A Detailed Dilemma - HEQ5 VS. NEQ6 ? URGENT!

[KingAndromeda]

Hi All. I understand this topic has been posted before but I cant find much in the dilemma in which I am in. For about a month I've been convinced that the HEQ5 will be just right for me and have been saving for it along with the 200P which I plan to image with. However I've refreshed my mind on my choice of equipment and questioned it reliability... I'm not painfully debating weather to purchase the HEQ5 or the NEQ6. Little life story to emphasize my dilemma; I'm 16 with a weekend job earning 60-70 pounds per week... I've been saving for a while and finally have enough to purchase the setup with the HEQ5, and a little extra... My school is also very impressed in my learning of the topic and my interest in astronomy and I believe to have fund £200 towards the cost, which brings the total cost down.. HOWEVER now wondering If I should purchase the NEQ6 this will cost an extra £200. Plus I will only use this for supporting extra things such as guide scopes and camera.. yet I don't even have enough for to buy these all together... I could request for the school to raise the funding (it was my idea initially).... Its all VERY complicated.. I'm just stuck between the two. Do I buy the NEQ6 which ables me to grow or do I stick with the HEQ5 (which some have said works fine with all the extras and some say it cracks when moving) Arggg!

PS. The setup is for imaging. Apologize if I beat around the bush I just felt my scenario was rather specific and couldn't be written in a few lines

Thanks for all and any help - Alex

[VigdisVZ]

Both mounts are extremely capable. The main question you need to ask yourself is how will you be able to transport it? The NEQ-6 is a burden, even for me who use a car to lug it around. The 6 wins on capacity. The 5 wins on ease of handling.

The second hand market is good so you should able to get rid of the HEQ-5 for a good penny if you decide to move up a notch or two later on.

[Jessun]

Only you know your budget, and it builds up rather quickly with photography. T-adaptor, powertank, dew heaters and controller, guidescope (even on the cheap), the odd filter, some software like APT etc and maybe some optical extras.

I'd make sure all you think you might need fits in the budget. The HEQ5 is remarkably good, and just as accurate as the NEQ6. If the budget is tight, go for the HEQ5 and enjoy it. I used one in the past and loved it.

/Jesper

[Velvet]

I am female and weigh 65 kgs . I lug around the NEQ6 with the tripod attached and dont have a problem. It is the better mount if you can afford it.

Does not really take up much more room in a vehicle if you split the mount head and tripod. With the 200P either mount would cope

Velvet

[Jessun]

Hmm... perhaps confusing with two identical threads Alex...

/Jesper

[gcraib]

Interesting discussion.

I had ruled out the NEQ6 in favour of the HEQ5 Pro for portability.

But an NEQ6 would mean I could get a C9.25 as opposed to a C8 on an HEQ5

NEQ6 (mount alone) is 18kg, HEQ5 is 10kg.

At the minute I lift the whole assembly (OTA, mount, tripod and counterweights) and carry it back into the house. I'd like to be able to do this with next set-up.

But we are probably talking 20-25kg for the 5 and 30+kg for the 6!

Nice one if you can get your school to come up with some funding.

Tell them you are willing to make it available for school projects if they pay for half but as you are putting forward your own cash you will look after it and keep it. You'll be leaving soon anyway!!

[rowan46]

Portability isn't an issue at 16 you are not driving, so neither is portable. I would say go for the eq6 it will handle the 200 better and give you a bit of wriggle room. Those accessories soon stack up by the time you have added dew controllers, guide scope, cameras, cabling, focussers dovetails etc you will be glad of the extra capacity. I have never really heard of overmounting an imaging rig and a 200 is pretty close to the limits of a heq5's comfort zone

[Astro_Baby]

I'd question whether the 200 is even the right rig for imaging. I dont do it but the imaging guys usually swear by small APOs.

For imaging I would get the six myself.

I dont so ai use a five instead because the six means an extra trip up and down 8 flights of stairs....the mount is heavier, the tripod is heavier and it makes the difference between two trips up and down eight flights of stairs or three. Someone told me they didnt find mich difference until they had to lug their EQ6 up those stairs, they looked like they were going go have a coronary at the end of it

No one ever xomplains their telescope is overmounted and a solid mount is worth an inxh of apertture so if portability is not an issue get the six but I would also question your choice of scope and where imaging is concerned make sure you have done your research and know what other stuff you will need.

[earth titan]

Having started imaging with a 5, using a 200mm scope, I can advise categorically, go for the 6. I spent 6 months struggling with the 5, only to give in and upgrade.

The 6 isn't too big to carry around but the difference in stability with the increased payload is phenomenal. Difficult to be patients though bit I would suggest saving pennies for a few more months.

Typed by me on my fone, using fumms... Excuse eny speling errurs.

[johnrt]

Get the 6 if you can, a mount for life. If not the HEQ5 is a very capable mount.

I agree with Asro Baby totally, I certainly wouldn't recommend a 200p as an imaging scope. Small, light and fast optics are the way forward with imaging. Most people start off with an ED80 - great quality imaging scopes and affordable too. Even experienced imagers are still using them years down the line.

[sloz1664]

IMHO if I was constrained to a budget I would have started with this set-up:-

NEQ6

ED80

QHY5 fitted to the SkyWatcher finder with adapter from Modern Astronomy.

You may possibly upgrade your guider, finder & scope combinations but the NEQ6 would certainly stay.

cheers

Steve

[KingAndromeda]

Thanks for all the advice guys I think i'd prefer to go for the NEQ6, i really don't want any regrets... Regarding the 200P, surly its possible to get good images using to 200P-DS instead? if I was to use a ED80 (which i'm just not so keen on) wouldn't it be more suitable on the HEQ5 due to its weight? Plus i'm going have to fork out another 160 for the focal reducer... why is it worth it over the 200P-DS?

and yes I did realize AP was very expensive but, I'd prefer to spend little and not get the relatively good results then spend tones and get perfect results...

Thanks - Alex

[KingAndromeda]

Thanks for all the advice guys I think i'd prefer to go for the NEQ6, i really don't want any regrets... Regarding the 200P, surly its possible to get good images using to 200P-DS instead? if I was to use a ED80 (which i'm just not so keen on) wouldn't it be more suitable on the HEQ5 due to its weight? Plus i'm going have to fork out another 160 for the focal reducer... why is it worth it over the 200P-DS?

and yes I did realize AP was very expensive but, I'd prefer to spend little and not get the relatively good results then spend tones and get perfect results...

Thanks - Alex

and yes I did realize AP was very expensive but, I'd prefer to spend little and *** get relatively good results then spend tones and get perfect results...

[johnrt]

Thanks for all the advice guys I think i'd prefer to go for the NEQ6, i really don't want any regrets... Regarding the 200P, surly its possible to get good images using to 200P-DS instead? if I was to use a ED80 (which i'm just not so keen on) wouldn't it be more suitable on the HEQ5 due to its weight? Plus i'm going have to fork out another 160 for the focal reducer... why is it worth it over the 200P-DS?

The 200p-ds is firstly big & heavy, this means more accurate polar align, more accurate balance, more susceptible to wind effecting tracking. You will need to collimate it accurately & you will also need a coma corrector for it.

The ED80 is plug and play, yes you will need a flattener (the skywatcher one is no more than a coma corrector and does a good job) but you will not need to worry so much about any of the above. The small fast refractor is a tried and trusted imaging scope. Short focal length and fast optics are very forgiving, a perfect way to start - with imaging time so limited in the UK trust me you do not want to waste any clear nights fighting your gear to try and get it to work properly. Imaging is frustrating and difficult (and thats when it works). Anything you can do to simplify your equipment is worth it's weight in gold.

[Sp@ce_d]

I think you need to consider what type of targets you want to image and (if you haven't already) start another thread to establish the most suitable scope for your needs. AP can be an expensive hobby to get wrong so take your time to understand the options.

As far as the mount is concerned it's the most important part of your kit, you need to get the foundations right.. akin to the old saying of building your house on stone not sand!

The EQ6 is heavy, I could just about lug it in & out of the house with an ED80 & weights before I built my obsy, but really would be first choice below £4k I reckon.

Are you going to be using a laptop with this setup? If so you might want to consider saving £120 or so by going for the EQ6 Syntrek & using EQMod with something like CdC for goto instead. I've had my NEQ6 for a couple of years now & probably only used the Synscan handset a couple or so times. My whole setup runs easily on a netbook remotely controlled from my study.

[ollypenrice]

The 5 would be great with a small apo. A 200 Newt is 'possible' on a 5 but 'possible' isn't where I'd want to be for imaging.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2277139556&k=FGgG233

[PARTY MARTY]

I would opt for the NEQ-6 mount if you're going to mount a 200p Newtonian! It's £200 more but it's a mount for life and will save you a lot of money in the long run! Have you considered getting a secondhand NEQ-6 mount, they are a round, you just need to check reguarly on ebay, or the classifieds section on SGL! You can pick them up for around £700 or less, but you'll need to check the mount if it's ok before you buy it!

That could be a better option available to you if the prices are too much mate?

[PDW]

As a young fit man - get the EQ6 - future proof yourself as much as possible. It´s only aged old gits like me who use an EQ5 (not even H) cos we can´t lift anything better. Good luck to you.

[tonedeaf]

get the eq-6...

whatever scope you will use...a sturdy firm mount is all you want!

on the other side...the eq-8 mount will come out in the "next" time (as far as i heard)...

...so there will be an "upgrading"-frenzy -> a lot of used eq-6´s on ebay

as for the scope an ED80 is very capable....small plug and pray scope...

but the weight comes with the additional gear: reducer, Camera, guiding cam (maybe a Webcam on the guider) later an additional guiding scope

all this sums up to the weight!

in AP better half of the weight limit unused than overused!

[russellhq]

Any reason to go for the NEQ6 over the EQ6? Is the dual saddle and counterweight extension bar really that usefull?