Oldie but technical newbie looking to upgrade...

[bradfrankshaw]

Hi all - been into and out of astronomy for nearly 20 years using a hodge podge of equipment, a cheap refractor, a couple of binos, a Tasco reflector; now it's time to think about getting some proper equipment.

I want to take a step up (or two or three) into proper planetary and deep sky observations and astro-photography. A friend recently got himself a skywatcher 127, and although he has a mighty Canon 550D with telescope mount, the 'scope is only alt azi mounted I think. Therefore I have set that as a minimum bench mark. I understand to take long exposure photos needs an equatorial mount; but the shear number of scopes out there and manufacturers is a bit overwhelming.

I'm looking to spend around £600 (excluding cost of DSLR) in July so the whole family can experience the warm summer nights with it. Any suggestions on a telescope, or ones/manufacturers to avoid etc? Many thanks for any suggestions!

frank

[Superewza]

I may be completely wrong here, but from what i've picked up so far you might want to consider something like this:

Pro Series - Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro OTA

or

http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=TAL100RSota

Skywatcher - Skywatcher EQ3-2 Deluxe

Skywatcher - Single-Axis D.C. Motor Drive for EQ3-2

[rowan46]

this is pretty much the minimum mount, you need to look around for a second hand one of these Skywatcher - Skywatcher HEQ5 SynTrek