Help With Equipment Choice!!

[jeff.cotter]

I've been out of the astronomy hobby (i.e. obsession) for quite a few years now and have just decided to get back into it. So I'm hoping for a bit of sage advice on equipment.

I've owned a few different flavors of 10" scopes way back when: SCT, dob, and Newt. But things seem to have changed a bit: fancier gear, cheaper gear, new brands that I've never heard of etc. So a bit of advice would be great.

My main interest is in deep-sky observing but I'd also like to get into astrophotography (I'm still pondering about whether to go DSLR or CCD). But my other main requirement is convenience. I no longer have the patience for star-hopping, so a Goto mount is a must (my personal motto being "hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off today"). I also want to play around with control via PC.

My observing will be split between my backyard and a dark site about 30 minutes away. Therefore, my aperture limit will need to be be about 10" so that I can fit everything in the car (and also for general ease of handling).

When I first started the equipment hunt the other day, I pretty much knee-jerked towards the Celestron VX 9.25" SCT. I had a Meade 10" SCT back in the day, so the Celestron seemed familiar. But now I'm a lot more interested in astrophotography, as it seems to have become much more affordable.

Then I had a look at some of the SkyWatcher stuff and narrowed down to a 10" F4 reflector on an EQ6Pro mount (which would actually be cheaper than the Celestron). And I think that F4 might suit my needs better than the Celestron's F10 as far as photography is concerned (plus an F4 10" should still fit in my car).

So in summary, I guess the Celestron is the devil I know, but the SkyWatcher rig feels like it might better suit my needs, although I've never used their gear before.

Would anyone care to offer any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[ZeroID]

Can't offer feedback on the particualr hardware you specify but I've got mostly SkyWatcher gear, EQ6, Scopes etc and quite happy with it's quality and performance. It works to all the common standards that are currently used in software and control etc so it's a good bet.

[Poita]

A 10" f4 is a bit unweildy on the EQ6Pro, and while goto makes things easier, you still have to polar and drift align, or use software to align etc. etc. so it is still quite a lot to learn.
I would actually lean towards an ED100 if I was starting out again for deep sky photography, or a 120mm frac, lots of nice pictures and the refractor cools down quick and the larger objects are a joy to photograph. Lots easier to setup and handle and get piccies with.

[raymo]

Hi Jeff, The refractor that Poita suggested, would be fine for imaging,
but as you said that you are mainly interested in deep sky observing,
you obviously need more aperture. You state that you have had Newts
before,so would be familiar with the admitted unwieldiness; in which
case the 10" f4 on the 6 mount would work well, but bear in mind that
assembling, transporting, polar aligning, and dismantling of that rig would be time consuming. I run a Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO GOTO and an 8"
newt and have no complaints. In your case, if cost is not a limiting
factor, I would suggest a second scope for imaging, in the form of a
Skywatcher ED 80 which you could use on the same mount as your 10"
scope. The ED 80 can be picked up used reasonably cheaply.
raymo

[renormalised]

Have a look here... http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

If you go with the CGEM mounted 9.25" and it's farstar compatible, you'll have three scopes in one. Buy a hyperstar lens... http://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/index.aspx for your scope and you'll have a fast (f2) scope with a lot more light gathering capacity than any refractor you could afford readily, a normal f10 SCT for visual and photo ops, and with an added x5 Powermate (http://www.bintel.com.au/Eyepieces-and-Barlows/TeleVue-/Barlows-and-Powermates/TeleVue-Powermate--br-5-0x--1-25--/879/productview.aspx) a pretty good planetary scope :)

Or, you could pay a little bit extra and get the EdgeHD version of the 9.25" scope, which has better optics than the normal SCT.

Or, if you want a nice and light astropic rig, you could grab this... http://www.bintel.com.au/Mounts---Tripods/EQ-Mounts/Skywatcher-HEQ5-Pro-GoTo-Mount/96/productview.aspx and then grab an OTA like this... http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/Cassegrain/Meade-10--f/8-ACF-Optical-Tube-Assembly/1548/productview.aspx later on.

If you want to start with a DSLR for taking pics, you can either get a camera you already have modded, or shell out for a Canon 60Da which is made for astropics. You can pickup a 60Da for under $1100 online.

All depends on how much you want to spend.

[Tropo-Bob]

Jeff, Canberra has one of Australia's best amateur astronomy clubs and they used to hire out equipment (n I assume they still do).
I suggest that you attend one of their evenings and they may provide you with some good insights.

[impactcrater11]

you may not be aware that 'skywatcher' and 'celestron' are the same family of companies....