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HEQ5 and...?


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A quick thanks to the forum at large for the welcome and help I experienced in my first two threads. The gist was that I was considering a 127 Skymax Synscan AZ GOTO as a cheap way in at the time (new house unexpected expenditures strangled that idea) with a view to using the OTA on a better mount when funds allowed.

With some food for thought, I did my usual thing; Cleared off, mulled it over some, made sure I wasn't getting all excited by the idea of new toys and generally calmed down a bit. Well, I'm still interested, but a few months of reading have cleared up some issues and maybe blurred a few others.

1. I'm now settled on the idea of blowing most of my budget on an HEQ5, as it offers up superior imaging stability a bit further down the line. I'm in a small rural village with very low background light pollution with a very sheltered garden. Being on the fen edge, I'm not far from very dark indeed should I need to and hefty enough that the HEQ5 is considered portable (enough).

Q1. Would you advise going Pro Synscan or, as someone who's reasonably savvy with computers (or at least blumming minded) should I go Syntrek and guide using Stellarium or some such? I realise I can still use Stellarium with the Pro Synscan, but would you still use it with laptop control? The price isn't the issue, but I'm not given to splashing £150 for something that will sit in a cupboard, when I could spend it on better eyepieces or finder, etc.

2. The one one thing I thought I was most settled on (Skymax 127) is now causing me the most hand wringing. I had thought it to be the closest to a do-it-all-until-you-understand-what-you're-really-getting-into scope that will let me look at the DSOs, which is what I think will really hold my attention, whilst still allowing me to get a decent look at the planets.

Q2. Well, is it? It keeps me broadly under my self imposed total £1k limit, but if you were expecting to lean toward DSOs and want a basis for starting to learn astro imaging a bit further down the line, is this where you would start?

No rush; My fortieth birthday which is providing the excuse for such expenditure isn't until June 2nd at which point I imagine it will be largely pointless getting it out of the boxes.:)

Kind Regards,

Russell

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Q1. The HEQ5 is a geat choice of mount. I'd say that if you are initially doing visual then I'd go with the synscan version rather than syntrek. That way you don't ruin your night vision having to use the computer.

Q2. the Skymax 127 is a nice scope. It will be great on the moon and planets, and reasonable on deep sky. Its not good for astrophotography of DSOs though because of its high focal ratio. So I don't think its the perfect scope for what you say you want to do. Something like a 200 newtonian eg the skywatcher 200P Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 200P HEQ5 PRO would be a great all-rounder . Its just over your budget, but HEQ5s and these scopes come up quite frequently on the secondhand market.

Helen

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These are very good questions Russ and as someone who seems to be thinking along the same lines as yourself I am looking forward to others answering them! I was also thinking about buying the HEQ5 Pro but hadn't got along to thinking about what I would put on it. Probably a refelctor of some sort. I don't think I would go for the skymax 127 though I'm not really qualified to give much of an opinion. Most people though who want to image go for fast scopes about f5 and that one is f11. Hopefully someone else will back up this opinion. Good luck

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Hi Ross I have a skymax 127 on an eq3-2. I will be upgrading already to an heq5 maybe a 6, as I don't think it's that stable. I will also to a apo refractor for dso's and imaging. The 127 is great for moon and planets and is not too bad with a wecam for both! But I'm pretty new to this but within a year my intisl setup needs upgrading for what I want.

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I am not an expert on these mounts but I'll put my tuppence in if you don't mind eq mod and stellarium are free the heq5 with synscan costs £150 extra thats £150 towards the other bits you will need for imaging If I was computer literate that's the route I would be going leaving me that bit extra to spend on a 2nd hand 80mm apo if you can get the mount 2nd hand even better. remember for imaging you still need to get a guidescope cables some software etc and if you are imaging you will be using a laptop anyway

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Interesting stuff.:)

I suppose the 127 MAK part of the plan was seductive when going on holiday. I normally drive to somewhere in southern Europe and stay in a remote villa somewhere near or on the coast if possible. The 127 is a car boot friendly size and less prone to getting knocked out of collimation.

I suppose I subconsciously dumped that idea when I settled on the HEQ5 and so the Explorer 200P that had been at the edge of my consideration, is now brought sharply into relief in the centre of my field of view.

How often do they need collimating?

Russell

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  • 3 weeks later...

Blast! Just missed out on a Synscan upgraded EQ6 on Ebay. On the plus side, this post should gain me access to the classifieds.

Seriously though, how often do reflectors need collimating? Is this something people who regularly through the scope in the car need to worry about, or is it a natural progression of the heat/cool cycle?

Russell

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Russ - Just thought I would share my plans with you as it' similar to what you want to do. I've got the SW 127 Mak, have a look at some of my pics in the planetary imaging section. It's a brilliant scope for the moon and the planets and is also very hard to beat for the cost. I usually run it on the ALtAZ GOTO mount. But, because it's a slow scope it's a bit unsuitable for DSO imaging as the subs would have to be a lot longer and hence require more accurate tracking.

Faster scope = less time for the same result.

Now I have just ordered a HEQ5 mount of the non-goto variety and an ED80 Pro for DSO imaging. I'll be using a laptop and EQDIR to control the scope and will eventually autoguide through the finder with a webcam attached. But I will take the GOTO handset off the Mak AltAZ mount and flash it as a goto for the HEQ5 (yes it can be done, same hadsets just different software !). That will leave me the Syntrek basic tracking handset for use on the AltAZ mount which is absolutley fime for planets & moon.

I dare say I'll put the Mak on the HEQ5 and keep the AltAz mount tucked away for grab and go.

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Blast! Just missed out on a Synscan upgraded EQ6 on Ebay. On the plus side, this post should gain me access to the classifieds.

Seriously though, how often do reflectors need collimating? Is this something people who regularly through the scope in the car need to worry about, or is it a natural progression of the heat/cool cycle?

Russell

if you intend imaging with this mount you will need to check the collimation every time and it's not unheard of to have to do it everytime you use it. having said that the more you do it the easier it gets

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The HEQ5 will be a good mount for imaging.

The 127 being a MAK will not be best suites to imaging DSO's, the focal length is too long. To obtain images that are "sharp" you would need to set the polar alignment up very accurately, and drive it very accurately.

Since the focal length is long the image formed is larger but dimmer, so again longer exposures and more error being incorporated.

If an option is to use the 127 for visual and eventually buy an ED scope for imaging then no real problem. Just more expense.

As to which version to buy, no idea. I have been looking at the options but also reading the posts of anything computerised Skywatcher going wrong. It is a little disturbing.

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Russ,

I have an HEQ5 pro and a skymax 127 and while as posters have pointed out it is really best at moon and planets I have had some limited success with DSOs.

I do as accurate a polar align as I can and then a 1 star alignment on a bright star as close to the target dso as possible. When the mount stops slewing I unlock the clutches, centre it manually on the star using a telrad finder as a guide and then I fine tune the centering using the hand set with first a 25mm eyepiece then an 8mm. I find if I defocus the star so I'm looking at a polo mint shape rather than a point it is easier to judge when it is central.

I then connect my dslr and view the image on my laptop and

sharp focus the star using a home made Bahtinov mask. Then slew to the dso.

I was trying M13 cluster the other night using this method and although very little was visible on the computer screen when I tried a one minute exposure I got this image which while not wonderful was reasonably satisfying. I took one light image and one dark and subtracted the dark using Photoshop. A bit noisy but at least the stars are reasonably round.

post-23650-13387759703_thumb.jpg

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I've just bought an HEQ5 Syntreck and think I have (mostly) now got to grips with EQMod, via USB from a NC10 Notebook. I intend to use this setup for DSO Video viewing / imaging, ultimately with a TS 8" F4 Newt but, for the moment, my MAK150 (and MAK127) are putting in sterling service as "test" (and, as ever, excellent!) scopes. :)

I don't think you can go wrong, future-proofing with an HEQ5. :D

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Hello Russell,

I have also decided on the HEQ5 but I'm goimg with the syntrek version initially. I figured that I can upgrade to the full synscan in time and when funds allow. I'm planning to get the Skywatcher 200P reflector though which appears to be a good all round scope allowing for good visual and reasonable astrophotographic use.

I'm still waiting for stock to arrive in the UK. Hopefully more will arrive this coming week.

All the best

Ed

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