Good Telescope and Mount for DSO Imaging?

[haydentaylor]

Okay so I've had my £100 budget telescope for about a year, not very good and not good enough for deep sky... But deep sky is what really interests me and I would love to get Into Imaging! I have relatives and my girlfriend who have amazing DLSR camera's so the camera's are covered... I'm in need of a telescope and mount for say £300-£400? That would be good enough for planetary and DSO observing! Thankyou!

[brantuk]

I wouldn't suggest anything less than a Celestron CG5GT Goto - or preferably a Skywatcher HEQ5 Synscan Pro mounts for imaging. You're going to need around £350 for the first - or £550 for the second (and those are used prices).

For a complete basic rig budget around £1200 to £1500 second hand - there's more to it than meets the eye.

First step should be to get the book "Making Every Photon Count" - an excellent guide for anyone wanting to do astro imaging.

[Bizibilder]

If I were you i would invest around £20 in "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards (available from FLO - usual disclaimer).  it takes you through the whole process of Deep Sky imaging and gives excellent advice on the equipment needed.  It also tells you what not to do - which may well save you a considerable amount of money as you will be likely not to fall into the many traps and pitfalls along the way!  Astrophotography can become expensive!!

[keybaud]

Okay so I've had my £100 budget telescope for about a year, not very good and not good enough for deep sky... But deep sky is what really interests me and I would love to get Into Imaging! I have relatives and my girlfriend who have amazing DLSR camera's so the camera's are covered... I'm in need of a telescope and mount for say £300-£400? That would be good enough for planetary and DSO observing! Thankyou!

I have been researching for 2 months and your budget would get you a reasonable viewing setup, but astrophotography (AP) appears to be a great way to spend money you may not be able to afford. It doesn't mean you can't take photos, but they won't be as good as others you see. If you have a limited budget, you may want to just consider getting the best value viewing scope and mount you can afford. As an example, for AP your budget doesn't cover the cheapest recommended tripod and mount, which is the HEQ5. This doesn't mean you can't use a cheaper mount, but it won't be as stable, so won't take great DSO images. Also, a standard DSLR isn't the best tool for DSO images, as the normal IR filter blocks Hydrogen alpha frequencies, which you want. This is why people either use modified DSLRs, where the filter has been replaced or a specific CCD. As mentioned, Making Every Photon Count is worth the money, as it is well written and a great introduction into what you have to do.

[keybaud]

Also, planetary and DSO may need two different focal lengths of telescope. Some DSO objects are large but faint, whereas planets are small and bright. A good telescope for photographing planets may not capture all of a nebula, etc.

[David_Pickles]

DSO imaging is not a cheap hobbie to get into, but maybe you could invest in a good quality used mount from Astrobuyandsell - as already stated, the CG5 would be fine for starters and within your £300-400 budget. You could use your current scope with it to get some planetary images and brighter DSOs before investing in something a little more suited to DSO imaging later on.

Invest some time in researching what it is you want to achieve - Every Photon Counts really is a worthwhile investment and may help you avoid eating into your budget on gear that doesn't meet your needs.

Good luck!

[swag72]

After reading 'Making Every Photon Count' ....... twice!! Maybe even 3 times, you will be in a much better position to know what you need and seriously whether you think you want to actually do AP. It's expensive I'm afraid.

I'm waiting for the people that do it on a budget to come on and say that it is doable on an elastic band and a ball of string (Tongue in cheek boys, no offence meant ). Yes on a budget you can produce results, but you will need to be seriously tinkering and trying to squeeze every last drop out of the setup. When you get out on a night in the UK, knowing that may be the last for a couple of weeks you want stuff to work and to keep the subs, you don't want to be binning a good percentage of them due to unstable gear and fiddling around trying to make it all work. 

So listen to what people say. Have a look on the imaging section and be realistic about the images that you want to work towards and look at the kit that those imagers use, it will give you a starting point.

[baggywrinkle]

/\ Very good advice above. Make Every Photon Count is a must and small investment in the bigger picture. The mount is going to be the first consideration, without a good mount DSO will be out of the picture, literally.

DSO often need wide FOV's which means low F ratio's. Planetary requires good magnification whcih means long F ratios.....two different types of scope really.

The is an old Greek saying 'For whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make mad'.....astrophotography is a bit like that..

[Oily]

I managed to bag this shot of M42 with my setup that cost £535.Granted it's not the best but I'm really proud of it.All it takes is a bit of hard work and a little patience.

EQ5 mount - £120

Dual axis motors - £99

8" 200P Skywatcher Dob - £175

AstroEQ - £80 (This turns the mount into a 'GOTO',not really needed but helps find DSO's etc when time is limited)

T ring - £10

Rings & dovetail - £50

Only the mount,T ring and the 200P were 2nd hand,so it is possibly to get into AP on a limited budget,just need to stretch your budget or find some bargains!

The other 'things' you may want to buy is software like Backyard EOS(depending on what camera you have)to capture your images.

[haydentaylor]

Thankyou for the advice guys I'll have a look into second hand telescopes!

[Oily]

This is on ABS now:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=76588