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First AP set up advice

Derek1973

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Derek1973

Derek1973

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Hi, I've decided to sell my skywatcher 200p dob as I'd like to have a crack at AP, 

I'm about to purchase a Skywatcher evostar 80ED and really like the look of the new skywatcher eqm-35 Pro mount, also I will get the 0.85x reducer for the scope. Best prices I can find for the lot is £555 for the mount and £464 for the scope and £169 for the reducer. 

I already have a cannon 500d

Any thoughts on this set up would be appreciated before I hit the button on £1200  of gear. Thanks. 

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MarsG76

MarsG76

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As well as reading up on the hobby, do not be afraid to experiment, and do NOT get disheartened when you don't get perfect images first go... we all spent a lot of nights outside without any results except a fault or drift and something on minds to think about... and trying new things... personally I'm more than happy to share the knowledge that I picked up over the years, as I'm sure is a shares sentiment by all of the other astrophotographers on here... if you have questions, just ask...

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Galen Gilmore

Galen Gilmore

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There are a lot of different equipment combinations that you could choose from, at different prices, that yield different results. Make sure that you really research all the options before making a decision, and SGL members will give recommendations as well. 

It would also be helpful to know were you live (just the country! I'm not a stalker!!!) to try and recommend a website/dealer for you.

Good luck!

Edit: I also just realized this is my 1,000 post, :headbang2:

 

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Galen Gilmore

Galen Gilmore

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21 minutes ago, Derek1973 said:

I'm in Scotland just south of Glasgow. 

Well done on the 1000 post ??

Lol, thanks.

I just wanted to make sure you didn't live in America, prices here are about 30% more expensive than in the UK. (Now that I look at your post though you used the £ symbol, which makes me feel real dumb!)

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steppenwolf

steppenwolf

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The telescope is an ideal choice especially with the focal reducer but I'd really be tempted to go for the HEQ5 unless you REALLY need the modularity of the EQM-35 for some reason. The HEQ5 is solid and well-proven in the AP field and it doesn't have all those dangling cables!!

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Derek1973

Derek1973

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Also I have health issues with my back due to illness (cancer) and I don't know if the Heq5 would be a bit on the heavy side for me to lift in and out of the house compared to the eqm-35 that was my main reason for looking at it but didn't want to say. 

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PaulM

PaulM

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Been reading up a lot on AP as I'm considering doing this and currently have a 200p dob at the moment as well which I've not owned for long

Seeing all the great images posed on here has got me into reading up on what AP involves, so I bought and read the book Making Every Photon Count and have personally come to the realisation that there is a lot of software\image processing involved in AP and I suspect a long and steep learning curve to get quality images so I'm considering getting a cheap 2nd hand mount and a used DSLR camera initially and keeping the 200p dob for visual observing and getting familiar with that setup for capturing images and learning the subsequent image processing software\techniques and see how that pans out as I'm quite impatient with things and will loose interest if I don't get results quickly haha, if that goes well I will then look into getting a more suitable AP setup

This months Sky at Night and Astronomy Now magazines have reviews on the Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro Go-To mount and both rate the mount highly

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Derek1973

Derek1973

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Yes I also thought about keeping the dob but my other half will be thinking I'm taking the P if I have two telescopes sitting in the back room. So my cunning plan is to buy the AP set up and add another scope for visual that I can use on the same mount later ?

Telling her I'm selling the dob makes my upgrades more acceptable but I haven't told her the price and I'm not going to either ?

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PaulM

PaulM

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2 minutes ago, Derek1973 said:

Yes I also thought about keeping the dob but my other half will be thinking I'm taking the P if I have two telescopes sitting in the back room. So my cunning plan is to buy the AP set up and add another scope for visual that I can use on the same mount later ?

Telling her I'm selling the dob makes my upgrades more acceptable but I haven't told her the price and I'm not going to either ?

haha fair enough and sound like a cunning plan sir !

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Derek1973

Derek1973

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Well change of plans I've managed to pick up a nearly new altair astro 80ed r for less than the price of the skywatcher ed80. So that will be that sorted. 

Need a mount now that can take scope, a 60mm altair astro rac illuminated finder and a Canon dslr. 

 

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newbie alert

newbie alert

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On 16/09/2018 at 22:19, Derek1973 said:

Well change of plans I've managed to pick up a nearly new altair astro 80ed r for less than the price of the skywatcher ed80. So that will be that sorted. 

Need a mount now that can take scope, a 60mm altair astro rac illuminated finder and a Canon dslr. 

 

Nice scope..

Mount wise I'd still recommend the heq5 or avx

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jjosefsen

jjosefsen

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16 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

Nice scope..

Mount wise I'd still recommend the heq5 or avx

I would take the HEQ5 and not the AVX, the heq5 guides really well, where as I have read a lot of people have problems with their AVX.

Then again with SW you will likely have to do a little fine tuning yourself at some point. ?

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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Only you know what you can manage safely for your personal situation. I hope you can settle on something and it works well for you.

Why not do a feature side by side list on both mounts.

Might be worth having a search on astrobin to see if images taken using that new mount have been posted.

Going even lighter the are plenty images being taken with a star adventurer and being guided and even now with the az-gti in eq mode guided. Your telescope puts those mounts out of reach just sharing as there is something for everyone at different levels to have a go at AP. A camera on a static mount can still do AP. Think about what it is you want to achieve and what you need to get there that fits what you can do and enjoy doing.

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