EXOS-2 PMC-Eight GOTO Mount for a beginner

[matthasboldlygone]

Hi all,

Got bored during lockdown and purchased a telescope. It's a Bresser Refractor Telescope AR-102/600 EQ-3 with mount and tripod from Amazon for about £280. I've been enjoying it and added a Bresser Full HD Deep-Sky Camera to it so I could share some images. Not really sure what I wanted to look at and feel I may have bought the wrong things, but hey I'm having fun.

I've been looking to get the mount motorised (RA) and spent much time looking at all the options.

As a beginner I'm now thinking why not just jump in and get a computerised mount with all the features built in by experts.

I found the Explore Scientific EXOS-2 PMC-Eight GOTO Mount on BresserUK for about £600, twice what I paid for my entire setup so far. But thinking the mount is very important, no matter how good the scope is a bad mount is going to make things hard. Working from the ground up so to speak.

I'd like to get into stacking some images of the planets, moon, maybe some general stary shots and even something nebula like.

Would you say this is a good purchase considering the scope and camera I have? A good starting point for building a better setup over time?

And if I changed my mind later on, it would have a good resale value?

Cheers 👍

[happy-kat]

Double post by error

Edited June 30, 2020 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

My initial reaction was can you get a second hand motor for your mount at a reasonable cost to expand trying with what you already own?

Secondly it was how does the mount you listed compare with a used HEQ5 pro price and payload?

[Cosmic Geoff]

If you bought a RA motor for your existing mount, you would be able to perform stacked imaging of the Moon and planets. That would be a sensible next step.  I don't know anything about the EXOS-2 - it seems not to be a commonly purchased mount.

[Aramcheck]

There's a good review of the mount on youtube: https://youtu.be/tmNPajsd9H4  but that says that the payload is 20lb (9kg). For imaging you normally halve that, so worth checking how much your scope & camera weigh.

Resale value for Astro gear is generally about 60%, provided condition is excellent.

Cheers
Ivor

[matthasboldlygone]

2 hours ago, happy-kat said:

My initial reaction was can you get a second hand motor for your mount at a reasonable cost to expand trying with what you already own?

Secondly it was how does the mount you listed compare with a used HEQ5 pro price and payload?

Thanks, that does seem like the sensible thing to do. Bresser have a motor (https://www.bresseruk.com/bresser-ra-motor-w-c-eq3.html) but out of stock and can't seem to find a second hand one. I wasn't sure if other motor drives would work or I need one that matches the mount.

If I see a HEQ5 Pro for sale I would be tempted with it, had been looking at it but a little pricey new.

[matthasboldlygone]

34 minutes ago, Aramcheck said:

There's a good review of the mount on youtube: https://youtu.be/tmNPajsd9H4  but that says that the payload is 20lb (9kg). For imaging you normally halve that, so worth checking how much your scope & camera weigh.

Resale value for Astro gear is generally about 60%, provided condition is excellent.

Cheers
Ivor

Interesting, do you halve it to take the strain off the motors, so my max payload would be 4.5kg for good imaging. I'll give it all a weigh in and see what it is. 👍

[happy-kat]

I don't know if your existing Bresser EQ-3 is the same mount as the Skywatcher EQ3-2. If the Bresser is more like the EQ3-2 then a EQ2 then I would look at a motor drive, I found a new on for £50.00. But you don't need a motor drive for planets, but your camera may not do long exposure for DSO imaging if you had the motor drive.

Edit: but I see on looking again it is out of stock

Edited June 30, 2020 by happy-kat

[Cosmic Geoff]

If your mount is the same as the Sky-watcher EQ3-2, then there are several motor kits that would fit, including a GoTo.

[matthasboldlygone]

13 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I don't know if your existing Bresser EQ-3 is the same mount as the Skywatcher EQ3-2. If the Bresser is more like the EQ3-2 then a EQ2 then I would look at a motor drive, I found a new on for £50.00. But you don't need a motor drive for planets, but your camera may not do long exposure for DSO imaging if you had the motor drive.

Edit: but I see on looking again it is out of stock

It looks more like the Skywatcher EQ2, has a silver cog on the RA bit. Apparently the camera will do long exposure (if I get rid of my Mac and use the toupsky software on Winblows). I'll hassle Bresser to see if the motor is due back in stock or discontinued now.

[happy-kat]

Your camera have you tried it with sharpcap or how about AOCapture

[matthasboldlygone]

12 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

If your mount is the same as the Sky-watcher EQ3-2, then there are several motor kits that would fit, including a GoTo.

It looks a lot like your profile pic, silver cog wheel on the side

[happy-kat]

If the mount is like an EQ2 then for the price of an RA drive I would look for say an EQ3-2 or even EQ5 with motor would be better step up and second hand prices should be quite attractive I'm sure I have seen then on here for not much more than just the motor as most looked like 100 erors for the bresser motor.

Edited June 30, 2020 by happy-kat

[Cosmic Geoff]

2 minutes ago, matthasboldlygone said:

It looks a lot like your profile pic, silver cog wheel on the side

Not good then; the mount in my profile pic was an EQ-2 clone.   You could try an EQ-2 motor kit if you think it's worth the expense and confirm it's the same mount. 

[happy-kat]

But before spending anything I would first check the long exposure capability of your camera. It may do it but the image might be so noisy as to be unusable.

As that might focus where your spend goes to what bits.

It's trying to balance spending well to get something you wont need to change again soon. I think you might need to play some more with your camera using other software on it. Try the two I listed.

Stacking images on mac could use Siril. Planet Moon processing is generally on the video capture

 

Though your thought about the importance of the mount being the basis is very true and often mentioned.

Edited June 30, 2020 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/356413-oacaptureoalive-170-released/?tab=comments#comment-3880536

[happy-kat]

If you like reading the book Making Every Photon Count is useful and there was a StarGaZine on the subject which is now posted on YouTube

[matthasboldlygone]

6 hours ago, happy-kat said:

If you like reading the book Making Every Photon Count is useful and there was a StarGaZine on the subject which is now posted on YouTube

So much to think about, some reading time would be good. Decided to hold off on any purchases for now except a second hand motor if I can find one. Going to try and get the best I can from what I have and work from there. I'll probably have a better idea of what I'm trying to do by then. Every time I use it I get better results. Trying out the software 👍

I see that book on Amazon for £1286.46 - LOL

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00J5PL6JK/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_new_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Edited June 30, 2020 by matthasboldlygone
Cheap amazon book :)

[happy-kat]

The book is sold by FLO and Steve the author is a member on here. 

It is often suggested it is best to buy astronomical equipment through astro resellers as you get much better support.

Edited July 1, 2020 by happy-kat

[matthasboldlygone]

On 01/07/2020 at 08:41, happy-kat said:

The book is sold by FLO and Steve the author is a member on here. 

It is often suggested it is best to buy astronomical equipment through astro resellers as you get much better support.

Thanks for the advice, decided to take the plunge and ordering a HEQ5 Pro from FLO. It seems popular, hold its value and will be a good base to work up from. Big step, but hey sometimes you just need to do it. Very excited

[nephilim]

On 30/06/2020 at 11:12, Aramcheck said:

There's a good review of the mount on youtube: https://youtu.be/tmNPajsd9H4  but that says that the payload is 20lb (9kg). For imaging you normally halve that, so worth checking how much your scope & camera weigh.

Resale value for Astro gear is generally about 60%, provided condition is excellent.

Cheers
Ivor

Hi Ivor

I've just bought this mount & the actual payload for imaging is up to 12.7kg (28lbs) & 18kg (30.6lb) for visual (According to specifications given on FLO's website). This is actually a heavier payload limit than the HEQ5 Pro which is 11kg (24.2lb)

I haven't  used the mount yet but set up it seems a very sturdy & good quality piece of kit. I was originally looking at buying the HEQ 5 Pro but for some reason they're sold out pretty much everywhere unless you want to pay way over the odds at one of those online (so called) astronomy outlets. I then saw the ES mount for £90 less than the HEQ 5 Pro &  saw rhat a fellow SGL member had done a review of his ES mount on here. I watched the video , was pretty impressed, so I messaged him & after a short conversation decided to buy it. I'm very happy with it but obviously I'll have to see how it performs in the field.

The reason I've sent this reply to you is in case anyone reads your comment regarding the payload weight & decides not to buy it based on that 🙂

All the best

At Steve 

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by nephilim
Price error