Scope Choice - My Goodness I am Confused

[Cpaulo]

Hello everyone, I am sorry to do this as I didn't want the topic of which scope to buy to be my first post but I am so confused at the moment I need a bit of advice and I know that there is a multitude of experience here that I can call upon. I currently own a Meade ETX 80 which I have started to use for imaging and have had quite a bit of fun with but the bug has started to bite and i can see the limitation of just using the ETX's AltAz mount if nothing else.  

Now I am not an impulsive kind of person and I am not about to rush out and buy the first thing some one recommends, I have pretty much set my sights on a HEQ5 mount to get over the limitations of exposure time associated with the AltAz mount. I intend to use any future scope primarily for Imaging with visual observations a secondary concern. I have funds to purchase the mount now and am part way to putting aside for the OTA, the ETX will not come out of it's cradle too easily to sit on a new mount which means a new scope too.

My budget is about £700 and my primary intended use is for imaging but with the ability to visually observe planets and larger DSO targets. I have an immediate hit list in mind to start imaging things like larger Nebula, the Moon and the planets; but to be honest I do not expect to get results for a long long time and this scope and mount is very much for learning the process of imaging. I started trying to take photographs of the moon when I was ten years old and now 30 years later I want to pick up where the ten year old me left; mind you back then I had a very small telescope and a wind-on camera but I still managed to get some pictures.

I have no preconceived ideas about what is best; refractor, reflector, newtonian or RC Astrograph. I have a canon 700D DSLR but am also looking into CCD/webcam imagers. I say I have put some funds aside but I am not even sure if I will get around to buying something until I come back to the UK in 6 months. However if nothing else I would like to hear peoples views on what scope is best for the purpose of imaging with visual observations possible but very much a secondary concern for the kind of money I am talking about.

I apologise if this covering old ground but with new kit coming out all the time this thread ay well serve to update what is no doubt an ongoing concern for us newbies. 

[Alien 13]

Hi and welcome to SGL

It is daunting isnt it but the plan to buy a HEQ5 is a good start you could use your DSLR with lenses to get you going on that mount you would need a flat dovetail bar threaded for a camera or use the dovetail with a camera ball head.

You can use Canon lenses or the old M42 types with an adapter (much cheaper),

As for the scope choice a good start is either an APO or ED refractor between 70 -90mm or a small Newtonian like the 130 or 150 PDS.

Alan

[Kropster]

If you want to do planetary then you will need a different type of scope to one for nebulae and galaxies....one with a long focal length and narrower field of view.

So, already the list of necessities starts to spiral!  :-)

[ronin]

In terms of a mount you will need an equitorial, with at least dual motors to enable it to track.

Goto would be better for future expansion.

Scope is really your choice, however at £700 budget I guess it is either a small one for imaging or a bit bigger one for visual but not really both.

You have a DSLR, so use that, you will need a T-ring and a remote timer so the camera can talk multiple exposures and longer ones.

Here is the problem, not a clue what is easily available in Italy nor any idea of the cost.

The HEQ5 is over budget, the EQ5 is probably all your budget, meaning no scope.

One I have been looking at is the iOptron SmartEQ, but not a high carrying load.

Using the TS site and guessing that £700 is close to 1000€.

At TS the SmartEQ Pro is 545€.

At TS the EQ5 mount is 300€ and you would need to add motors.

At TS the EQ5 goto is 665€

That covers the inexpensive mounts. There are less costly ones but thay are really too shakey.

Only 2 scopes look like options:

The TS 70mm ED with the carbon tube, or, the TS 80mm.

The 70mm comes in at 440€, the 80mm is 550€ (So that is over budget.)

TS do a selection of reflectors that may be suitable.

The GSO imaging reflectors are around 350€ but may be too heavy for the mount, depending on which one - the iOptron has a load of 5Kg.

Skywatcher do a 130PDS that is intended for imaging, just cannot see it on the TS site.

Your budget is limiting but it is just about possible with careful selection, although going any buying anything bigger later could mean having to get bigger versions of just about everything.

You will realistically need an ED scope if you go for a refractor.

An apo triplet would be better but a lot more costly, and it is heavier.

[Cpaulo]

In terms of a mount you will need an equitorial, with at least dual motors to enable it to track.

Goto would be better for future expansion.

Scope is really your choice, however at £700 budget I guess it is either a small one for imaging or a bit bigger one for visual but not really both.

You have a DSLR, so use that, you will need a T-ring and a remote timer so the camera can talk multiple exposures and longer ones.

Here is the problem, not a clue what is easily available in Italy nor any idea of the cost.

The HEQ5 is over budget, the EQ5 is probably all your budget, meaning no scope.

One I have been looking at is the iOptron SmartEQ, but not a high carrying load.

Hi Ronin, thank you for the input, my budget of £700 is for scope only (I have the price of a mount put aside already) my all up budget is around £1500 which I will reach in the next couple of months. My aim is to get away from the AltAz mount and go equatorial while trying to keep things as versatile as possible; I am aware that there is not a one scope fits all but is there something close? Is the decision to go visual or imaging so cut and dry? 

In 6 months i will be living back home in the UK just outside Tiverton in Devon and may well decide to make the investment when I am home for good. As for what's available in Italy I have no idea and to be honest i would only buy from the UK. I fly back to the UK every couple of months for work meetings and paying for an additional 20kg is perfectly within the realms of possibility. If only to bring the mount back and use my DSLR, which is a great idea.

I agree that the HEQ5 is over priced but it comes with a substantial payload which kind of future proofs it for me; I do not intend to make such an investment again too soon in the near future.

[Herbig]

Hi, if you live near Tiverton then go and see FLO (First Light Optics) they are on Marsh Barton in Exeter.

With £1500 available you should be able to afford an HEQ5 Pro Synscan and a William Optics ZS71 with flattener and some money to spare for other things like dew control or blow the whole lot and get the GT81 triplet. I have one of these, great little scope

[Herbig]

Forgot to say, before parting with your cash, when you are back home, come over to the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth on a Friday evening. There you will be able to see what the imagers there use and pick our brains!

If you come over plan to get there about 7pm. PM me if you want any further details on the NLO or have a look at the website normanlockyer.com

Regards

Pete

[Cpaulo]

Thank you Pete, sounds like a great idea, I'll take you up on that. I have just bought the book "Making Every Photon Count" as has been recommended to me. I think I am going to go away and read this before any more thought on 

[Cpaulo]

oops! ..... Go away and read this before anymore thought on buying stuff. Back to the ETX for a bit.

[Herbig]

That's a good read, hope to see you up at the NLO sometime soon. Two of our members come from the Tivy area.

Cheers

Pete