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150pds on eq5 pro for imaging?


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Hi, 

I've posted a few questions of late to the forum and your answers are really helpful, so huge thanks for everyone's patience. 

I own an EQ5 pro goto mount. Presently use it for visual with a 200pds. I know that this set up would be really pushing things for photography, as I really can't afford to replace the eq5 with a Heq5 or eq6 I was thinking of selling the 200pds and replacing it with a 150pds. I believe that this is roughly 5kg + say 2kg for camera and guidescope. Will this set up be OK for imaging? 

Thanks for your help and clear skies to all. 

Regards 

Simon 

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13 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

I think that if you went with the 130 instead you'd be in business.

Cheers 

Agreed, the 130PDS might be more useful in this case, especially if you can't afford the mount upgrade, it's a little bit lighter and it's a great telescope for photography too. I think some folk are using the finder scopes for guiding and saving weight over a larger piggybacked guide scope ? I use an OAG with mine, it works fine and is lighter than the piggybacked ST-80 I used to use for guiding.

I think I read somewhere that in an ideal world your imaging set up should be around half (or two thirds?) the weight capacity of your mount ? This really worried me at the time because I was pretty much at full capacity with all the gear hanging off mine ! However, it still worked OK. I did find when I trimmed the weight it improved things a little tho.

Is the recommended max capacity of the EQ5 about 9 or 10KG ?

Edited by Spaced Out
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If you go by the numbers, the 150pds @ 5kgs should fit on an eq5, which has a capacity of 10 kgs. But it isn't just about the numbers. The 150pds is larger than the recommended 130pds, so it's more of a sail in the wind. Depending on where you put it, it may or may not work. If you treat the mount well and balance the load on it, it may perform past its recommended limit. Back to the numbers, what focal length do you like? All three scopes (130pds, 150pds, 200pds) are f/5, so 650, 750, 1000 mm respectively. Before deciding, check a fov calculator to see what fl best suits your intended targets. 

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Hi

I used a 150pds on an eq5 pro for imaging with a modded DSLR for a few years.  Performance will come down to good balancing and mount tuning, I also used a finder guider with this setup which obviously helped no end in terms of the ability to capture longer subs.  So it does work, however as others have stated you will be close to the limit for imaging weight wise and anything more than a slight breeze will cause you to discard quite a few subs.  I eventually upgraded to an HEQ5 which was much more suited to the scope.

If you are not ready to upgrade the mount I would suggest, again as others already have, that the 130PDS may be a better option.

Good Luck

 

Martin

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