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Hi all my names Gareth

Garethr

By Garethr
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Garethr

Garethr

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Been reading a lot of the posts over the last year since I got into star gazing.

I've been using a celestron 130 with goto and enjoyed hopping round the night sky but have now upgraded to a skywatcher 200 p on an eq5 mount. Question is are the RA and DEC rings worth using cos I find they are nowhere near accurate enough to go to a star not even in widest view lens. Should I upgrade to a goto kit?

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RT65CB-SWL

RT65CB-SWL

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Hi Gareth and welcome to SGL. :hello2:

As I am a 'fan' of TeleOptic Giro mounts, (these are manual alt-az by the way), I will try and answer your question. Other SGL members will add more constructive comments. :iamwithstupid:

Q1. Is your EQ5 mount permantly mounted on a pier or tripod?

A1. If "No!" then it may/will need to be be polar alligned every time if it is a portable or 'grab & go' setup.

I had a cheap EQ mount years ago and the RA and Dec rings were useless. I thought they would have been better on the EQ5. I know the RA ring on some EQ mounts has two sets of 'hours' and these are either for N or S of the equator. I think Astronomy Shed has tutorial video.

One of the reasons I opted for the Giro was the ease of setup!

Q2. Do you intend to do astrophotography?

A2. If "Yes!" to Q1 above, then an eqatorial mount would be the better option.

Q3. Are Goto mounts are computerized alt-az mounts?

A3. I would say "Yes they are." - With goto mounts you can do astrophotography, but an after effect called 'rotation' comes in to play with long exposures. Basically rotation is where the object will remain in the FoV but it will not remain at the same angle. With an EQ mount it is following the object in the FoV with no rotation and long exposures are possible.

I replied to a post a few weeks ago about the various types of mount as another SGL member had a similar question/problem.

The only problem now is that I cannot recall the link to the post to the external link! :cussing:   

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bingevader

bingevader

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Hello and welcome to SGL!

If you're used to a goto 'scope then an EQ mount can take some getting used to.

There are definitely threads on here with help in setting one up.

I don't know anything about the eq5 other than that people consider it a reasonably good mount, and yes you can add goto to it, at a price (£300 from FLO). 

Cheers

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JamesF

JamesF

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Welcome to SGL

Whatever you decide to do, I'd suggest that buying a GOTO upgrade kit for one of the lower end mounts is rarely likely to be a good way to do things.  To me it makes more sense to sell the mount second hand and use the proceeds to help fund a better mount.  The difference in cost is probably minimal and you don't have the harassment of fitting the kit.

James

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Garethr

Garethr

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All,

First off thanks for the warm welcome 20 posts blew me away

in setting up I'm taking my time ensuring level and on firm ground the getting a goodalignmentonolaris through the polar scope checking its in the small circle and the constellations are in the right location as etched into the scope .

I noticed yesterday after posting that when I put the scope in the park position and set RA to 0 if I rotate the scope through 360 deg back to park the RA no longer reads 0 it's a couple of marks out. Should there be any kind of washer there as it does seem quite loose

Final question as a newby why does RA and dec stay the same all night when alt az is constantly changing?

Appreciate the comments and suggestions so far.

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helicalwave

helicalwave

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Hi Gareth, I have the same scope and mount. I purchased it in May, and while I did spend a few months practising the proper use of the mount, I have recently upgraded to the synscan. Although I have had a few problems with balance (or more correctly imbalance) and with misdirection (not pointing at the right part of the sky while aligning), I know that once I have these problems ironed out, I will enjoy the scope much more. As I intend to use it for AP, the synscan is an essential tool.

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