging something heavy underneath, it will help even more.

[Steve Ward]

With accurate Polar Alignment via drift aligning I can get 150 second subs with my 3-2 so you should be fine .

Steve.

[JamesF]

Depends what focal length you're imaging at (and to a certain extent what part of the sky you're looking at). The longer the focal length you're using the more demanding it is.

James

[OzDave]

Depends what focal length you're imaging at (and to a certain extent what part of the sky you're looking at). The longer the focal length you're using the more demanding it is.

James

Very true. I was using a SkyMax127 with FL of 1500mm on my EQ3-2. As I discovered, this wasn't the best combination to start AP with. The long focal length really "amplifies" the slightest problem that exists resulting in bad subs a lot of the time. Thus my earlier comment that 30secs without guiding and maybe 2-3 mins with guiding were the best I ever achieved. But even then, I had to throw away 50% of the subs for one reason or another.

Now that I know a bit better, although by no means an expert, I shorter focal length scope like my Equinox80 would have been a much better starting scope for AP on this mount.

Your scope at FL 900mm is kind of mid-range between my Equinox 80 and the SKyMax127. So I'd say you'll probably get better results than I did. As others have said, if you do a good polar alignment and make the tripod as stable as possible, you should be able to get some pleasing results.

David

[astro mick]

Hi Scott.

You have a good mount there,and should give good results.I agree you should be able to do longer subs,with good guiding.

Nothing wrong with the EQ3/2.

Mick.

[Welrod50]

Cheers all,

OK, I chose this mount as it will easily take the weight of my OTA and I know from what I've read here that it should handle 30 second subs with any target at any point in the sky, and any direction. I reckon I might push this if I were shooting low to the west for instance, but I'm thinking sub 30 secs is a solid base to go from come what may. I will not be autoguiding (for now).

I will be imaging through the 8-24mm EP as my OTA will not achieve prime focus and the Pentax Kx has mirror lock with the 2 second delayed timer. With a light touch, I can get it to take blur free pictures this way with my current EQ2, so think I'm onto a winner with the EQ3-2 as I will be using this with legs down and a heavy tool bag on the shelf, as I do now. Should be ok.

To be fair, I've read a lot about the benefits of EQ5/6 but with the powertank and dovetail bar, this mount has maxed me out really. I may add a small triplet refractor at some point in the future and due to space/storage/OTA size limitations, know that this mount will be future proof for me with regards to future scope purchases.

So then, if I aim for 30 second subs (without autoguiding for now) with mirror lock, via the EP at around 12mm sweet spot, I think I can get some good results. Am I right?

Thanks all for the input, please keep it coming....

Clear skies

Scott

[Welrod50]

Forgot to mention before, I polar align the EQ2 now with good old naked eye and using the pointers on the mount. If I use the same technique with the EQ3-2 will it be ok, or do I really need to be absolutely precise? I imagine a polar scope would be the way forward, but is this a must??

Thanks

Scott.