where to start with astrophotography?

[rotatux]

On 29/05/2019 at 22:15, happy-kat said:

@rotatux(if I have the member right) did just this a 130pds on an altaz mount for their journey in imaging.

Yes I'm often (wheather permitting) using a 130PDS on a Nexstar SLT mount, an alt-az one just to be clear. It's perfectly usable for visual, and a bit limited for astrophoto: My copy of this mount is a bit erratic and only allows 20s subs most of the time, 30s up to 40s when lucky. Other copies or mounts may be better, YMMV

You can turn the tube in the rings to place the focuser straight upside, to line up the field of view to be more natural (up/down and left/right wise) for Alt-Az and frac/cass users.

Only drawback is the vixen plate screws forbid the direct insertion of the plate in the mount: the plate must slide in the mount so one of the screws blocks the operation. I simply unscrew the front side of the plate and gently insert it (with the tube weight on my hand) before re-screwing it, trying not to change the plate alignment.

If you need more info about this config just ask (I thought a few others would be using the same, but apparently not the case).

EDIT: after reading the whole thread you (OP) appear to not have the same mount (and potential problems) as me; Your mount problably has better tracking than mine, so keep hope. However keep in mind the tube length of a 130PDS will prevent going to zenith or high altitudes, just like me, unless you use a long vixen plate and use it to offset the tube in the mount (with additional counterweights to compensate).