HEQ5 vs. CG5 ?

[MiLK]

Ok so I'm looking to get my first telescope, and I have decided on an 8" Newt.

The main use for this will be for astrophotography of DSO's, and perhaps some moon/planets to begin with. Whilst I appreciate the fact I have to learn how to walk before I run, I might as well keep my end goal in mind, otherwise I will just have to spend more money down the road.

The two I'm talking about come with their relevant scopes, and can be seen here:

Skywatcher 200P on HEQ5

Celestron C8-N GT on CG5

So bearing in mind I will be doing long exposure photos, which is the best mount? I have heard that the CG5 is overall better than the EQ5 (which I have ruled out because it lacks motors for tracking), but how does it stack up against the HEQ5? Price wise they are fairly similar, but GoTo comes with the CG5, which I quite like the idea of. However the regular (non-motor/GoTo) C8N on CG5 has recently been reduced to £249, so maybe I could try and get a deal with the C8N OTA on an HEQ5 mount for cheaper? Who knows :shock:

As always, any advice greatly appreciated!

[Whippy]

The HEQ5 is the better mount, no question. Both take roughly the same kind of weight but the HEQ5 is a bit beefier, better finished and more solid. And if you get the GOTO version, it's a lot quieter than the CG5GT. The OTA's are manufactured by the same company, so what colour do you want, Blue or Black?

Tony..

[MiLK]

The HEQ5 is the better mount, no question. Both take roughly the same kind of weight but the HEQ5 is a bit beefier, better finished and more solid. And if you get the GOTO version, it's a lot quieter than the CG5GT. The OTA's are manufactured by the same company, so what colour do you want, Blue or Black?

Thanks for the prompt reply

Yeah I figured that the the OTAs are pretty much identical as they are both manufactured by Synta. But I mention the C8N OTA on the HEQ5 because the C8N/CG5 package has been reduced to £249, so it *may* be possible to get a C8N OTA on the HEQ5 for cheaper than the Skywatcher equivalent.

I couldn't afford the HEQ5 with the GoTo so I guess it boils down to; HEQ5 and no GoTo, or CG5 and Goto. Whilst the HEQ5 would clearly be beneficial for long exposure imaging of DSOs, the GoTo would probally ease the overall learning curve.....decisions decisions...

[Whippy]

Well, the CG5 that's with the C8N deal isn't motorised but the HEQ5 is so that's your answer for imaging. If in the long term you're looking to upgrade the mount for GOTO, you may want to consider the syntrek version rather the plain vainilla HEQ5. In the long term it'd be cheaper. And of course the HEQ5 pro is ready to go .

Tony..

[russ]

Personally i would avoid the Celestron CG5 GOTO. But the CG5 itself is a nice mount to get under way with and not too far removed from the HEQ5 in terms of carrying ablility. But the HEQ5 is so much neater with it's built-in drives. And Skyscan is the only budget GOTO system to consider, miles better than the equiv Celestron and Meade offerings. But you could add Skyscan to the CG5 at a later date instead.

Russ

[MiLK]

Well, the CG5 that's with the C8N deal isn't motorised but the HEQ5 is so that's your answer for imaging. If in the long term you're looking to upgrade the mount for GOTO, you may want to consider the syntrek version rather the plain vainilla HEQ5. In the long term it'd be cheaper. And of course the HEQ5 pro is ready to go .

Tony..

Yeah I was looking at the GoTo C8N package which is motorised. But I guess if the price of that hasn't dropped then there is little chance of me haggling a reduced price C8N OTA with HEQ5. In essence I was hoping that one of the C8N/CG5 standard packages for £249 could be split up, giving me a cheap C8N OTA and then putting it on an HEQ5.

I guess I could do that myself though, buy a C8N/CG5 for £249, sell the mount as new, then put that money towards an HEQ5 mount.

Or maybe if I speak to FLO they might be able to work out some kind of deal...

At the end of the day the price might just work out the same as the Skywatcher 200P on the HEQ5 (£515) in which case I should probally just get that! I was just hoping to capatalise on Celestron's nice sale

Personally i would avoid the Celestron CG5 GOTO. But the CG5 itself is a nice mount to get under way with and not too far removed from the HEQ5 in terms of carrying ablility. But the HEQ5 is so much neater with it's built-in drives. And Skyscan is the only budget GOTO system to consider, miles better than the equiv Celestron and Meade offerings. But you could add Skyscan to the CG5 at a later date instead.

Russ

Yeah maybe I should just see how I get on without GoTo first before spending more money. The only worry is if I struggle without it I may not be in the mood to spend even more money

[blinky]

I just bought an HEQ5 (non GoTo) at Christmas as I was primarily wanting it for astro photography. I would say I am very impressed with it. I would recomment the HEQ5/Skywatcher 200 combination. You can always add goto in a year or so and it also forces to do a bit of learning the sky before you do the upgrade.

I have also seen the Celestron GoTo in action and it seemed pretty accurate. It was a bit noisy i.e. I would think twice about using it in the back garden at 1am.

[MiLK]

I just bought an HEQ5 (non GoTo) at Christmas as I was primarily wanting it for astro photography. I would say I am very impressed with it. I would recomment the HEQ5/Skywatcher 200 combination. You can always add goto in a year or so and it also forces to do a bit of learning the sky before you do the upgrade.

I have also seen the Celestron GoTo in action and it seemed pretty accurate. It was a bit noisy i.e. I would think twice about using it in the back garden at 1am.

Cool, thanks for the reccomendation. You had a chance to take any photos yet between the ?

What camera are you using?

Cheers

[ash]

i have just bought the heq5 with skywatcher 200 on it at xmas (second hand) and it has the goto upgrade with it. having only used it once with these pesky :D in the way, i was very impressed it looksas though Hubble it's self could happily perch on top and it looks rather nice also there was very little noise from it, sorry can't comment on the cg5 but when i asked the same question everybody said the heq5 it's bullet proof.

Cheers

ASH

[blinky]

I just bought an HEQ5 (non GoTo) at Christmas as I was primarily wanting it for astro photography. I would say I am very impressed with it. I would recomment the HEQ5/Skywatcher 200 combination. You can always add goto in a year or so and it also forces to do a bit of learning the sky before you do the upgrade.

I have also seen the Celestron GoTo in action and it seemed pretty accurate. It was a bit noisy i.e. I would think twice about using it in the back garden at 1am.

Cool, thanks for the reccomendation. You had a chance to take any photos yet between the ?

I have taken a couple, one of the moon and another of M42. The mount is a lot more stable than the EQ5

What camera are you using?

Cheers

[MiLK]

i have just bought the heq5 with skywatcher 200 on it at xmas (second hand) and it has the goto upgrade with it. having only used it once with these pesky :D in the way, i was very impressed it looksas though Hubble it's self could happily perch on top and it looks rather nice also there was very little noise from it, sorry can't comment on the cg5 but when i asked the same question everybody said the heq5 it's bullet proof.

Yup, it really seems the HEQ5 is the way to go if i'm serious.

I have taken a couple, one of the moon and another of M42. The mount is a lot more stable than the EQ5

Ahh yes, I have seen your one of M42, very nice! Was that taken with the 8" Newt?

[blinky]

The M42 image was taken with the ZS66 a 0.5 focal reducer and the Meade DSI.

[thing]

I have the C8 NGT and while it works very well (I don't do imaging by the way) I can vouch for the fact that it is horrendously noisy. Doesn't seem it when you set up at 5 pm and there's traffic going past and general background noise but at midnight when there's no local noise at all it really bounces off the walls.

[MiLK]

I have the C8 NGT and while it works very well (I don't do imaging by the way) I can vouch for the fact that it is horrendously noisy. Doesn't seem it when you set up at 5 pm and there's traffic going past and general background noise but at midnight when there's no local noise at all it really bounces off the walls.

Heh...l've seen several people mention this :D ...the infamous Coffee Grinder 5 :lol:

[WebSentinel]

I've just purchased a new C11 on the non motorized CG-5 mount (it was a real bargain) and just added some DK-3 motors from Astronomica (as recommended by Russ [see above posting].

The CG-5 is based on the old Vixen GP mount and the DK-3 motors are exact replicas of the MT-1 motors that were made for the Vixen mount. They are absolutely silent which, is great. Also, if you look at the specs the CG-5 mount's load capacity is 35lbs where as the HEQ5 is 33lbs (I believe). My CG-5 has no problem handling the C11 OTA which is close to 27lbs.

I think what I'm trying to say is get yourself a bargain with the C8N and you'll also get a great mount (CG-5). If you want to upgrade it with motors or GOTO, for imaging, then there are a whole bunch of products out there that are compatible with the CG-5 mount.

I can't comment on the HEQ5 but it also looks like a great mount. Although, the CG-5 has those very nice 2" tripod legs which, you can always use to replace the skinny 1.5" HEQ5 legs for a much more stable hybrid if you decided to get both?

Good luck in whatever you decided to get.

[teztwister]

where is the deal for c8n-cg5 for 249 pounds

Thanks

[MiLK]

where is the deal for c8n-cg5 for 249 pounds

Thanks

http://www.celestron.uk.com/catalogues/view_item.asp?ItemID=30622&CatalogueID=272&CategoryID=3766

Remember its non motorised/goto.

Cheers,

MiLK

[EA2007]

Hey kids,

I am thinking of getting the Skywatcher 200p on the HEQ-5 Mount (non-goto/skyscan) over the Celestron. Mainly because everyone here seems to think its a more solid build, also it comes with a host of things the Celestron doesn't.

Was wondering, the HEQ-5 mount does track without the Skyscan? and I assume that it will accept the 12V Celestron powertank?? So I can get away with some DSO astrophotography without having to upgrade to the Skyscan got system?

Is there any differences between the HEQ-5 mount and the HEQ-5 Pro mount other than the goto system and faster motors?

And if anyone knows what type of glass is in the OTA I would be happy to know....do the skywatcher and celestron OTA's use the same glass?

[blinky]

The HEQ5 and the HEQ5Pro are basically the same mount. The HEQ5 will track fine (I use it for astro piccies) and the Pro just gives you SkyScan. The Pro's motors are diffrent but dont know if they are more accurate etc. Basically the non Pro HEQ5 is still a very good solid mount for the money