Will this be too much for my mount?

[Omega264]

Hi guys, so I'm new to the forums but you all seem very willing to help. So i may be asking some "noobish" questions over my next couple of posts.

I have a Skywatcher EQ5Pro Goto (synscan) with a 200x1000 reflector scope ontop, i am still fairly new to astrophotography and i have only played with the

Orion star shoot planetary imager.

So with this set up i for short exposures of jupiter/saturn and the moon and get some ok images through stacking. But i find the tracking could be FAR better so im looking for a autoguider but im worried putting one on might put too much load onto the mount. The scope itself is fairly heavy (Around 8.5kg)

So is this going to weigh the mount down, do i need to upgrade to HEQ5/6, do i get a smaller scope? Or will it be perfectly fine.

Any Help will be appreciated,

Sincerely

Omega 

[dmahon]

A finderguider doesn't weigh much, however with that scope on that mount, prepare to be frustrated. Saying that, some people manage to get some great pictures - but I'll bet they have to put in much more effort than someone with an ED80 on a HEQ5.

[ronin]

I would say you are pushing the scope and your luck.

The 200P is sort of at the top end of the EQ5 capabilities, the focal length and weight being the problem. It sounds like the idea is a guide scope and a guide camera, a Startravel scope weighs another 1.3Kg, which by the time rings etc are thrown in lets say 1.5Kg.

Another option for you is to strip the mount and clean it all and set it up better. that could well improve your tracking with negliable cost. I know Astro-Baby did a guide to doing the HEQ5. No idea if there is one for the EQ5. But better lubricant and correct set up of the gears will make large improvements.

There is a belt drive mod available. however they are in the UK and I have no idea about Aus, EQ5Belt.

No idea if they will ship to Australia, the Ashes result may not help .

Something to do during the wet season if you got one.

For future aspects and general overall stability then the HEQ5 would be the best way to go, even the bigger EQ6, but that would mean HEQ5 and Guide setup which is a significant cost.

I would first look at setting up the drive aspect of the mount better and see what that gives, so go looking for guidance concerning that. The goo that is used as a lubricant is not good and the assembly is not done to that high a standard and you could get sufficent improvement from that to delay any upgrade until later.

[Omega264]

Not too sure about the belt mod, i like the hand controller and i had a fair few troubles with eqmod/ascomc (they would not work?)

But i will definitely get into it and clean it up.

As the set up is now would it affect tracking?

[ollypenrice]

AP is much, much more enjoyable and rewarding if you are over mounted...

Olly

[nicks90]

You shouldnt need an auto guider for planetary imaging. as long as the object stays in the field of view for the duration you are taking the avi, Then once you have selected the alignment points, registax will sort the rest out. If it moves about a bit, shouldnt make any difference as the camera will probably be taking 30 images a second or more. You wont get blur or trails at that frame rate.

Or are you saying you can only get 20 seconds of avi before it drifts out of the chips field of view? If so, that isnt a guiding problem, but more likely an alignment problem.

[lensman57]

find

Hi guys, so I'm new to the forums but you all seem very willing to help. So i may be asking some "noobish" questions over my next couple of posts.

I have a Skywatcher EQ5Pro Goto (synscan) with a 200x1000 reflector scope ontop, i am still fairly new to astrophotography and i have only played with the

Orion star shoot planetary imager.

So with this set up i for short exposures of jupiter/saturn and the moon and get some ok images through stacking. But i find the tracking could be FAR better so im looking for a autoguider but im worried putting one on might put too much load onto the mount. The scope itself is fairly heavy (Around 8.5kg)

So is this going to weigh the mount down, do i need to upgrade to HEQ5/6, do i get a smaller scope? Or will it be perfectly fine.

Any Help will be appreciated,

Sincerely

Omega 

Hi,

Your set up is fine for planetary, the EQ5 PRO will have no problem carrying the scope with a webcam for this purpose. I had an EQ5 untill last OCT and I even managed a couple of sessions with a twin scope rig ( small , fast 80mm APOs  ) for DSO imaging with good guiding up to 900s, not easy but possible. As for your question, the problems  are neither the mount nor the scope's weight per se but,  1) the balance of the rig on all axis is critical, 2) guiding at a 1000mm FL is not for the beginner 3) a scope of this size should if possible be housed in an obsy or atleast be in a sheltered area away from strong breeze or wind as the thick body acts as a sail. My suggestion is that you give it a good go and see what happenes with your present set up  before splashing out on a new rig. If you search the forum you'd find that there are a few people imaging nicely with the same set up as yours, alternatively you could buy a 130 PDS and use it as a fast widefield DSO imager with a DSLR rather than going for a heavy mount that would probably not solve the problem in the first place. As for critical balancing there are a couple of video tutorials from Astronomy shed that may prove helpful. Hope this helps.

Regards,

A.G

[Omega264]

You shouldnt need an auto guider for planetary imaging. as long as the object stays in the field of view for the duration you are taking the avi, Then once you have selected the alignment points, registax will sort the rest out. If it moves about a bit, shouldnt make any difference as the camera will probably be taking 30 images a second or more. You wont get blur or trails at that frame rate.

Or are you saying you can only get 20 seconds of avi before it drifts out of the chips field of view? If so, that isnt a guiding problem, but more likely an alignment problem.

No, i can get a 20 second exposure just fine, the object (Jupiter) drifts out of view in about 60-90 seconds.

Is this because my alignment is not perfect or just normal times without guiding.

Here is a stacked image i got of Jupiter on a night when it was fairly low in the atmosphere,

20 second exposure

[ardbeg74]

No, i can get a 20 second exposure just fine, the object (Jupiter) drifts out of view in about 60-90 seconds.

Something i found out last night ( when i actually read the manual    )

PIPP

https://sites.google.com/site/astropipp/

Has a options to center frames with a planet in it ( and also crop the image too ). Can export it as avi or still frames. This means that footage containing multiple passes will actually align properly in registax. Could give you a lot more footage to work with. I'll certainly be revisiting some of my old captures...

Might buy you some time before having to upgrade to HEQ6

Clear skies

Mark

[Omega264]

Something i found out last night ( when i actually read the manual    )

PIPP

https://sites.google.com/site/astropipp/

Has a options to center frames with a planet in it ( and also crop the image too ). Can export it as avi or still frames. This means that footage containing multiple passes will actually align properly in registax. Could give you a lot more footage to work with. I'll certainly be revisiting some of my old captures...

Might buy you some time before having to upgrade to HEQ6

Clear skies

Mark

Cheers, only just discovered that in the lunar thread.

Omega

[ardbeg74]

Hehe nice one!  Just thinking about the 30fps capture i was playing with the other night... 151 frames stacked out of thousands... all those lost frames because of no alignment.  Could make a huge difference!