Starting with Skywatcher Telescope N 150/750 PDS Explorer BD NEQ-5 Pro SynScan GoTo ???

[Edward Dewolf]

I have been fascinated by space since forever and I want to finally get my first telescope and get into astrophotography soon.

I would like to be able to Photograph & observe deep sky objects & Solar system objects.  I own already a Canon 700D that I cannot mod as the family uses it to take regular photos also.

I had the following in mind: Skywatcher Telescope N 150/750 PDS Explorer BD NEQ-5 Pro SynScan GoTo

Questions:

• Can I mod the Canon 700D and still take normal pictures by maybe adding an IR filter upfront? if not, I guess I need a dedicated camera
• Is the NEQ-5 good enough to carry the telescope, finderscope, camera and other equipement and do autoguiding? or do I HAVE to go to the HEQ-5.  Will the difference between the 2 be that big?
• How good is the focuser that comes with the PDS version of the scope?

PS: I understand that better equipment is always better, i just do not know whether it is always REALLY worth it ?

Thx for any input !

[MarsG76]

As far as with modding a DSLR, there will be users that will tell you that using a modded camera with a clip in filter will be fine, and I'm sure that thats the case, but I'm from the side who thinks that a dedicated camera for astrophotography and a seperate camera for day time use are the way to go. There are older DSLRs such as my 40D that are great for astrophotography for to the big pixels and are going very cheap on eBay these days.

Mounts, I Imagine that the NEQ-5 will be good enough to carry your equipment.. of course the bigger the better as far as the mount is concerned.

[Grimbles]

Hi

I use the 150pds on EQ5 pro controlled with EQMOD. For a camera I use a modded EOS 450D.

My thoughts on your questions are as follows, however others on here may have some more useful information.

With regards to your camera I would be loathe to mod it if it is in general use by others (I am not sure how easy it is to mod the 700D) but certainly the 450D is a delicate and involved process. The are plenty of good videos on line but if you are doing it yourself there is a risk you may trash the camera.  Modded Canon DSLRs do come up for sale on a fairly regular basis, a 450d for example will probably set you back circa £150.

The focuser on the 150PDS is a dual speed and very good and for aperture and f ratio the scope is excellent value for money. Also I have found they are very easy to collimate. 

The scope is not the best for imaging and viewing solar system objects although possible. I switch to my skywatcher Mak 150pro for the planets etc.

The only thing I would say about the 150PDS is that you will need a coma corrector unless you want oval stars in the corners of your images, also the diffraction spikes created by the secondary mirror vanes can be tricky to control when processing your images. People either love or hate diffraction spikes. I really like my 150PDS but  will change to a refractor at the point I upgrade to CCD imaging from a DSLR, but upgrading my mount is this years priority.

With regard to to finderscopes and auto guiding you will have no problem with either the NEQ6 or HEQ5.

 

Hope this helps a little but as I say there are plenty of others here who can offer excellent advice with far more experience than me.

Martin

 

My EQ5 Pro mount is really the minimum for astrophotography, though others do do very well with smaller mounts.  I am currently looking to upgrade to an HEQ5 for the forthcoming winter season and it ismore than capable of handling the 150PDS.  With regards to the NEQ6 I am no expert but believe the main difference is the increased weight capacity and an extension bar for balance, the tracking accuracy is the same as the HEQ5.

[Edward Dewolf]

Martin,

I was referring to the NEQ-5, not the NEQ-6.  Does that change anything to your feedback?

Edward

[Grimbles]

23 minutes ago, Edward Dewolf said:

Martin,

I was referring to the NEQ-5, not the NEQ-6.  Does that change anything to your feedback?

Edward

Hi Edward

Sorry my mistake, having just looked at the NEQ5 it is just a variant of my EQ5 pro. In which case I would reccomend the HEQ5 which will give better tracking and guiding accuracy, also with the HEQ5 you can replace the RA and DEC gears with a belt mod which improves things even further.

The NEQ5 will do a job (as mine does) but if you really get into the astrophotography it will become quite limiting and frustrating as you improve and want to achieve more.

Martin

[Edward Dewolf]

Martin,

Thank you for you feedback.  One last question if you do not mind.  the NEQ5 will do the job until .... what ?  I have read up a lot on equipment, but this is the hardest part for a newcomer to understand.  Where would a NEQ5 leave me unsatisfied after a while?

• Accuracy, sharpness?
• Better equipment further down?

Thank you for helping !

Edward

[Marci]

Essentially: Heavier equipment being mounted on it. For majority only difference between an EQ5 class mount and anything beyond that is the maximum payload weight the mount can handle.  

'Accuracy / sharpness': Yes with higher class mounts you get periodic correction, belt drives etc to minimise mechanical deviations / errors for smoother guiding etc, but ultimately it’s predominantly weight of gear it needs to shift - a well polar aligned HEQ5 will still hold a guided target regardless of error from the worms: more guide commands are needed is all, but it won’t make a difference to what you can or can’t image over a belt-modded NEQ6 for instance (assuming equally polar aligned, the modded NEQ6 will just need fewer guide pulses to hold the target - you as an end-user won’t actually SEE any difference, it’s just an efficiency improvement and reduction in mechanical noise). 90% of folk out there will never need anything beyond an EQ6 class mount really, so if wanting to buy once, go EQ6. Anything beyond EQ6 is diminishing returns vs increase cost. But in reality, an HEQ5 will do you fine unless you’re wanting to jump to a significantly weightier scope / imaging setup. 

'Better equipment' is subjective - an F4 CarbonFibre 8" imaging reflector will weigh less than your scope, but is a better scope, but because it weighs less an EQ5 would be fine, whereas the steel equivalent would weigh more, so would be shoving towards EQ6 territory).

 

[Edward Dewolf]

Marci,

Thank you for your feedback, but I was comparing the HEQ-5 with the NEQ-5, not the NEQ-6.  How does that change your opinion?

Edward

[Marci]

It doesn’t... NEQ5 > EQ5 > EQ5 Pro > HEQ5 > EQ6 > NEQ6 > EQ8 etc is all _essentially_ about payload weight, however a better scope does not necessarily mean more weight. If wanting to buy once, buy the mount that’ll take the most payload you expect to be able to afford. Personally, HEQ5 thru NEQ6 will suit the majority of folks bank balances and will cover the majority of popular imaging setups out there - anything beyond that is a massive price jump. Anything beneath the HEQ5, then when window-shopping you’ll have to think 'can my mount take this weight' far more frequently. If given the choice _solely_ between NEQ5 and HEQ5, HEQ5 every time - it can take more weight therefore gives more options about what to do further down the line - whether more weight capacity is necessary or not. If given the choice as to which mount is the most flexible in terms of kit you can attach to it without getting silly money, then the highest capacity EQ6 class is the most sensible choice as a long term investment and 90% of folk out there would never need anything better / bigger than that.

The real term difference between NEQ5 and HEQ5 is: weight it can take. Everything else is efficiency, but nothing that will impact what you can or can’t image or for how long realistically assuming both are guided by the same guiding setup and equally well polar aligned with scopes that are within their payload capacity. So, where would the NEQ5 leave you unsatisfied down the line? When whatever popular imaging combo considered a step up from what you’ve got is more weight than an NEQ5 can handle. Doing some reading around, the NEQ5 is _actually_ the NEQ3-2 but with a slightly sturdier tripod base (do a google image search and compare - it's deceptive - I wouldn’t deem it an EQ5 class mount and would deem it an EQ3 class mount) so has _significantly less_ weight capacity than an HEQ5, so you’re _much_ more likely to have issues when it comes to choice of what you can buy down the road with an NEQ5 than you are with an HEQ5, thus: get the HEQ5.