Not sure what to do. New everything or mount/tripod

[Spooked]

Evening,

As the title I’m not sure what direction I should go in and need some help if poss.

I have a skywatcher 150 tube that I paired with a skywatcher AZ goto mount that has a small handset which is not skyscan.

I wanted to upgrade to a new skyscan handset as I really wanted to start to try my hand at imaging. Apparently my mount won’t work with it. Also my tube is apparently a bit big for the current mount. Not that so far I have had any issues.

So should I opt for a new mount and skyscan or buy a whole new setup?

I was thinking maybe go Cassegrain but if the mount is no good then there is little point.

Or is there another way to motorise by telescope so I can enter a target for the telescope to find what I’m after?

Im in a bit of a muddle and don’t want to waste any unnecessary cash.

Below is what I am currently using if it helps?

Really appreciate any advice.

Edited September 26, 2019 by Spooked
Spelling mistake

[jadcx]

If you're serious about the imaging then I think you should look towards an EQ mount as a starting point.  There is a lot of information available elsewhere on this site to point you in the right direction (see below for example):

 I'm not sure what scope you have, but if it's the SW 150P then you should be able to make a decent start with that, although you may want to consider other options as it probably isn't the 'easiest' way into imaging.

[Spooked]

That’s brilliant thank you. I will have a look through the tutorial. Thanks!

[Tomatobro]

There is a book called "Making every photon count" by Steve Richards. Its available from Flo. If you want to get into imaging I would get this book as it will save you a lot of time and money.

You can do some basic imaging with what you have but have a read of the book first.

[Spooked]

That’s awesome thanks. Just ordered it. More bedtime reading

[happy-kat]

If your mount tracks then you could image the Moon and planets as you wouldn't use long exposure there but video really then something like regustax to process.

Your mount moves in tiny left right up down movements (assuming it tracks) with keeps the target in the field of view but does not account for the Earth's rotation. Imaging of DSO is potentially possible but within the limitations of the mount exposure length governed by rotation viability (star trails).

[Geoff Lister]

On ‎26‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 17:25, Spooked said:

I wanted to upgrade to a new skyscan handset as I really wanted to start to try my hand at imaging. Apparently my mount won’t work with it.

Your photo looks like my Skymax 127mm mount, which has the Synscan V3 handset. This handset works with my Virtuoso 90 (tracking mount with built-in buttons similar to your handset), so I would expect the electrical and signal interface to be common for tracking and GoTo. The difference is the "intelligence" in the GoTo handset.

The 150mm tube, I assume it's the Newtonian, is longer than my 127mm Mak. At max slewing rates, this will place more strain on the gears as the OTA accelerates and stops.

Geoff

[northwalesparry]

I had that mount , but upgraded to the star discovery mount it came with a synscan handset and it's skywatcher WiFi compatable ( bought seperatly) for a altaz it keeps good tracking .

Look on FLO

 

[happy-kat]

I don't know if the board in your mount has the capability but it would be worth finding out if it could use the skywatcher wifi dongle that can be used on similar mounts to give goto using the free app you put on say a smart phone, it's reasonably priced or if it does have the board capability could look for a used synscan handset though these I've found to be a little more expensive then the wifi dongle.

[northwalesparry]

4 hours ago, happy-kat said:

I don't know if the board in your mount has the capability but it would be worth finding out if it could use the skywatcher wifi dongle that can be used on similar mounts to give goto using the free app you put on say a smart phone, it's reasonably priced or if it does have the board capability could look for a used synscan handset though these I've found to be a little more expensive then the wifi dongle.

Current mount will not support WiFi dongle I've tried it on mine , works fine on Star discovery mount thou.

[joe aguiar]

is that's the f/5 version or the kind with barlow in focuser making it an f8 version?

if it says 650mm fl that's f5 you can start basic ap stuff like moon planets.

if its 1000mm fl then that's the 2nd one I said and and being that focal ratio gonna be hard for ap

also most those reflectors even if its the f/5 model still has 1 issue the focuser may not come into focus with camera, u may need to get the low profile focuser as the camera need to be in more. Some people move the mirror up inside the tube 1 to 2 inches depending where it focus.

in the 80s 90s the 8" sct was a very popular scope for ap now its more like a 70 to 100mm apo refractor on a good eq5 or heq5 mount.

I would say trade it up to the eq verion you most lickly will need to do that anyway.

if you go 70mm to 100mm then a tracking eq5 will be fine as that ota weights like under 7 or 8 lbs.

joejaguar

[JOC]

On 29/09/2019 at 18:17, happy-kat said:

but it would be worth finding out if it could use the skywatcher wifi dongle

I was actually going to suggest the same thing.  Then the mobile phone app could be used to pick the targets and stay with them.  Noted - further comments that his is not compatible which is a shame

Edited October 2, 2019 by JOC