What Next . .

[slim mole]

Ok, so I have my telescope (Skywatcher 130p on the EQ2 mount and a cheap box of assorted eyepieces).

I have been able to see Jupiter and some of its moons, Saturn and rings, a few double stars, and finally a Galaxy (M31) . (very impressed with this as there is so much light pollution you can read the paper at night in our garden)

I think the mount is pants (I've eaten jelly with less wobble), I find focusing with any eyepiece smaller than 10mm almost impossible, but so far I'm happy.

What I need advice on is where to go next. I'm thinking of replacing the mount with a EQ5 to hopefully get something a bit more rigid, but after that I'm all in the dark (no pun intended). Can I get a better focusser for the 130p, or should I be looking at upgrading that (as long as its the same colour I doubt the wife will notice) or should I keep faith with it until I get more experience.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Moley

[jonathan]

Look at the EQ5 options carefully, not all EQ5s are made equally.  There will probably be a 'Pro' version that contains better stepper motors or gearing, and might have an easy upgrade path to Goto or autoguiding.  The price will be higher, but not as much as buying the whole thing again if you do decide to upgrade later.

Look at the different brands too - Celestron CG-4 and CG-5 are quite a good line of EQ mounts in my opinion, don't be stuck just looking at Skywatchers.  The 130P should be fine with a manual mount, but when you start going bigger then a mount with motorised tracking becomes almost a necessity to keep objects in view at higher magnification.

Personally I think a CG-4 Omni is a very versatile mount, it will take a 150P (6" reflector) or a 100 / 4" refractor with ease.  The Omni ones come with thicker tripod legs too which helps stability.

The EQ2 is probably fine for small refractors such as the ST80.

So, you could upgrade the mount (for obvious reasons) very easily, assuming the 130 comes with a standard Vixen dovetail mounting, then sneak in a 150P at a later date (though the size difference will be noticeable!)  The stock Skywatcher eyepieces are usable but you could spend about £50 each on two or three good ones such as the Celestron X-Cel LX's, 5mm and 12mm perhaps, and a 25mm for wide / finding.  It sounds like your local seeing conditions will limit the effectiveness of higher quality eyepieces so I wouldn't go mad if I were you, the £50 bracket is probably all you need; if you can get out to a dark site, even on a quiet road side away from town, your eyepieces will work a lot better.

You can buy a motorised focuser attachment but I doubt it will be an option for the 130P, a decent replacement focuser would probably be worth more than the scope!  The EQ2 would be even worse with the extra weight, too.  Once you replace the mount the focusing problem will probably just go away.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

There are a couple of things you could try to stabilise your mount. I know some people have filled the tripod legs with sand, although I don't know whether this is possible with the EQ2 as I've never used one.

Alternatively, you could hang a heavy bottle of water from the accessory tray. I doubt either of these methods will work miracles but they should offer some improvement.

[slim mole]

Thanks for the suggestions.

For clarity I am looking at the HEQ5, it seems the best I can get without getting into serious money, which may be wasted if I don't take this further. 

If the sky is good tonight I will try the water bottle or some other weight and see what happens, but I think my main problem seems to be that the locking on the RA and DEC seems to be very poor. Even after spending some time balancing, the slightest pressure on the scope was making it move in these axis. Is this normal ? I expected that once locked the only movement would have been by rotation of the adjusters. Maybe I'm not tightening them up enough, but at the same time I really dont want to break them.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Are you planning on imaging or sticking with visual? If you are thinking of dabbling with astro-photography then the HEQ5 is a worthwhile investment, but is probably overkill if you will be a visual only observer using your 130p. It would allow you to upgrade to a considerably larger scope though. Having said that, the Explorer 200p is sold with the EQ5 Goto, which is perfectly fine for visual.

I think what I am trying to say is that unless you want to try imaging you would probably be ok with the EQ5, certainly with a scope up to the size of a 200p.

Gareth

[slim mole]

Are you planning on imaging or sticking with visual? If you are thinking of dabbling with astro-photography then the HEQ5 is a worthwhile investment, but is probably overkill if you will be a visual only observer using your 130p. It would allow you to upgrade to a considerably larger scope though. Having said that, the Explorer 200p is sold with the EQ5 Goto, which is perfectly fine for visual.

I think what I am trying to say is that unless you want to try imaging you would probably be ok with the EQ5, certainly with a scope up to the size of a 200p.

Gareth

Thanks Gareth, I'm toying with the idea of Astro-Photography, the technology looks very interesting, and the results I have seen in some of the galleries are superb. I must admit the family were a little underwhelmed with my visual of M31, I think they were expecting something NASA would have been proud of. I was happy that with a few visits to the web and with the help of a book I was able to locate and view some objects.

  After a bit more googling and reading I think my immediate plans are likely to be the mount upgrade, then a few better eyepieces (5mm and 20mm). Then a period for reflection, before considering the branch to AP. 

  Got to make sure I can still have a degree of enthusiasm after standing in a cold field for hours on a january night just to see a dot of light I have never seen before.

Regards

Moley

[slim mole]

Now proud owner of  a second had EQ5 mount, complete with RA motor and polar scope (thanks to Ebay).

Seems a far more stable affair compared to my original EQ1-2, travel for RA and DEC are much smoother, and the locks for these seem to be able to hold the scope in the right place. I now also understand why people seem to also have a light weight mount for taking out and about, no way I'm lugging it any distance, the postman left muttering something about chiropractors . .

All I need now is for the weather to improve and I can give it a proper test. 

[Herbig]

Well if you think the EQ5 is heavy you want to try an EQ6!

I built a sturdy plywood box for mine, now I can hardly lift it at all!

Good luck with it you should be much better off now.