Newbee needing help on which tripod and mount

[Pork_Nocker]

New poster here, and in desperate need of informed advice on a mount/tripod combination.
But first a bit of background info, so that you have a better idea on which direction to point me to. I am looking into taking pictures of stellar objects that crosses the sky above where I live. The local street light was a sodium type bulb that cast a orange glow over my garden, and bounced off the walls of neighbouring properties. It was a waste of time trying astrophotography, except of the moon. Especially since I use cameras, not a scope. So no chances of trying out astro type filters. But not so long ago the local Council replaced the street light with an LED light. That has improved the accuracy of the visibility tremendously. But I am also close to a railway line, so the ground does shake from time to time, even in the middle of the night.
Taking into account all of the above, I started looking for a decent tripod/mount combination that might be able to handle to terrain conditions. That includes quick dampening or absorption of ground shake. Due to limited visibility from city lights compared to the great outdoors, a goto mount would be an advantage. However, looking at pictures of the say the Skywatcher EQ35, everything on that goto mount is electrical. I don't see any way of making manual adjustments without having to grab the controller. So I am looking for a goto mount that can be manually moved in both the horizontal and vertical position. The latter is to give me the option to quickly move the head to a different location manually, instead of relying on the motors. I did come across one on the internet, but I forgot to bookmark it for reference. For some reason I keep thinking that it was an EQ5 that had been updated with a motorized system. The setup will be used for astrophotography using a camera. I am not thinking of a telescope at this stage. I have put my spending limit for the mount, dovetail, battery pack, etc at £700 max. But now I need advise on which mount to look at... Any takers?

[carastro]

There are a few different types of Astrophotgraphy, needing different equipment.

1) Astrophotography with the camera and lens (i.e. no telescope), imaging deep sky objects (needs long exposure). 

2) Imaging the planets and Moon.

3) Imaging Deep sky objects (needing long exposure).

I & 3 need an Equatorial mount (and for really long exposure capabale of guiding.

2. An Alt/Az mount will suffice with a Planetary webcam.  i.e. a mount that goes up and down and side to side.

The mount is the most important item in long exposure imaging. 

You say you are using a camera only and not a telescope, so provided you have a good lens, a lightweight equatorial mount would be suitable.  You might be able to cope with a Skywatcher Star Adventurer if the exposures don't need to be too long (brighter targets), especially if your lens is a fast lens.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html

Yes a  GOTO EQ5 would be fine too.  

If you decide to progress to a telescope, then you'll need a more substantial mount such as an HEQ5.

HTH

Carole

 

Edited September 2, 2020 by carastro

[Rob_UK_SE]

Depending on whether you intend to primarily mount a DSLR or (at some point in the future) a telescope, you should buy the best mount you can afford and manage. It is arguably the most important part.  You will certainly want an equatorial mount for longer DSLR exposures.

If your budget can stretch to an HEQ5 the payload increases from 7kg to 11kg for imaging.

 

[carastro]

Yes, I agree with that, if you have a budget of £700 I'd get an HEQ5 an excellent mount and you can use a telescope on it at a later date.  I have one and recently been doing camera lens imaging on it now I finally have a decent lens but also do telescope imaging on it.

You'd easily be able to get a 2nd hand HEQ5 for £700 or less, a new one will cost a bit over your budget.  

Carole 

Edited September 2, 2020 by carastro

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, Pork_Nocker said:

However, looking at pictures of the say the Skywatcher EQ35, everything on that goto mount is electrical. I don't see any way of making manual adjustments without having to grab the controller. So I am looking for a goto mount that can be manually moved in both the horizontal and vertical position.

Trust me, using control buttons is no more of a hardship than reaching for a manual slow motion knob.  There are various GoTo mounts that incorporate extra encoders so that you can unclamp the axes and move the mount manually without losing the GoTo star alignment.  The feature is called 'Freedom Find' and suchlike IIRC.  Whether this feature is available on heavy duty mounts I couldn't say, but it seems to be increasingly offered on mounts intended for entry level and lighter duties.  It's a feature I have managed fine without, so far.

[CraigT82]

1 hour ago, Pork_Nocker said:

New poster here, and in desperate need of informed advice on a mount/tripod combination.
But first a bit of background info, so that you have a better idea on which direction to point me to. I am looking into taking pictures of stellar objects that crosses the sky above where I live. The local street light was a sodium type bulb that cast a orange glow over my garden, and bounced off the walls of neighbouring properties. It was a waste of time trying astrophotography, except of the moon. Especially since I use cameras, not a scope. So no chances of trying out astro type filters. But not so long ago the local Council replaced the street light with an LED light. That has improved the accuracy of the visibility tremendously. But I am also close to a railway line, so the ground does shake from time to time, even in the middle of the night.
Taking into account all of the above, I started looking for a decent tripod/mount combination that might be able to handle to terrain conditions. That includes quick dampening or absorption of ground shake. Due to limited visibility from city lights compared to the great outdoors, a goto mount would be an advantage. However, looking at pictures of the say the Skywatcher EQ35, everything on that goto mount is electrical. I don't see any way of making manual adjustments without having to grab the controller. So I am looking for a goto mount that can be manually moved in both the horizontal and vertical position. The latter is to give me the option to quickly move the head to a different location manually, instead of relying on the motors. I did come across one on the internet, but I forgot to bookmark it for reference. For some reason I keep thinking that it was an EQ5 that had been updated with a motorized system. The setup will be used for astrophotography using a camera. I am not thinking of a telescope at this stage. I have put my spending limit for the mount, dovetail, battery pack, etc at £700 max. But now I need advise on which mount to look at... Any takers?

On pretty much any goto mount you can quickly move the scope to another part of the sky by unlocking the clutches and moving and it will carry on tracking, however you will lose the goto alignment as the brains will still think it's pointing at the first object because the motors haven't moved. 

Skywatcher mounts with 'freedom find' function have an encoder on each axis so if you move the mount by undoing the clutches the brains will know it's moved and where it's now pointing and you can carry on goto'ing as you were. So it sounds like you want a freedom find mount (AZ-EQ5?) with a nice wooden tripod for the vibrations. 

[Pork_Nocker]

Thanks for the starter Craig. Freedom find. I like that term. Going to do a search on that right away.