First time autoguiding

[dan_19991]

My current setup for astrophotography is an eq5 pro mount with a 200p telescope, using a canon 1000d camera, I’ve been looking at what I could upgrade to improve my astrophotos and my top priority is getting a light pollution filter and it in the middle of a city. But next I’m torn, between getting an autoguiding system and getting a new mount (heq5 or neq6 if I could find one used) I recognise I will need both eventually it’s just about which to get first. I’m that respect if I were to get the auto guider first, I would probably have to find a different way of mounting it because of the weight limit, I found a old thread that referenced mounting the autoguiding system to the counterweight bar which would not increase the weight, I see a few problems with this but for the sake of saving the weight I figure it’s a good idea. 

Im not sure what autoguiding kit I would get but I’ve seen that the st80 is highly regarded and probably a Astro ccd around the £150 mark. 

Any advice on which to get first for my setup would be appriciated and what mount and autoguiding system that is advisable. 

Thanks in advance.  

[JemC]

I would go mount first, 

the Heq5 would be better with the 200p than the eq5, but the Neq6 would be even better in my opinion, 

i use the qhy mini guider and qhy5l-ii camera for my guiding set-up on a 130pd-s this is a lot less weight than the st80 set-up but not sure if it would be suitable for the 200p? sure someone else will comment 

 

Regards

[dan_19991]

17 minutes ago, JemC said:

I would go mount first, 

the Heq5 would be better with the 200p than the eq5, but the Neq6 would be even better in my opinion, 

i use the qhy mini guider and qhy5l-ii camera for my guiding set-up on a 130pd-s this is a lot less weight than the st80 set-up but not sure if it would be suitable for the 200p? sure someone else will comment 

 

Regards

thanks for the reply, i know im way over the weight limit for the eq5 hense the upgrade, i was pretty set on getting a NEQ6 but i cannot find any second hand in the uk where as there are quite a few HEQ5 mounts second hand for around the £500 mark where a new NEQ6 is double that, and i cant justify double the price for the extra 5kg its going to give me unless i can find one second hand. 

i was planning on using my finder scope as a guider scope but apparently from what i have researched it is unsuitable as i have the straight finder not a right angles one so the focus point is virtually inside the tube, i also was considering getting a smallr refractor independantly of guiding for wider field shots so that kind of kills two birds with one stone unless there is a better alternative out there (mainly a cheaper one!).  Also the qhy5 or qhy5-II was going to be my choice aswell as they are relatively in expensive and available.

[JemC]

4 minutes ago, dan_19991 said:

i was pretty set on getting a NEQ6 but i cannot find any second hand in the uk

they do come up for sale occasionally, it's just a case of waiting , not easy i know,

keep a check on Astrobuysell website as well as on here,

I'm afraid cheaper and astrophotography don't mix very well  

is it the 9x50 straight through finder you have? pretty sure they can be used as a guide scope( you would need an adapter though i think, from  FLO if they do them or from here https://www.modernastronomy.com/shop/accessories/finders/skywatcher-9-x-50-straight-through-finder-bracket/

[dan_19991]

47 minutes ago, JemC said:

they do come up for sale occasionally, it's just a case of waiting , not easy i know,

keep a check on Astrobuysell website as well as on here,

I'm afraid cheaper and astrophotography don't mix very well  

is it the 9x50 straight through finder you have? pretty sure they can be used as a guide scope( you would need an adapter though i think, from  FLO if they do them or from here https://www.modernastronomy.com/shop/accessories/finders/skywatcher-9-x-50-straight-through-finder-bracket/

Oh fair enough it would seem I was wrong, I did find an adapter bracket for the finder scope for a qhy5-oi but in that case my question would be is the qhy5ii a good enough guide camera that it could be used with a larger scope such as a 80mm in the future? 

Also anyone have a rough price of a NEQ6 second hand, I know they will vary but for the HEQ5 it seems to be around the 500-600 pound mark. 

[JemC]

10 minutes ago, dan_19991 said:

Also anyone have a rough price of a NEQ6 second hand,

i paid £600 if i remember right for mine, 

 

10 minutes ago, dan_19991 said:

would be is the qhy5ii a good enough guide camera that it could be used with a larger scope such as a 80mm in the future? 

i would say yes

[dan_19991]

3 minutes ago, JemC said:

i paid £600 if i remember right for mine, 

 

i would say yes

Oh in that case I think I’ll wait till I find a NEQ6 then thanks 

 

[spaceman_spiff]

I actually started autoguiding using an eq5 pro mount. I was also really pushing the mounts weight limits but I did get some good results. The key things to remember if you try this are...

- Get a very good balance so the mount's motors are under the least amount of stress.

- Be prepared to lose quite a lot of frames because the mount is overweight, don't get mad about this.

I used the EQ5 as a learning tool before upgrading to a bigger mount, quite useful in that respect.

[Red meteor]

The alternative solution is to downsize the scope for something lighter. I had a 6 inch Mach Best bought sh. It was heavy and could not get focus with my 1100d. I moved it on and bought a used SW ed80 and have not regretted it. Then an heq5 would be perfect. Good luck.

Graham

[Stub Mandrel]

I would try autoguiding with your current rig. My ASAI120MC only weighs 100 grams and my frankenstein guide scope is only a little more and they work wqell with my feeble EQ3.

[dan_19991]

My plan was initially to get a st80 which I could use with the eq5 until I could find a NEQ6 at a decent price then it would become a guide scope, but I think having only had my imaging setup finally working for a month, buying a ccd like qhy5ii and using it as a finder guider for now until I get a NEQ6 is the route I’m leaning towards. Especially having seen a blog by Astro castro I believe it is, that had a very similar setup and got astounding results.