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Telescope/mount for astrophotography


Touring Taurean

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Hello,

 

I'm a newcomer to this excellent forum and would be grateful for some advice. After being really interested in astronomy in my teenage years, I'm now getting back into it and going to try and combine my interests of general photography with astronomy.

 

I've been doing a lot of research and wonder if a Skywatcher 200PDS reflector on a HEQ5 Pro GOTO mount would be a good item to buy that would allow for some 'futureproofing' (such as payload for autoguiding/CCD cameras etc) as I progress from an absolute beginner to an intermediate user?? The other option recommended to me was the Skywatcher 150PDS reflector but on an EQ5 Pro GOTO but wonder if this would be sufficient? I probably won't be doing a lot of transportation of kit other than from garage to garden. Or should I go for the 150PDS on a HEQ5 Pro GOTO?

 

I'm primarily interested in DSO but woud also like to do some planetary AP, along with general astronomical viewing.

 

Finally, silly question: does the mount allow for 'free travel' when not using the motors...could I quickly set up the kit for a bit of quick viewing if needs and manually position the telescope to where I want, or do I need to use the GOTO function/motors?

 

Thanks in anticipation and also for a very informative forum.

 

Cheers,

 

Iain

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welcome to the forum Iain,

firstly lets start with the mount, the minimum i would recommend would be the heq5, with a 200p and camera and everything else on this it would be pushing the mount to it`s best, my recommendation would be a neq6, this will allow more weight although one thing to consider in choosing a mount is to look at the maximum the mounts will carry and half it for imaging purposes, you don`t want to put extra strain on the mount, guiding well is hard enough.

secondly the scope, no one scope is good at everything so as you are interested in dso imaging i would go for a small refractor with either a flatner or reducer / flatner and for planetary imaging a 6" or 8" sct even a 9.25" if funds allow.

your considerations should be to always start with the best mount you can afford, that`s your bedrock, then a camera, then a scope, if your intending to start with using a dlsr the a refractor would be best, i wouldn`t recommend a 200p for the reason of being big, bulky and susceptible to wind cathing them and ruining the image plus they need collimation.

all depends on your budget really and what your intending to achieve.

Edited by red dwalf
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Welcome to EMS Iain :)

 

Rob has pretty much covered it above - the 200P on HEQ5 would be reasonable for observing on a very calm night - but for imaging with it the NEQ6 is a far preferable solution. For imaging with the HEQ5 a smaller lighter scope is preferable - but watch the mount weight limit when you add all the imaging, guiding, and dew control equipment - again the NEQ6 would afford more flexibility in scope/camera choices. And if you don't have it already - get a copy of Making Every Photon Count by Steve Richards which will give you everything you need to know in an easy to read format. It covers all imaging equipment, software, and techniques involved. Enjoy the forum :)

Edited by Brantuk
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Hi,

 

Many thanks for the advice. I'll investigate further. I've just received a copy of Making Every Photon Count so will have a read of that.

 

Cheers,

 

Iain

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