Question on Mounts

Hi All,

I'm looking to buy a new telescope for astrophotography. I've decided on a reflector (I have 2 refractors already) and one requirement is that it be able to track.

There is a computerized 114mm that will do everything I want, but the mount is AltAz. The guy in the store said that they alternate between the 2 planes to track, which on long exposures will create blurry images. This is the Celestron 114 SLT. This one is in my price range.

To move to the EQ mount, I lose the computer, and have to manually add a drive motor, to keep it in my price range.

How "bad" for photography is the computerized AtlAz? I'm new to astrophotography, so I'm hoping that the experts will chime in here..

Thanks,

Zen

What targets interest you?

Lunar/planetary or deep sky, i.e nebula galaxies, star clusters?

The 4.5 inch reflector lack aperture and is quite slow at nearly f/9. Also be aware that when using a DSLR with many stock newtonian focusers you may not be able to reach focus. They are usually too high profile, placing the camera too far out.

I'll add more thoughts when I know more about your astro target interests. The mount questions will hinge on that.

All of the above. Starting with planets, then trying my hand at M31, M51, etc. With the scope, I'm purchasing a T-Ring adapter for my EOS, and the afocal mount. I took some photos of the moon and Saturn, afocal setup, using 2 tripods and a 700mm x 70mm refractor, 2x barlow, and a 25mm eyepiece.

My budget is not "sky-high" for this. I can get the AtlAz 114 STL for $400. The 130 SLT is about $500 on a manual EQ mount. If I look to go any larger, the price goes up to about $1500, which I can't spend... Essentially I want bang-for-buck.

Thanks,

Zen

I'm sorry mate, but unfortunately in this game you will get what you pay for...REALLY.

I fully appreciate you have a budget, but I have been there and I can tell you, don't waste your money on rubbish. You will only be dissatisfied and have to save up MORE money to buy the proper thing. If you spend your $500, you will tire fairly quickly of the average results and no matter what you do, you can only push cheap equipment so far. In the end, if you really want to progress, you will have to spend on the upgrade. Then you will have a $500 dollar useless bit of equipment gathering dust in storage.

The best value for money is without a doubt, hands down, the EQ6 PRO german equatorial mount.

It is heavy duty enough to carry your reflector, guidescope and camera equipment without any undue strain on your gears. It is fully computerised, is compatible with the ASCOM languages from guide cameras and PC's and has a polar alignment finder scope through the mount for very easy setup.

Do yourself a favor, GET ONE!

Baz.

Unfortunately, as others have said, reflectors aren't normally best suited for astrophotography. I started with a 4.5" 500mm Newtonian, and though it was great for viewing I never got to take a photo through it, so sold it to a friend and bought refractors.

What are the refractors you already have? Why do you feel you need something different? Can you not just spend your budget on a decent Equatorial Mount with motor drives, and attach your refractors to it? That would be my initial suggestion I think.

A.S.I.G.N. - Nice mount, not going to happen for me any time soon. $2000 is too much, the wife would kill me.

Adrena - The 2 refractors I have are 700mm x 70mm, and a 700mm x 60mm. Both on AltAz. I have taken photos (via afocal coupling) on the 700x70 of the moon and Saturn. I was quite pleased with the moon, Saturn, not so much.

I spent Saturday in a photography / astronomy store. One of the employees is a member of the local astronomy club, and does astrophotography. I spent hours talking to him about options and such. After much discussion with him, and them with my better half, I bought a Celestron AM130, on a CG3 EQ mount, and I added the motor drive.

I'm not giving up on the refractors, I just wanted something different. AND I understand that you get what you pay for, so I'm not expecting "hubble" type photos that some members here take. This is just another hobby for me, and I have so many. Motorcycling, photography, astronomy, model trains, home renovations, and vacationing. I do appreciate your comments, you atleast got me away from the AltAz setups...

Cheers,

Zen

Congrats Zen and wise decision going with the German equatorial mount.

The gain in aperture is nice as well as the lower focal ratio.

Shooting afocal presents challenges but some nice results are possible with practice which will help develop technique. Deep sky will be a challenge at this focal length. Adding an eyepiece in the light path will be a disadvantage and only add focal length which will require even more accurate tracking capability and preferably an auto guider. Looking at the factory focuser I doubt that you will be able to reach focus with the camera/adapter inserted into the focus draw tube, it's very high profile. You would also want a coma corrector if you went that route to flatten the field in your images. At some point you'll need collimating tools, i.e. chesire tool(s). I would suggest sooner than later. You may need to adjust the mirrors out of the box. I've had some reflectors arrive very close to aligned and I've had some way off.

At least you'll have a tracking mount and that's a big plus. Are you considering some widefield lens work as well with this mount?

For visual use it is probably a reasonable scope but did the store you bought this from actually say you could image with it with a DSLR without modification? If so you have some leeway for returning it as most Newts need a low profile focuser to achieve focus imaging with a DSLR. Tracking at 650mm fl with that mount will also present a few challenges as the lack of polar scope will mean drift aligning.

You should be able to get some halfway decent moon crater shots but I'm afraid anything more will be a source of major frustration.

I've had the scope out, and I am pleased with it visually. I have not tried any photography with it yet, I need to become more familliar with it, and practise my setups... This is my first EQ.

I mentioned my desire to do photography with the gentleman at the store, and he said it would be do-able, with lots of patience and practice. We didn't discuss deep-field, if it works, great, if not, I can always upgrade later. For the DSLR, I bought an Orion SteadyPix for afocal, and have checked balance on the EQ with and without the camera. They did not have the proper T-Ring for my telescope, but they should have stock later this week.

With the Orion mount, I aimed the scope across the city at an apartment building roof and focused on the antenna mounted there. So far so good. Now I need a night with less wind, it has extremely windy here lately...

I'm hoping to get out tonight and practice polar alignment.

Once I get comfortable, I'll take some photos, and post them up here...

Cheers,

Zen

Hi,

As Baz says, you are wasting your time, and what's more your money. I don't think you can astro image on a budget. The first thing you need is a solid foundation (to stop shake - just as in photography but many times greater. I think you could get away with a HEQ5 and use software for tracking, perhaps and EQ3-2 at a push. Therefore, the mount comes first.

John