Upgrade to bigger aperture

[markclaire50]

I have a 127 mm mak and 80ed refractor. I use them on a skywarcher alt az gti wifi mount. I would like to upgrade to a heq5 and larger aperture. Ease of setup is important, otherwise I'm likely to not bother going out as much. You know the old saying about the best scope is the one you use. Anyway, I would like a scope thar could see both E and F stars in the trapezium, see the pup, see all Jupiter's moons as discs amongst others. I like contrast on planets. I like double stars. I also want to use my 80ed on the mount for basic longer exposure AP. Ideally I'd like a mount that does both alt az and eq. I'm happy to buy second hand scopes. Both my current ones were bargains off ebay. I'm slightly biased towards refractor type views but I'm open to convincing comments on newtonians. Budget on scope and mount £1500. I could maybe justify a bit higher, but definitely not over £2000! I forgot to mention, it must be a goto and tracking set up. I've done the non tracking thing many years ago, and it drove me nuts with high mag! 

Thanks for your advice 

Mark

[John]

Hi Mark,

You have lots of choice with your budget so I'll let others spend your money !

The targets you list though, the 127 mak should show all of them but perhaps the Pup star will prove the most ellusive. It is doable with the scope under good conditions though.

I guess more aperture makes these things easier though.

Careful that you don't end up with a setup that is much more time consuming to setup, use and move about though. You current scopes have convenience and portability in spades which is a big plus when it comes to them getting used a lot. Ease of setup / tear down is very important for me to which is why I've tended towards simple dobsonians when the aperture goes above 6 inches.

 

[Carbon Brush]

Hi Mark. A tall order meeting your requirements.

I think if you start by describing your location and method of observing, that will help to determine realistic options.

For example. Rural? Town? City?

Are you planning a permanent installation for the mount?
Do you have to carry everything from the house? Stairs, doorways?

As an example, I have a scope tube that weighs about 20Kg. The mount weighs about 35Kg. It is on a pier, otherwise I would be looking at another 35Kg for the tripod.
Obviously this is a permanent installation.
It does though provide an extremely stable platform and magnification is generally limited by sky quality, rather than the scope.

Keep asking and you will get lots of advice from the members.

David.

 

[markclaire50]

1 hour ago, Carbon Brush said:

Hi Mark. A tall order meeting your requirements.

I think if you start by describing your location and method of observing, that will help to determine realistic options.

For example. Rural? Town? City?

Are you planning a permanent installation for the mount?
Do you have to carry everything from the house? Stairs, doorways?

As an example, I have a scope tube that weighs about 20Kg. The mount weighs about 35Kg. It is on a pier, otherwise I would be looking at another 35Kg for the tripod.
Obviously this is a permanent installation.
It does though provide an extremely stable platform and magnification is generally limited by sky quality, rather than the scope.

Keep asking and you will get lots of advice from the members.

David.

 

Hi David

Thank you for your reply. I live on the edge of a city. Sky is definitely not velvety black looking like someone sprinkled sugar on it! Which is a pity. But it can look fairly dark on a moonless night. I would keep the mount and scope in the garage. I'm intending to tidy it up enough to store a mount and scope near the back. Carrying distance about 60ft. I'm 53. I'm not weak, but I need to get stronger! I'm relectant to go to an EQ6 as I think that might be too bulky/heavy. 

Thanks

Mark

[Peter Drew]

The HEQ5 plan is a good move forward and will be ideal for your existing telescopes. As John has said, these are capable of covering most of your wish list.  It's difficult to see how you could significantly improve on that combination within your budget, there should be enough to keep you busy for a good while by which time you may have a better idea as to any further upgrade.   ?

[Carbon Brush]

Hi Mark.

Do you intend to use a tripod with the HEQ5 (or bigger mount)? Or a pier?

The reason for asking is that a fixed pier in the garden means one less item to carry every session and one less item to set up.

When not in use it can be topped by a bird table, sundial, etc.
I once saw a photo of a mount capped by an ornamental dovecote.
That meant the mount could be left outside under the dovecote.

My thinking is that you should generally go for the biggest mount that your back, or your wallet, can handle.
This gives you maximum flexibility on future scopes.
A big mount means you need a solid tripod or pier.

Sorry no specific recommendations, just ideas.

David.

[mikeDnight]

A really nice easy to use scope that will meet your target list is the 120ED DS Pro, which you could pick up second hand if you're lucky. Alternately,  as your max expenditure is £2000, you're in Tak FC100DC territory, or may be a second hand FS102. These are easy and powerful scopes to use but it may mean you'd have to postpone the new goto mount for another time.

• The garden pier is a terrific idea. Every garden should have one! Sometimes an old ornate street lamp post can be used, which can add a feature to the garden. 

[discardedastro]

I'd +1 the comments on going for the biggest mount you can, especially if you're largely using this in a garden where you could either leave the mount outside (under a cover, of course - I often leave my EQ6-R Pro outside on the tripod, either with or without the scope, under a Telegizmos cover) or have a pier outside to minimise carrying. Bear in mind with an EQ mount you're going to be adding polar alignment to your setup time - if you can leave the mount in situ you can do it once well and recheck it only occasionally.

You've got decent scopes - with a good mount you'll be set for imaging. The EQ6-R Pro is good enough even unguided for reasonably long exposure AP (and with not-terribly-dark skies you'll want to be doing fairly short exposures anyway, unless you go for narrowband). If you want to go to a larger aperture in future and find the weight exceeds your mount capacity that cash spent on the mount is a sunk cost (though of course they retain resale value well!)

Either way you go, I'd make sure you include a QHY Polecam in your budget; it really will get a near-perfect alignment in minutes and saves scrambling around under the scope every evening.

[markclaire50]

Thank you everyone for your useful comments. I will take them into account. ?