Skywatcher Explorer 300P DS NEQ6 PRO

[Seme]

Skywatcher Explorer 300P DS NEQ6 PRO looking at FLO to buy one of these does anyone else have one of these?

Would i be able to bolt my Sky Watcher Star Travel-120 on it?

It's main use would be for astro photograpy.

I have a canon 400d but what ccd camera would go with this?

Sorry for all the questions.

Many Thanks

Seme

[Earl]

The weight is going to be a big factor here, few people manage the get such large scopes balanced correctly after all the gear is on there and using an EQ6 its pushing the mount to far, you might need to wait for an EQ7, and wait for the price tag to go with it.

[Ben Ritchie]

Agree with Earl_UK, that's really pushing the mount - remember the ST120 will be further from the balance point, and need even more weights to counterbalance. I really doubt that you're going to get acceptable imaging performance from it.

[Seme]

Many Thanks Guys

Will save a bit more and wait for the EQ7 monster

[Mick UK]

I have the Skywatcher 250pds and have tried imaging with that and my skywatcher 80ed pro as a guide scope on the NEQ6 Pro mount....The mounts not up to it im afraid, i normally use the finder scope that comes with the skywatcher telescopes on my 80ed pro for imaging as a guide scope and it works perfectly, altho i havent as yet tried the finder/guiderscope in anger with my 250pds, altho i have no doubts at all it will guide no problems as the mount handles the 250pds unguided for a couple of minutes without star trails, as long, as others have said, you get it well ballanced with just a touch of the weight more to the mirror end so that the mount motors keep in a pushing mode.

The 250pds is a bit shorter in length as well that the 300p so is easier to handle, but dont be expecting any widefield stuff from this set up, as the magnification is just too much even with a focal reducer.

With out a focal reducer using the 250pds, the dumbell nebula fills the full frame just about!

[simon84]

Totally agree with everyone else, with four 5KG counterweights on an extended couterweight bar there is quite a bit of bend on it already, one more weight on there and I'd hate to think of the damage that could happen.

My 300P now has a moonlite focuser on it and with my Meade 5000 34mm SWA EP in there I cannot balance the scope. The four counterweights are not enough.

I've been toying with the 300P on an EQ7 mount as an imaging platform and with a long enough dovetail to stabalise the scope it could be a possibility but you will need the payload of the EQ7 to be 50KG + so it might be wise to use a finder/guider instead.

[MikeP]

I'm guessing this will be your first foray into imaging. If so, don't even THINK about starting with a 300P. I'd heartily recommend the mount because it is a good imaging mount that should last you years.

Since you already have an ST-120 try imaging with that. Get your mount well polar aligned and you'll be able to take long enough subs to create some great images. Meanwhile, learn a bit more about guiding and decide whether an off axis guider would not be better than using a guide scope.

When it comes to OTAs, the gist of the message is "bigger is not better for imaging".

Mike

[Dougiebuster]

I know that these previous posts are from 2010, but I am new to all of this and find it all very interesting. I have a notion ( and a retrial lump sum! ) to buy a

Skywatcher Explorer 300P DS NEQ6 PRO.? Does anyone have any helpful tips about this? I want to develop my Astro photography skills, and need to know about possibly attaching my Nikon D3s body to it. Will it cause similar balance problems to the ones mentioned above? Piggybacking with a 70 -200 2.8 zoom + 1.7 teleconverter makes a Very heavy load. Any comments or tips would be much appreciated! cheers, Jim Hunter LRPS.

[jezhughes]

Same as everyone else - i have a 250 guided with an 80 on a NEQ6 and its too much weight. ive managed so far but its definitely on the limit. i'm looking at other rigs now as this will effect your guiding for sure. the 250 is a great scope for smaller targets and a nice fast scope, but when you add the clunk you might get problems

[jezhughes]

Also, Mick UK mentioned you can kiss goodbye to any larger targets with this scope. For example, here's my chip size against Andromeda (attached), which is the reason i'm now looking to downgrade to a smaller refractor for imaging. As i mentioned above, for smaller targets it frames nicely, but some of the gems of the sky like Andromeda and Orion's neb, you simply won't get it in frame, arguably even with a reducer.

[kirkster501]

Hi, so is the consensus that newt reflectors are a no-go for imaging? I thought the SW 250P was a good choice for AP ?

[Digz]

Hi, so is the consensus that newt reflectors are a no-go for imaging? I thought the SW 250P was a good choice for AP ?

it is for the small stuff but if you want to shoot larger objects I.e. M42, M31, NAN or wider fields its too much.

I have the 250pds and NEQ6 and its a great setup with a finder guider. I do plan to try widefield stuff over the winter so will primarily using my DSLR and lenses and will probably get a shorter FL frac at some point.

[jezhughes]

Hi, so is the consensus that newt reflectors are a no-go for imaging? I thought the SW 250P was a good choice for AP ?

As Lee said, for small targets they're great. But unless you want to learn the hard way like me you'll soon realise that some of the gems of the sky like m31, m45 and Orion simply don't frame unless you have a huge chip (££). I can't fault my 250p against smaller targets like M27, M81, M57 and any cluster.

[James]

Hi, so is the consensus that newt reflectors are a no-go for imaging? I thought the SW 250P was a good choice for AP ?

I think it's more of a case of them not being the best choice for someone starting astrophotography... there are more 'overheads' with reflectors - they need careful collimating, careful balancing, bigger mounts etc. There are plenty of imagers though who produce some stunning results (MikeD on here springs to mind) and there's no reason why reflactors can't or shouldn't be used for AP. In the case of the OP he wanted to put a huge OTA onto a mount that can handle it for visual use but not for imaging.

James

[jezhughes]

To James' point, if you really do want something bigger i'd recommend the SW Quattro with the carbon fibre tubing. I wish i had got that instead of my 250. Not that i'm bitter about it or anything

It will help with the balance / weight load issues which i know all too well about.