planning ahead for upgrades

[Reaper]

Hi all

Got a sticky sort question thats bound to of been asked somewhere i just cant find the right words to use.

what am i best to do as terms up upgrading telescope/mount

currentley ive got a manual mount im not sure on the name of the mount as its not listed under the specification of my scope (celestrion 127eq, power seeker)

one of those manual handel with a big weight at the front for counter balance. and the tube has the clamiping rings so the question is

could i upgrade the telescope providing it comes with the same clamping rings or would the mount have to be changed aswell, and/or can the mount be upgraded to take a motor at some stage.

thanks

[umadog]

A Google search confirms your description: you have a German equatorial mount. The mount doesn't look terribly heavy duty so it's unlikely it would hold a much heavier telescope.

Can you be clearer on what you want to gain by upgrading?

[Reaper]

lets say this new found hobby takes off and i really enjoy the looking into deep space but want to go that little bit further but to save cash instead of having to buy a whole new scope and mount, would the mount take a new scope then after a bit of time upgrade the mount.

or are the mounts telescope specific you must use this brand of telescope with this brand of mount

[umadog]

Most higher end mounts take a dove-tail attachment and you bolt any scope to them. I suspect the entry-level ones aren't designed this way.

Honestly, your 5" is a respectable aperture for a first scope. Enjoy it! Take it somewhere dark and it'll show you all the Messier objects and plenty more besides. Dark skies make more difference than aperture since when faint objects or details become washed out by city lights they are beyond the reach of any telescope visually.

Any significantly bigger scope will probably be too heavy for that mount. I think you'd want to buy a whole new scope. If you simply want to "go deeper" then buy a Dob at some point. That way your money goes mostly into aperture and not so much into the mount. Rule of thumb is that you want to at least double the mirror surface area to get a significantly better view. e.g. An 8" would give you 2.56 times as much light gathering power: 8^2 / 5^2 = 2.56

A 10" would give 4x your scope and a 12" 5.76x

[Bizibilder]

Reaper, the mount is probably more important than the scope when it comes to Astronomy - either visual or photographic. A good solid steady mount will allow even a small scope to perform well and will also be capable of taking a larger instrument (or collection of instruments!) as you upgrade.

You have a decent small telescope and I would suggest that you upgrade the mount first. You can use the same tube rings - you may just need a new dovetail (The metal "plank" that the tube rings fasten onto) to attach the scope and rings onto the new mount. As to size - you have to consider what you may want to do in the future? Must the set-up be portable or could it be fixed, visual use or would you want to take photos one day etc?

You are right to try and buy some future-proofing so a good think at this stage WILL save you (possibly quite a lot of) money in the future.

Don't forget that most of the common mounts can be bought "basic" and then upgraded with motors and various forms of goto etc - but check here first and I'm sure that you will get good advice (and lots of it - we all like spending other peoples money for them!!!)

[brantuk]

Hi Reaper. With a 5" scope you have a pretty good start in aperture which should keep you going for a few years (I started with a 6"). If you were sticking with newtonians then the next logical step up would be an 8" but to prepare for that you'd want a more substantial mount/tripod.

The EQ5 or CG5 mounts would be ideal, and they can come stand alone (upgradeable) , or with motors/goto, or polar scope. Your existing scope, rings and dovetail will fit, and give a much more stable platform and smoother controls. I wouldn't buy new - a basic one is around £100-£120 s/h and should be in great condition.

Hope that helps