250px Explorer on a HEQ5 for imaging.

[ubertank]

Asking this for my brother actually. He's got his eye on this rig but we are wondering about the heq5's ability to image with this scope on board. It looks like a big tube on that mount.

Anyone running similar and have some advice? It would be very welcome.

[ubertank]

Just to add a further bit of info, the whole lot is mint condition, bought in 2004 and going for about 600. I I'm unsure of any potential downsides to the scope as I'm unfamiliar with a model that old.

Would love any advise from the more knowledgeable on here.

[leemanley]

I have a 200pds which I can mount fine on my HEQ5pro, amazing visually but when it comes to imaging there's no chance, what with the combination of guidescope, camera, DSLR etc it's just too much weight to balance and guide, OK I could add another counterweight to balance the set-up but then you are really going to start hurting the mount !

Someone might back me up here in saying that you'd probably need the NEQ6 to successfully image with a 250mm scope.

For that money though I'd buy it now, and find a smaller scope to image with.

Lee

[lensman57]

Asking this for my brother actually. He's got his eye on this rig but we are wondering about the heq5's ability to image with this scope on board. It looks like a big tube on that mount.

Anyone running similar and have some advice? It would be very welcome.

A 10" NEWt on an HEQ5 is fine for observation, forget imaging, Guiding a heavy long scope is no easy task even for the experinced.

A.G

[RikM]

I image with a 250PX on an NEQ6 and even that is a handful if there is a slight breeze blowing. I would expect much frustration if you were to try it on an HEQ5. You wouldn't break anything but it would take a long time to collect enough steady subs for a presentable image.

[JamesF]

Someone might back me up here in saying that you'd probably need the NEQ6 to successfully image with a 250mm scope.

For that money though I'd buy it now, and find a smaller scope to image with.

I'm pretty much of this view. At that price I'd probably buy it and sell the scope to fund something more manageable, or sell the mount to part-fund a NEQ6.

James

[ubertank]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys.

Would the age of the mount and scope be of any concern to anyone? I'm unsure of older HEQ5 models and of the synscan is operating on an older firmware which is less desirable or anything.

Just making sure all angles are considered before we proceed.

[JamesF]

The Synscan can be upgraded in all likelihood. As long as the mirrors are in good nick then I can't imagine the age of the scope would be an issue. Not sure that age is a good indicator for the mount either, to be honest. A looked-after old one is probably preferable to an abused newer one. How old is it?

James

[ubertank]

2004 so knocking on ten years..

[JamesF]

That old I think I'd want to check the mirrors over and see (and hear) the mount running before committing cash.

James

[CedricTheBrave]

pretty sure it won't be upgradeable to the latest version if its vers 2.0 or below

[ubertank]

Thanks so much for all of your help guys.

[RikM]

I think it might be worth checking the focuser to see you have enough inwards focus travel. Older SW Newtonians are renown for not being able to reach prime focus with a DSLR. You'd need either a focuser upgrade (if not done already, which is quite possible) or to use a barlow, which is highly undesirable for deep sky imaging but almost essential for planetary imaging. Depends what you want to do with it.

[lensman57]

Thanks so much for all of your help guys.

No problem, just a finishing note, believe only SW handsets with firmware version 3 and upwards were upgradable, it would be prudent to check this.

Regards,

A.G

[ubertank]

Thanks again. In the end we decided not to proceed with it. Initially we felt is was just too much weight and imaging is ultimately where he wants to be. That combined with the age closed the deal for us.

If anyone is interested the guy was going to sell for £575 in the end though. He may go lower potentially as he has had a lot of enquiries from people wanting to buy separately and wants to sell altogether.

It's listed on astrobuysell - 250px on HEQ5 based in Carlisle I believe.