mount Scope and mount

[Russell Lovett]

Hi all have picked out a scope and mount I'm interested in buying. The scope is the skywatcher ed80 pro and I will be using it with my canon 5d mark 1 for astrophotography. It's the mount that I'm having trouble deciding on. Have been reading loads on the net but when I find something I think will be ok I search for reviews of it and looks and behold for everyone who says this is a great choice there is someone else who says don't buy this. Anyway I liked the skywatcher heq5 mount so does anyone on here think this would be a good choice also if I bought a goto mount would this also track or would I need a motorized mount. Also does anyone have a smaller or different mouth sergestion as to what mount I should get, obviously it will have to be tracking. Cheers in advance for your reply so.  Russell.

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome to SGL. A goto mount is motorised and will track an object to a certain degree of accuracy. For longer exposure DSO photography you might want to consider adding a guide scope and autoguiding camera to the setup to improve tracking accuracy. The HEQ5 Pro is probably the smallest mount to go for as this will allow you to fit a larger telescope at some future date.

[Dave S]

Hi Russel

The skywatcher HEq5 pro is a good mount

39 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Hello and welcome to SGL. A goto mount is motorised and will track an object to a certain degree of accuracy. For longer exposure DSO photography you might want to consider adding a guide scope and autoguiding camera to the setup to improve tracking accuracy. The HEQ5 Pro is probably the smallest mount to go for as this will allow you to fit a larger telescope at some future date.

As peter says it is motorised and will track ok but improves in performance with autoguiding kit and is the smallest you should consider.

It will take 13.7Kg of payload and your ED80 weighs in at 3.97Kg so it will handle it plus autoguiding kit with ease.  On paper it would take the ED120 plus some light weight auto guider but I wouldn't recommend going above the ED100 at 6.3Kg plus the extra kit as the 120 pushes close to the HEq5's limit on payload and this would stress the mount more than is recommended for accurate guiding (as well as motor wear).

Hope this helps.

 

Dave...

 

[Skipper Billy]

The HEQ5 and ED80 play very nicely together.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/113316085@N05/albums/72157663274320360

 

[brantuk]

I agree - the HEQ5 is (dare I say) a perfect choice for the ED80 in terms of capacity for additional guide scope/camera equipment, and goto/tracking accuracy - for it's price bracket. Wish I hadn't sold mine now lol.

[Skipper Billy]

The other good news about a HEQ5 is its very easy to fix if it goes wrong.

http://www.astro-baby.com/heq5-rebuild/heq5-m1.htm

[ronin]

The HEQ5 is I suspect the best all round option you have, it should makeuip a nice system with an ED80 asit will allow a fair degree of future expansion. I will suggest that you go and have a look at one, and if possible get the chance to pick one up. They are not exactly small items. And ultimately usability is a factor.

I have an HEQ5, also have an EQ5. I use the EQ5 for the simple reason that I cannot be bothered to haul around the HEQ5. It is fine being fit and strong presently but 1 injury - I presently seem to have developed tennis elbow - and it is either not use the mount+scope for 4 to 6 months or make the injury worse until you cannot use the mount+scope. With my present elbow I found today having trouble holding 2 cans of Ambrosia creamed rice. Sound amusing and yes I laugh at it, but as they say not a cat in hells chance of lifting an HEQ5 head or full mount.

But after all that the HEQ5 is the most suitable mount.

 

[Grierson]

Apologies for side tracking the thread but could I just ask if the HEQ5 and the EQ5 have the same tripod? I appreciate that the cost of the tripod represents only a small % of the purchase price and it may not be possible to buy the mount seperately but ultimately I would like to buy the HEQ5 but ideally mount it on my EQ5 tripod since I don't want to store two sets of legs.

[brantuk]

Yup - it's the same tripod as the EQ5 with 1.75" diameter tubes.

[Grierson]

Many thanks!