Sanity check my plan please - SW 100ED++

[iwatkins]

Hi All,

Could you please sanity check my plan below. I've tried all this week to talk to the guys at FLO for help but keep getting their answerphone and no reply to emails. That is because they are a man down and hence mega-busy, not their fault. But I would like to get my telescope ordered ASAP.

OK, here goes. I'm interested in viewing and have done for many years with binos and MarkI eyeball. So I know my way around, sort of.

However, I'm also interested in imaging and would like to get into it in the next year or so.

So I want viewing (and occasional DSLR imaging) now but leaving myself open to upgrading to serious imaging kit later.

What I have come up with at the moment is this:

1. Skywatcher Evostar 100ED DS-Pro kit

2. EQ6 Syntrek mount/tripod

3. Bits to attach DSLR for occasional imaging

4. A nice EP

I was looking to go for the EQ6 Syntrek because I first of all want mount that will track (not bothered about GOTO). My reasoning for such a big mount is that in the future I may end up with a much heavier setup with guidescopes etc. Or, more likely I may change OTA and go with something like the Skywatcher Explorer 190MN (or similar) and that scope is 10kg before you add any guiding equipment.

So is that sane or mad? Invest now in the EQ6 or get something much smaller/cheaper and then sell the mount on and get a new mount with the new OTA when that happens?

If it helps, I'm not worried about portability or weight. But I am interested in buying once rather than replacing (at a loss) every six months/a year.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Cheers

Ian

[ronin]

Pretty good set up and the mount is future proof.

Scope is good for visual and imaging - it may show a little CA on bright objects but it will be pretty well controlled.

If any concern then it would mean a triple and I would suggest a look at the offerings from Telescope Service who have several triple's at reasonable cost.

Suspect that you will end up with more then just the one additional eyepiece. I find that 4 is probably a minimum, 5 prefered and you have to know which ones you actually use.

Although not necesary I suspect that the TV plossl's of 8, 11, 15, 20, 25mm would be very good. Although you can get TMB planetary's of similar focal lengths at half the cost.

[Bazzaar]

Very sane plan I reckon.

To get more mount than you immediately need with the view to upgrading OTA later is sound thinking. A lot of people succumb to aperture fever and put more of their budget into the ota and then have to buy a whole system again when they upgrade.

Plus if you are even just contemplating the possibility of maybe getting into AP, the mount is key to getting good results.

All in all a very good system I would say

Barry

[ollypenrice]

It depends on how 'occasional' you want the imaging to be. The slow achromat will be a poor deep sky choice because it is slow and badly colour corrected in imaging terms. There are much better choices. The Ikharus or ED80 on this page, the latter also available from FLO, are in an entirely different league.

Refractors from Ian King Imaging

While the larger '6' mount would future proof you the HEQ5 Pro is as accurate and would have no difficulty with a 4 inch apo. The difference in price would go towards a better OTA.

In the budget apo or really semi-apo market there is no gain by going for a triplet. If you go for one of the modern doublets at competing price you get better glass and end up in the same place or sometimes ahead, because the collimating of triplets is harder at the factory. When all is equal, triplets do of course beat doublets. On a budget, no.

However, if you aim to do serious imaging in the future with a bigger scope like the Mn190 you will need the 6.

No GoTo? For imaging that would be a big mistake. Having to take out the camera and use an EP to find things is a disaster. It wastes an incredible amount of time because you lose critical focus and cannot be sure to put the camera back in just the right place, in which case you will need to re shoot your flats. Nightmare. Also you will soon want to image things you have no hope of seeing in the EP at all.

Olly

ollypenrice's Photos

[Earl]

EQmod could replace the Goto, far better option really.

[iwatkins]

Thanks Olly, 80ED is also on my list. I'm coming to the conclusion that a perfect first telescope isn't possible, you basically have to choose the most important aspects and then take a compromise.

Earl_UK, I'll take a look into EQMOD.

Thanks everyone.

[RobH]

I completely agree with Olly.

I think the scope would be a bad choice TBH.

[ollypenrice]

Thanks Olly, 80ED is also on my list. I'm coming to the conclusion that a perfect first telescope isn't possible, you basically have to choose the most important aspects and then take a compromise.

Earl_UK, I'll take a look into EQMOD.

Thanks everyone.

Exactly so, unfortunately!

Olly

[SteveP]

Ian

It's good to hear of somebody thinking about the future use for their equipment. If you are serious about wanting to get into astophotography, then investing in the best mount you can afford is the way forward. An EQ6 Pro would be an excellent platform and you have to spend considerably more to improve on its capabilities.

Whether you need GoTo is an important consideration. Without doubt you will need some way to target your imaging subjects. There are two ways to do this. Firstly, and easiest, via the mount's own GoTo facility. As you've realised, you'll pay extra for this with the EQ6. Secondly, by using EQAscom (sometimes known as EQMod) which is freeware and excellent! It's used widely with HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts. However, it would be best used in conjunction with planetarium software (some of which is freeware) and needs a small adapter and a couple of cables. It might cost you £70-80 for the extra bits. It also needs a laptop!

So far as a scope is concerned, you'd do well to heed the advice above

HTH

Steve

[iwatkins]

Thanks everyone.

Olly, I hadn't considered the situation you describe, i.e. having to switch between eyepiece and camera, that is a really good point.

I've looked into EQMOD and I'm not sure that is for me, initially at least. As simple a setup as possible is my aim for now, i.e. not having a laptop and cables everywhere. No doubt as I get into it, this will go out of the window and I'll have cables, computers and all sorts of other gadgets everywhere

Having taken everyones advice plus other threads on SGL I think I would better off with:

1. Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro kit

2. NEQ6 PRO Synscan mount/tripod

3. Bits to attach DSLR for occasional imaging

4. A couple of nice EPs

This would leave me in a good position to get into more serious imaging, e.g. change the OTA or cameras or both. I'm also thinking that in the event that I loose interest the ability to sell this kit on won't be difficult.

Thanks again everyone, I really do appreciate it.

Cheers

Ian

[iwatkins]

80ED PRO kit and NEQ6 Pro mount ordered. Just got to decide on some EPs now.

Thanks again to everyone for their advice.

Cheers

Ian

[ollypenrice]

80ED PRO kit and NEQ6 Pro mount ordered. Just got to decide on some EPs now.

Thanks again to everyone for their advice.

Cheers

Ian

Superb choice. More mount than you need is the right way to be!

Funny what you say about EQ Mod. It isn't for me either though it is a great bit of software writing. I just like to have as little as possible going through the laptop because it is always that which plays up when anything does.

Olly