Dont laugh but..........

[nephilim]

..............After giving advice (or as much as I can with my 'knowledge') about how the very minimum needed to start out with AP would be the HEQ5/NEQ6 and convincing myself this is THE only route, due to a bit of an unforeseeable financial 'situation' and complete lack of patience, I'm now going to completly backtrack & buy the Skywatcher Explore 200p/EQ5 combo I KNOW, this setup is totally unsuitable for AP, BUT atfer reading a thread on here re: modding the EQ5 for guiding and the thought of no PROPER up grade for at least a year or so this is the way i'm going to go. I'm awaiting a barrage of 'you'll be wasting your money', 'it wont work', 'good luck but........', but as I've said i'v no way around this at the moment. I'll go for unguided to start with as has been advised to me & if successful in any way I'll do the mod & try guided. It'll be difficult I know but if its a failure at least i'll have a very nice upgrade from my 130m. I'll keep everyone up to date on my progress & if nothing else it could well end up as 'no further proof required as to why the HEQ5 is THE only way to start'. I'll be getting the setup in 4 weeks time.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Don't worry: a telescope that might not be optimal always beats "no telescope".

Clear skies!

[Daniel-K]

my friend use to get 4min subs unguided on his EQ5 whth a 120 evostar pretty similar in weight to the 200p and now he has a ed80 on his eq5 with a 1000d and finderguider and gets 10min subs. although the scope will be under mounted you will have no issues getting 4 min subs guiding you just may loose a few more subs than normal. good luck anyway

[nephilim]

Thanks, I've 'outgrown' my 130m quite quickly, although i'd highly recommend it as a starter scope, its helped me get used to an EQ mount & find my way around abit. The 200p will be great for visual & if I can get my head round the mod etc in my current situation it'll keep me going till I can afford a more suitable mount next year. I'm looking forward to the challenge...........Lets see if I feel the same way in 6weeks time, Hmmmmm.......

[Brent]

I've read through the whole thread that you're talking about (nearly 30 pages I think it is!) and the images those guys are producing are outstanding. I wouldn't worry too much

[Daniel-K]

for visual its more than capable you wont be disappointed with the 200p i have had 2 and no have the f4 version. great scopes

[nephilim]

for visual its more than capable you wont be disappointed with the 200p i have had 2 and no have the f4 version. great scopes

I've read through the whole thread that you're talking about (nearly 30 pages I think it is!) and the images those guys are producing are outstanding. I wouldn't worry too much

Yes, thats the one, I'm expecting no miracles but at least I know it's possible, just not as easy as with the perfect kit. I think a year or so's experience with what i'm getting will stand me in good stead if I do decide to go the whole hog.

[PorkyB]

I have had some very successful results with my 200P/EQ5. Here is my favourite so far, taken by a friend through my scope on Flickr here

This is a standard EQ5 fitted with the RA motor. It does need very careful polar alignment, but that is getting quicker and easier with practice. Sometimes I get better results that my friends with much more fancy kit.

It might not be the kit you would choose for AP, if money is no object, but it certainly can do it.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

This is kinda the problem, people think that HEQ5 or NEQ6 is the be all or end all of AP. I have the 200P on EQ5 and have taken photos with a DSLR. There not brilliant, but i didnt spend £1000 on a mount i cant afford either.

[Rihard]

..............After giving advice (or as much as I can with my 'knowledge') about how the very minimum needed to start out with AP would be the HEQ5/NEQ6 and convincing myself this is THE only route, due to a bit of an unforeseeable financial 'situation' and complete lack of patience, I'm now going to completly backtrack & buy the Skywatcher Explore 200p/EQ5 combo I KNOW, this setup is totally unsuitable for AP, BUT atfer reading a thread on here re: modding the EQ5 for guiding and the thought of no PROPER up grade for at least a year or so this is the way i'm going to go. I'm awaiting a barrage of 'you'll be wasting your money', 'it wont work', 'good luck but........', but as I've said i'v no way around this at the moment. I'll go for unguided to start with as has been advised to me & if successful in any way I'll do the mod & try guided. It'll be difficult I know but if its a failure at least i'll have a very nice upgrade from my 130m. I'll keep everyone up to date on my progress & if nothing else it could well end up as 'no further proof required as to why the HEQ5 is THE only way to start'. I'll be getting the setup in 4 weeks time.

Hi there,

your story is very similar to mine: I was looking for something very substancial, but budget constraints forced me to order a Dob200P (as I thought the Eq5 would be useless) but I eventually changed my order and ended up with the 200P Eq5.

Who said that this is "totally unsuitable for AP" ? I'd say it's all down to what type of AP you are going to do, your expectations and - most of all - your patience

After all the 200P is nice optical tube, it has a fair light gathering power that makes it well capable of seeing a great amount of objects and, in combination with any imaging gear (either a webcam, a film SLR, a dSLR etc.etc.) it will allow you to capture at least something. With the Eq5 + drives, you won't get the same exposures and tracking precision allowed by an Heq5 / eq6 Synscan / GoTo: you will have to deal with more tracking errors, shorter exposures, less detailed images and maybe less colorful images etc. rather then no astrophotography at all

The OTA size might make it more subject to the wind, so you might not get 4 full good minutes of exposure as the above Evostar guys, but with some effort you should be able to do something. Clearly the Eq5+200p is not a Pro gear, but I'd say that this combo is "not the most appropriate" rather then "totally unsuitable for AP" I hope this gives you some hope!

The article about the guiding mod was written by Quatermass. I suggest that you check out his website and pictures if you haven't done so. It shows what this kit can do if you really want to put some efforts into it. There should also be a Budget DSO thread around showing what has been done with this kit and even with cheaper kits (I recall some cool DSO pics taken with a 130p or maybe 150p on Eq3 )

When I had no hope that my budget would allow me to do imaging I ordered the Dob (which was out of stock back then) but after seeing Quatermass results, and after a chat with him, I got back some hope that I could somehow realise my AP dreams with a little budget and asked FLO to change my order to the Eq5 200p.

Since I bought the drives many months ago I haven't had a chance to use them (I used my scope once in 8 months) so I can only speak about other people's images. I can't wait to put into practice all the tips I've got from Quatermass almost 1 year ago. I did take some very very basic pictures of the planets with my dSLR and afterwards some moon pics with the xbox webcam, but I am really looking forward to do some DSO's and if all goes well I hope my pics will look at least half decent and I won't complain as I didn't break the bank for this kit .. And if I get the grasp of the AP hobby then I will consider a more substantial and expensive mount

by the way: have you ever seen this kit live? It's fairly big, heavy and bulky (pictures on the internet do not help to understand)- I can't imagine how big or heavy the Heq5 / Eq6 are!

Not sure if what I said can be of any help at all, but at least you can be sure that you can do something and your little gear will not be "totally unsuitable"

[VigdisVZ]

Just keep the OTA's light and pray to the weather gods! Looking forward to hearing about your first light and seeing your pictures!

[nephilim]

Hi there,

your story is very similar to mine: I was looking for something very substancial, but budget constraints forced me to order a Dob200P (as I thought the Eq5 would be useless) but I eventually changed my order and ended up with the 200P Eq5.

Who said that this is "totally unsuitable for AP" ? I'd say it's all down to what type of AP you are going to do, your expectations and - most of all - your patience

After all the 200P is nice optical tube, it has a fair light gathering power that makes it well capable of seeing a great amount of objects and, in combination with any imaging gear (either a webcam, a film SLR, a dSLR etc.etc.) it will allow you to capture at least something. With the Eq5 + drives, you won't get the same exposures and tracking precision allowed by an Heq5 / eq6 Synscan / GoTo: you will have to deal with more tracking errors, shorter exposures, less detailed images and maybe less colorful images etc. rather then no astrophotography at all

The OTA size might make it more subject to the wind, so you might not get 4 full good minutes of exposure as the above Evostar guys, but with some effort you should be able to do something. Clearly the Eq5+200p is not a Pro gear, but I'd say that this combo is "not the most appropriate" rather then "totally unsuitable for AP" I hope this gives you some hope!

The article about the guiding mod was written by Quatermass. I suggest that you check out his website and pictures if you haven't done so. It shows what this kit can do if you really want to put some efforts into it. There should also be a Budget DSO thread around showing what has been done with this kit and even with cheaper kits (I recall some cool DSO pics taken with a 130p or maybe 150p on Eq3 )

When I had no hope that my budget would allow me to do imaging I ordered the Dob (which was out of stock back then) but after seeing Quatermass results, and after a chat with him, I got back some hope that I could somehow realise my AP dreams with a little budget and asked FLO to change my order to the Eq5 200p.

Since I bought the drives many months ago I haven't had a chance to use them (I used my scope once in 8 months) so I can only speak about other people's images. I can't wait to put into practice all the tips I've got from Quatermass almost 1 year ago. I did take some very very basic pictures of the planets with my dSLR and afterwards some moon pics with the xbox webcam, but I am really looking forward to do some DSO's and if all goes well I hope my pics will look at least half decent and I won't complain as I didn't break the bank for this kit .. And if I get the grasp of the AP hobby then I will consider a more substantial and expensive mount

by the way: have you ever seen this kit live? It's fairly big, heavy and bulky (pictures on the internet do not help to understand)- I can't imagine how big or heavy the Heq5 / Eq6 are!

Not sure if what I said can be of any help at all, but at least you can be sure that you can do something and your little gear will not be "totally unsuitable"

Thanks for the reply, when I said 'totally unsuitable' it was just the impression I had from others (altho no-one actually said it ) I've seen Quatermass's blog & thats what finally persuaded me to give it a go. I do understand the limitations with this setup and I'm not expecting 'Hubble' results but if I could get a half decent image of M31 &42 (something i've had on my wishlist for many years ) then i'd be very happy. I started as you with webcam imaging of the moon & Jupiter with my Skywatcher 130m & a 2x barlow and have results i'm very pleased with (Jupiter with the 200p/webcam would make the choice worthwhile in itself) then the bug bit , but im not in a position at the moment for the HEQ5/ED80 so i'll make do with this instead & as i mentioned in an above post, if I can do something even half decent it'll pay dividends i think when (or if ) I upgrade.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply as any advice is very welcome.

Steve

[nephilim]

Just keep the OTA's light and pray to the weather gods! Looking forward to hearing about your first light and seeing your pictures!

Thanks & i'll certainly keep everyone posted (excuse the pun )

[Brent]

I'd say it's all down to what type of AP you are going to do, your expectations and - most of all - your patience

There should also be a Budget DSO thread around showing what has been done with this kit and even with cheaper kits (I recall some cool DSO pics taken with a 130p or maybe 150p on Eq3 )

Exactly. I took the pic of the Dumbbell in my avatar on an EQ3-2 with just an RA drive and no guiding. Okay, it won't win any prizes, but it far exceeded my expectations of what the mount would be capable of and I only spent what I could afford at the time to see if I would get into it.

[Moonshane]

I am no imager but ironically predict that you may possibly get better imaging results with the EQ5 and the 130mm. This will be light and still f5 and have a wider field. The 200mm will be good for visual use. maybe this is a way to get the best from both scopes?

[nephilim]

I am no imager but ironically predict that you may possibly get better imaging results with the EQ5 and the 130mm. This will be light and still f5 and have a wider field. The 200mm will be good for visual use. maybe this is a way to get the best from both scopes?

Funny u should mention that, I was going to sell the 130m to part fund the 200p but I think i'll keep it for the time being & do as u suggest ( I'll just see if I can sell my EQ2 with motor drive) but still see what I can achieve with a 200mm.

Steve

[Moonshane]

don't get me wrong I know almost nothing about imaging but do know that a small scope on a big mount gives better images than a big scope on a small mount. see how it goes before selling.

[pel]

Good luck Steve. It's the route I went down as well. Mark's (Quatermass's) images are amazing,

I've just got my setup guiding nicely. I need a few clear nights during the weekends though.

[nephilim]

Good luck Steve. It's the route I went down as well. Mark's (Quatermass's) images are amazing,

I've just got my setup guiding nicely. I need a few clear nights during the weekends though.

Great stuff, its good to know there's other people doing the same ( I've been doing a hell of a lot of reading on all this & I know it can be done), i've seen Mark's photos & they are fantastic. Although i'll not be expecting anywhere near that for a good while (if ever ) but i'll enjoy trying. Good luck with yours btw.