Upgrade from 130eq to 120 refractor

[Lastsplash]

Hi all

i have been getting into this great hobbie and a few months ago I got a Celestron 130eq. I bought this second hand and did a few repairs to the gears and it has served me well.

I have done some photography of planets which I am happy about but would like to have a better view of deep space objects. I have been looking at a skywatcher star travel 120.

With this being a refractor would it be better suited for the task. It will be on an eq3 mount. I have the opportunity to purchase one second hand. 
 

does anybody have a view on. Whether this would be a good plan?

 

thanks in advance

[DirkSteele]

Speaking as a refractor man, the short answer is no.  A well collimated 130 Newtonian will likely out perform the ST 120.  While the refractor may have slightly better contrast (though not quite the match of the top tier Apos), it will probably do no more than match the extra light gathering ability of the 130 and quite possibly fall short of it.  If you want better views of DSOs, you would be better served with something like an 8" Dobsonian.  You could always keep your 130 on the EQ mount so you can continue to dabble in planetary photgraphy with the benefits of polar alignment.

[Lastsplash]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom, the amount of equipment available can be quite daunting. If I could ask one more question. Would it be of benefit to upgrade my existing mount. I have difficulties balancing when my dslr is attached. The celestron mount is a little wobbly would upgrading to an eq3 or eq5 make much difference?

 

[DirkSteele]

I am less familiar with EQ mounts as I almost exclusively use Alt-Az but I would imagine you would see the benefit of the upgrade.  I have always thought of the EQ5 as the bare minimum really in the EQ space and the EQ3 and lower just come as a starter kit to get the new telescope owner going.  If you are serious about pursuing astrophotography further, you may even be better served with the HEQ5 but others with more experience of these mounts will be able to provide better commentary on this matter.

[bosun21]

The EQ5 would hold either of these scopes easily and feel solid. I have two of them and they are a good mount. If however you are thinking about getting serious about doing astrophotography then I would go for the HEQ5 as has been previously recommended. The EQ5  will certainly allow you to do astrophotography to get you started as many have done before you, however for serious results you would need to upgrade to an HEQ5 at a minimum. Good luck with your new endeavour.

[M40]

Just to add my thoughts; you don't mention whether the eq3 you have your eye on is the pro version, which you will need, if not, there is a synscan upgrade kit for the eq3 but it's not cheap. So it's all about budget really.

Looking at the info, the eq3 is good for 5kg and as the startravel 120 is 4kg plus a few bits will take you close to the limit so maybe the eq5 as bosun21 suggests is the way to go,  the heq5 pro is a superb mount and if you can reach that far go for it.

I  like eeva type astrophotography and I use an 85mm refractor so if this is of some interest, the startravel 120 would work well for eeva when coupled with something like a zwo asi290mm for galaxies, globular clusters etc. Not good for planets or widefield stuff.

All the best. 

[Lastsplash]

Ideal thanks for everyones help - the EQ3 is not the pro version.

 

What I am thinking then is to get an EQ5 to reduce wobble and movement and then look at upgrading the telescope when I get a little further.

 

Thanks again