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200P/EQ5 Advice

andrewfkay

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andrewfkay

andrewfkay

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Hi All,

I have a SW200p and EQ5 mount (with ra/dec motors).  After acquiring my Canon 600d,  I've just started to have a go at imaging and am really keen to progress.  However, I understand the mount will be at it's limit with with the SW200p and am wondering whether to downsize the scope and go for a 80ED.  Will the mount still struggle with the 80ED if I add a guide scope and all that goes with it and so upgrade my mount instead?

I feel like I made an uninformed decision (despite reading loads) and don't know whether to pursue with the mount and spend cash on the motor-GOTO mod and get a smaller scope or whether I forget the tinkering and get a more suitable mount?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Andrew

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nmoushon

nmoushon

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There is a weight increase when jump up in mounts so it will ease the strain a bit. But what you need to cheack is if its worth it. Is the time,effort and money spent on parts cheaper than sell the EQ5 and upgrading to the HEQ5 or EQ6 depending on your budget? And fyi GOTO has nothing to do with guiding. All you need are motor that can track in sidereal (I think i spelt that wrong sry) and the ST-4 port. GOTO just allows you to find a specific target through the electronics. Now that is nice and saves you time from star hoping but its not needed.

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nmoushon

nmoushon

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I had the EQ5 and NEQ6...but not HEQ5...so I'm assuming the later will something between the two. As far as I know from people the HEQ5 is not particularly light, but is still manageable.

I have an HEQ5 and I thinks not that heavy for the size. I'm also 26 and have a good back so others might dissagree with me. But I can carry my entire setup out from the house to the back yard. So the mount,tripod,ED80,CCD all connected and setup up ready to go. I can lift all of that and carry it out. I'm not going to walk around the block with it but I can move it from inside to the outside setup position without much trouble aside from fitting it through my small door way.

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andrewfkay

andrewfkay

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I have an HEQ5 and I thinks not that heavy for the size. I'm also 26 and have a good back so others might dissagree with me. But I can carry my entire setup out from the house to the back yard. So the mount,tripod,ED80,CCD all connected and setup up ready to go. I can lift all of that and carry it out. I'm not going to walk around the block with it but I can move it from inside to the outside setup position without much trouble aside from fitting it through my small door way.

Would my EQ5 be able to handle the 80ED and the rest of the setup?   Otherwise, it would be a complete change of kit and I couldn't afford that.

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LouisJB

LouisJB

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HEQ5 isn't too heavy, I pick mine up with the 2 x 5Kg weights still on, but I do take the tubes off. It's not the weight, it's the clumsy centre of gravity that makes it awkward and it would be disastrous to drop.

I deliberately didn't get the NEQ6 at the time due to concerns over bulk and weight, that might put me off of setup some evenings. With hindsight maybe I should have gone and got one, but having said that the HEQ5 pro synscan has been fantastic so far, including guiding - providing you don't overload it it's an excellent base mount for imaging and relatively portable too.

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nephilim

nephilim

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AP is hard enough without the hassle of modding an EQ5 with the ST4 port/GPUSB set-up (I know as i've tried & just didnt have the patience) If you can afford the HEQ5 then go for it as it will handle an ED80 very well, as mentioned above, the ra/dec motors are only a small part of a modded guiding set up,there's alot more to it. Good luck with whatever you go for.

Steve

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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Guiding and AP are more about the mount than the scope.  You have a 200P which, itself, is a good imaging scope (f/5 is pretty fast) and I would strongly suggest putting your hard-earned cash into a decent mount for it rather than buying another scope and still having a mount that is not really suitable.  An HEQ5 will take a 200P for photography (including guiding with a finder or second small scope - when you progress that far) but an EQ6 would be better still and would make your set-up more or less future proof as well.

Once you have a decent mount you can get some experience taking photos with exposures of maybe up to a minute or two (all depends on how good your polar alignment is and whether you can tolerate slightly oval stars).  You can also have a go at the Moon and maybe the Sun (with proper filters).

Have you read "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards? (usual disclaimer) - this gives you lots of very sound advice and even tells you the pitfalls, useful as it can save you a lot of frustration and money in the long run.

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Oily

Oily

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Hi All,

I have a SW200p and EQ5 mount (with ra/dec motors).  After acquiring my Canon 600d,  I've just started to have a go at imaging and am really keen to progress.  However, I understand the mount will be at it's limit with with the SW200p and am wondering whether to downsize the scope and go for a 80ED.  Will the mount still struggle with the 80ED if I add a guide scope and all that goes with it and so upgrade my mount instead?

I feel like I made an uninformed decision (despite reading loads) and don't know whether to pursue with the mount and spend cash on the motor-GOTO mod and get a smaller scope or whether I forget the tinkering and get a more suitable mount?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Andrew

Take a look at QM's blog,he uses the above set up and has taken some fantastic images:http://astrocasto.blogspot.co.uk/

If you want a goto I can thoroughly recommend Tom Carpenters AstroEQ,watch QM's video in the link above.

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Oily

Oily

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I've ordered Tom's AstroEQ for GOTO and to allow me to guide with my finder guider.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Good choice Andy,you won't be disappointed with Tom's AstroEQ

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