New Mount

[Digi-Steve]

I'm looking for a new mount for my skywatcher 127. The mount has to be suitable for Astrophotography.

Any ideas?

Regards

Digi-Steve

[rowan46]

hi is that a 127 mak because I was under the impression that they are not best for imaging because of their large focal ratio? I would guess that its possible, but it seems the slower the scope the the better the mount has to be.

[Dave S]

Hi Steve

I've seen good reports on the Skywatcher range (they're the ones I'll be going for). To maximise your outlay I'd go for the highest in the range you can afford so as to future proof your investment (lets face it they're not cheap).

They have this entry level one

: Rother Valley Optics Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories

going up to what I'm saving for.

: Rother Valley Optics Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories

We may have small scopes but with skill you can push their performance to the limit which gains you the skills to use more suitable scopes to their best. This again means you get the most out the money you've spent.

I'm sure the other guys will recommend their favourite make which will suit you just as well. It's down to you to make the final choice.

Cheers

Dave...

[ollypenrice]

Firstly it is true that the Mak is very, very slow for deep sky imaging and not the best way to begin. Faster than f7.5 is my own benchmark.

Two things make tracking and guiding harder;

1) Longer exposures.

2) Longer focal lengths because they 'magnify' errors.

Unfortunately you have both against you!

Without doubt, in my mind, the minimum imaging mount is the HEQ5. By minimum I mean it has to deliver round stars over 10 minute subs (autoguided) at focal lengths of up to a metre. The HEQ5 has shown that it can do that. Beyond a metre it gets harder. You can see them on FLO, the forum sponsor's, website. Mounts smaller than the 5 are not usually accurate enough for imaging even at short focal lengths.

Olly

[Greg]

As Olly has said the first steps in astro photography should be the mount... The HEQ5 will stand you in good stead..

However if you can push the pennies a bit then the EQ6 would be a bullit proof investment for the future..

As for the scope then have a look around for a second hand ED80 its a good scope for imaging and can be picked up realativly cheaply..

HTH

Greg

[M42]

Hi Steve one of the most popular scopes for DSO imaging is the ED80. There are several makers of these and they differ in their focal length by a little from maker to maker.

Keep checking the astro buy and sell website they come up quite often as people sell them when they move on to Ed100 or ED120+ scopes.

As for a mount I agree with the general sentiment here an EQ5 at the very least preferably an HEQ5 mount. Personally I went straight from an LXD75 mount (more sturdy that an EQ5 but not as good as an HEQ5) to an EQ6 Pro mount.

It is best to have an over engineered mount that will be able to handle your future scopes. The EQ6 mount for example can handle a payload of 26Kg or 55Lbs! That is a lot of weight. Until recently may mount was loaded with

Celestron C926

William Optics Megrez 102

DSLR

Guide camera

Finder scopes on both

This was pushing the payload to nearly 50Lbs and I decided to lighten the load especially after adding a Crayford focuser to the SCT and a Type IV field flattener to the WO.

So now I just load whichever scope I want to use that night along with its accessories. I now use a modified 9x50mm finderscope as my guide scope for the WO which I mainly use for DSO's

For planetary imaging I use the SCT.

Keith Morris

[r-mo]

I asked this very question the other day (same scope currently on the supatrak AZ). At the time I was looking at the EQ5 and CG5 but was persuaded that the HEQ5 was the way to go, mainly for future proofing but also the improved stability and tracking which will be needed attempting to image with the slow mak. I'm hoping I'll be able to use this mount with anything I can reasonably afford for many years. I've been looking at some lovely refractors to go on it but won't be able to get one for a good while yet

I'll try to let you know how I get on with it, if you're not buying very soon.