Suitable Mount Upgrade

[JohnSadlerAstro]

Hi,

I'm wanting to upgrade my telescope's mount, which at present is an EQ2. I'm not sure what mount would be best, though. Does anyone know of a mount with: a Polar Finder Scope, (or the facilities to attach one), strong tripod, and tracking motors? The top of my budget for the mount itself is around £300, but I could probably buy a finder scope and motor drives at a later date, if necessary. I'm wanting to use the mount for general telescope viewing, possibly with my DSLR piggybacked for Deep-Sky imaging.  

The mount also needs to be one with some development potential, like auto-guiding capabilities, which I can make use of as I continue the hobby.

Is there a mount that would fit this?

Thanks for looking,

John

[Owmuchonomy]

Hi John it was all going well until you mentioned deep sky imaging. In my view that means a minimum of an HEQ5 Pro or equivalent. I sold mine for just under £500 so that gives you an idea of second hand budget for such a mount. It will do everything you ask in your post.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

If you only want to do DSO imaging with a piggy-back DSLR, an EQ5 would still do. If you can get a second-hand Vixen Great Polaris, that would be better. The Vixen GP is the mount that was cloned to create the EQ5, and the engineering is quite a bit better. I have had mine for twenty years, and done some piggy-back imaging, and even some unguided DSO imaging through an APM 80mm F/6 with 0.8x focal reducer.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just spotted this:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=114564

For that money, it is well worth considering

[ollypenrice]

There's 'mission creep' appearing in your original post! Once you get into guiding I think you'll regret anything short of an HEQ5.

Olly

[spaceman_spiff]

In my experience, I was able to guide pretty well using an EQ5 pro and it was carrying a longish tube refractor (Evostar 120), a guidescope, guide cam and a dslr. It was at its limit though and if you want to future proof your set up against new equipment then a HEQ5 is the better bet.

I can't be sure if my EQ5 was a good example or what i am describing is normal performance!

Dan.

[Watcher]

I have bought an EQ-6 with a 250mm Newtonian for £350. I guess this was a reasonable price?

[spaceman_spiff]

1 minute ago, Watcher said:

I have bought an EQ-6 with a 250mm Newtonian for £350. I guess this was a reasonable price?

Now that's a bargain!

[spaceboy]

55 minutes ago, Watcher said:

I have bought an EQ-6 with a 250mm Newtonian for £350. I guess this was a reasonable price?

That's a steal at £350 where did you snap that one up? Would that be this one? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-Telescope-and-EQ-6-mount-and-motor-/322166832982?hash=item4b02a3bf56%3Ag%3AAkkAAOSwc1FXbPeu&nma=true&si=tqP6sm%2Bp%2BMzHFE4H8ha%2FOTlfTYc%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 bolt on a GT kit for £295 and your laughing.

[Watcher]

13 hours ago, spaceboy said:

That's a steal at £350 where did you snap that one up? Would that be this one? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-Telescope-and-EQ-6-mount-and-motor-/322166832982?hash=item4b02a3bf56%3Ag%3AAkkAAOSwc1FXbPeu&nma=true&si=tqP6sm%2Bp%2BMzHFE4H8ha%2FOTlfTYc%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 bolt on a GT kit for £295 and your laughing.

That's the one. I thought it was a good price but then the doubts started to creep in a bit!

[spaceboy]

I feel you got a bargain and I'm sure others do too. I remember seeing it on eBay and thinking it was a staff room at a college or something. An outreach scope sprang to mind. Replacement parts are not the easiest of things to find but they do come up.

Goes to show the OP that £300 can go a long way if your patient for the right time to come up.

[JohnSadlerAstro]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, guys! I'm planning to get the mount this coming Xmas, so I'll do further research into getting an EQ5 or 6 nearer the time. 

John