Goto HEQ5 mount v Dobson

[Paul_C]

I have an 8" Dobsonian scope that is just manual and it's fine (the base is getting a little stiff though)  but I have been thinking of upgrading so I can do a bit of photography and be able to track and GoTo. I've looked at the Skywatcher 250px flex tube with synscan and wondered whether this would be suitable for reasonably short exposure photos bearing in mind its an AZ ALT mount. Is the motor likely to be smooth enough? I'm not going for the glossy mag full colour glories but hoped to take something decent.
An alternative thought would be to keep my 8" tube and instead go for a HEQ5 mount and get some tube rings for it. The latter would end up being about £200 cheaper (though I would not get the extra 2" on the mirror) and have a decent mount so that I could possibly upgrade the scope itself at a later date.

It would be nice to make the complete upgrade in one go by getting the 250px but not if I end up being disappointed at the results of the tracking.

Anyone any thoughts or advice on this?

Thanks.
 

[Owmuchonomy]

I think if you chose not to go for the HEQ5 you would regret it once you got into imaging.

[Cornelius Varley]

What type of camera do you intend to use ? if if is a DSLR with the 250PX you might need to think about rebalancing the tube with the DSLR attached. Also with the dob mount you won't have the advantage of an autoguide port. For planetary and lunar imaging with a webcam or dedicated camera the alt-az motion won't be so much of a issue. Stacking software will take care of rotation for planets and lunar imaging but you will have field rotation in dso imaging unless you keep the exposures short. On the other hand the HEQ5 solves all these problems and is cheaper and can be used to mount future telescopes (you will buy more telescopes, this is fact)

[Paul_C]

Thanks very much Chris and Peter for your replies.

I think you might be right Chris. It would be a shame to make the 8" tube redundant and the HEQ5 does look pretty decent, gives me more options in future and probably is more portable too.
Peter I have a DSLR, didn't realise there would be a balance issue though I was aware of the rotation.
I'll no doubt be taking planetary pictures but would like to branch out. I guess I could conceivably use the camera direct on the mount without the scope for some wide filed pictures. I took a few of these when I had access to a motorised EQ mount on holiday a few years ago and loved the results.

The 10" mirror can wait I guess. I'll sort out the main issue properly first.

Thanks again

Paul

[MattJenko]

Or you could go for the AzEQ5 for easier viewing as well, as a newt on an EQ style mount can be a pretty frustrating place to be.

[Paul_C]

Thanks Matt. I didn't realise that dual mounts were available. Best of both worlds I guess for a little more dosh of course

Why can Newtons on a EQ mount be frustrating? Never had one except a really cheap and nasty thing early on.

Paul

[Owmuchonomy]

I think Matt is eluding to the contortions required sometimes to get to the EP.