buikimaging Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Hello fellow stargazers,After some time using my brothers Skywatcher 200PDS and HEQ5 pro me and my dad are going to buy our own piece of gear.Reason: brothers will be brothers and they will not lend stuff when they are out of the house or at work.Anyhow, we are quite satisfied with the HEQ5 Pro so for any decent scope we are thinking that will do the trick for us too.We are looking however for a scope that will favor both of us to some degree. I am myself a very favored DSO imager and my dad usually likes to observe more visually.The question is: will we do good with buying a Celestron C8 on an EQ5 pro? As it has a focus ratio of F10! will it mean I have to get a focal reducer for any DSO photography?Will we still be able to observe bright DSO's through that scope visually too? Bright galaxies, bright nebulae like Orion and etc like with the SW 200PDS?This setup will have an EQ5 pro but will this be ably to carry that C8 and track with good accuracy?I also looked into the even bigger Skywatcher, the 250PDS on a HEQ5 pro but this, with the same problem as the C8, will it be able to track accurately with all that weight on it? (will cost a lot more than the C8 on EQ5 and might be slightly above budget)What would be a better solution? - EQ5 Pro with C8?- HEQ5 Pro with SW 250PDS?- EQ5 Pro with Kson 102ED doublet?- EQ5 Pro with Takahashi FS60 fluor?(I image with a Sony Alpha A230 in prime focus already have a 2" to T adapter with T-ring but that will mean i have to get a new adapter anyway)many thanks in advance!Clear Skies!Koen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyKoval35 Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I have HEQ5 + 6" newtonian scope, and from I know putting scope like 200 PDS(carbon tube) is acceptable with good balance. Metal 200PDS tube may be too heavy(setup will be very sensite for wind, etc...). So 250PDS is much to heavy for HEQ5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker1947 Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The 200P-DS is as big as you want to go with the HEQ5, a C8 will need something a lot better to image with...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buikimaging Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 The 200P-DS is as big as you want to go with the HEQ5, a C8 will need something a lot better to image with......The EQ5 has a payload limit of 11kg's however and the C8 is only 5?Or does it require something better to image because of the quality of the gears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Scunthorpe Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 With imaging, you want to keep the load (scope, camera etc) as light as possible in ratio to the mounts capability.So for example, the EQ5 has a limit of 11, but you wouldn't load it up to 11 because the gears might skip, it might struggle to push up against the weight etc.I have heard some people saying that for AP, you only want 50% weight of the mounts capability. So for the EQ5 at 11, that would make it 5kg limit.I personally used a HEQ5 Pro and a Skywatcher 200p, and didn't have many problems, but then again, I wasn't very good at it or dedicated to it!An interesting, (but old) thread on mounts for AP can be found here :http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/167187-mount-for-astrophotography/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseki Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Why not get another Skywatcher 200PDS and HEQ5 combo? Fast enough for imaging (though there might be less frustration if you later get a 2nd, smaller scope) big enough for visual, seems like a good combination. I'm not sure why you suggested "EQ5 Pro with Takahashi FS60 fluor?" but for DSO most people say go for the HEQ5 and your Dad might not be satisfied with the view. Two scopes, SW 200pds + SW130pds + cc works out cheaper than the C8 anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buikimaging Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 Why not get another Skywatcher 200PDS and HEQ5 combo? Fast enough for imaging (though there might be less frustration if you later get a 2nd, smaller scope) big enough for visual, seems like a good combination. I'm not sure why you suggested "EQ5 Pro with Takahashi FS60 fluor?" but for DSO most people say go for the HEQ5 and your Dad might not be satisfied with the view. Two scopes, SW 200pds + SW130pds + cc works out cheaper than the C8 anyway.we live in an expensive country the SW200 PDS with HEQ5 is just as expensive as the C8 and EQ5 combi, but I will have to discuss it with my dad.Thought about the HEQ5 with a Skywatcher Quattro-8CF, nice carbon tube, less weight, putting less strain on the HEQ5, same aperture, shorter focal length with enough payload remaining for a guidescope.About the FS, I am but a newb, some people swore with APO's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyKoval35 Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 we live in an expensive country the SW200 PDS with HEQ5 is just as expensive as the C8 and EQ5 combi, but I will have to discuss it with my dad.Thought about the HEQ5 with a Skywatcher Quattro-8CF, nice carbon tube, less weight, putting less strain on the HEQ5, same aperture, shorter focal length with enough payload remaining for a guidescope.About the FS, I am but a newb, some people swore with APO's. Are You going to buy brand new or used mount? Used EQ6 is cheaper than brad new HEQ5. If You are going to buy SW200 PDS it is worth to consider. But... You have to remember that you need to add weight of imaging camera, coma corrector and guiding to get total weigh of you setup - in my case it is extra 3,5 kg. So, 200PDS(matal tube) + extra 3-4kg may be to much for HEQ5. If you have small observatory(cover from wind) then 8" tube(carbon) on HEQ5 will be fine, otherwise your setup will be shaking on every wind blow.And one more thing... All depends on how good results do you want to achieve. Bigger tube than 6" on HEQ5 = more problems to get good results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseki Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 we live in an expensive country the SW200 PDS with HEQ5 is just as expensive as the C8 and EQ5 combi, but I will have to discuss it with my dad.Thought about the HEQ5 with a Skywatcher Quattro-8CF, nice carbon tube, less weight, putting less strain on the HEQ5, same aperture, shorter focal length with enough payload remaining for a guidescope.About the FS, I am but a newb, some people swore with APO's. I'm sure the FS60's a great scope for astrophotography but it's only got 60mm aperture so it seems a bit limited for visual. I hope I didn't come across too abrupt. Good luck with your choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker1947 Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 There's more to imagine than keeping the scope + other bits below a certain weight , the focal length of a scope has a lot more to do with it than getting the weight right.....a C8 is pretty long for a HEQ5...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonk Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I have an HEQ5 Pro with 150P, ST80, MPCC + Canon 1100D which totals over 8kg.Breeze does affect this set up, so I wouldn't go much bigger than a 150 reflector TBH.For visual, even a 250PDS should be ok, but not for photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buikimaging Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 Hello all,Many thanks for all the responses! Got me a lot closer to a certain scope. Or less, however you may see it.I still have a few questions though:How would wind affect the carbon tube more than the 200pds? It is a lot shorter because its F4 instead of F5 so catches less wind, and it will weigh in at 7kg + my DSLR say it will reach 10 in the end when I got dedicated gear, coma corrector, guidescope and what not. I do not expect Hubble type images, this will be my only hobby since I was already greatly interested in this field so there is room to upgrade to another scope, other mount, dedicated CCD and what not. So I only want to... "Keep the scope for a good amount of time until I can get something else for my own, dedicated to astrophotography".So far I am dealing with subs of 90seconds unguided on the HEQ5, shooting images of M81. I am not yet looking for subs of 10 minutes imaging the faintest galaxies.If I can average sub's of 2-3 minutes till I can get something dedicated to astrophotography, I wish to get a true sturdy Losmandy, maybe a big truss-RC or something similar in a little observatory. However that maybe quite a long time from now. So for now I am most interested in the Quattro if that would be a viable option. It's nice halfway if you would call it like that, its an F4, 200mm aperture, now it would be the choice of: steel or carbon.I heard carbon is less cool-down reliant since it does not expand. The steel option however is sturdier and somewhat heavier making it less vibration and wind sensitive?Downside is that I will be putting more strain on the mound since it weighs in almost 2 KGS more, coming in a total of 12kgs as I get more gear like coma corrector, guide scope etc etc. I think a PDS is out of the option since it would mean a heavy scope on a weight strained mount and adding even more weight into the equation.So thoughts? A carbon or steel Quattro with possibility of guide scope and more imaging related gear which I would need anyway, or get a 150-200PDS with less reliability as I add more weight and pushing the mount? Clear skies!Koen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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