HEQ5 Mount capacity ?

[Satchmo]

No , I'm not immediately considering going over to 'the dark side'..:) however I was fascinated by all the small aperture photography rigs at IISAC 08 . I've been impressed by some of the pictures coming out lately taken with the Orion Star Shoot Pro cooled 6mp camera ( which has just about hit my price point for a cooled dedicated CCD camera ), particularly some taken with the Orion Eon 120mm ED refractor.

I don't think my back would stretch to lugging an HEQ6 to a dark sky site, but would it be likely that an HEQ5 mount could carry a 120mm F7.5 Eon with say 70mm guide scope plus a Star Shoot Pro for photography? I would be prepared to make up a 4 sided tent to cut out wind if necessary.

Anyone had success with such a focal length / weight on an HEQ5, or a better feel for the situation ?

[monoxide]

Hi Mark,

the HEQ5 pro is a fairly solid little mount, i have a FS-102 (820mm focal length) mounted side by side with an ED80 on mine, i haven't re-greased or modified it in any way and it seems pretty solid with what i have on it.

i'm using mine on a portable pier which although much much more convenient doesnt seem *quite* as solid as the tripod

i would almost definately be over the 'max' photographic load but aslong as its balanced well and theres no cables hanging say from the camera to the ground i havent had any real problems taking 15 minute subs aslong as my polar alignment is good

heres a couple recent shots:
http://users.on.net/~monox/NGC2070v3.jpg (12x10min)
http://users.on.net/~monox/M42.jpg (10x10min)

the rig itself:
http://users.on.net/~monox/imagingrig.jpg



also take a look here:
http://ozastro.dyndns.org/index.html
scroll half way down and look for 'My Synta HEQ5 Project'

[h0ughy]

Mark, Allan Gould used a 127Ed with a 66mm guidescope and cameras on it - works a treat

[Tandum]

I managed to get up to 17Kilos (http://www.celticcomputers.com.au/Astro/displayimage.php?pid=24&fullsize=1) on mine, but balance was critical :P

The Vixen (http://www.celticcomputers.com.au/Astro/displayimage.php?pid=21&fullsize=1) knocked it back to around 12Kilos.

I had a big refractor (http://www.celticcomputers.com.au/Astro/displayimage.php?pid=23&fullsize=1) on it once or twice but it didn't like the tripod legs.

[AlexN]

mmmm Robin sure did load his HEQ5 up with plenty of gear, and much longer focal length with his VC200L and still produced fantastic results.. :)

With a 120mm apo and a guide scope, It'd be fine.. with a 80~90mm apo and a guide scope, it'd be rock solid!

[Garyh]

I reckon it should handle 120mm refractor and a little guidescope ok.
My old EQ5 handled the Tv genesis and a 70mm guidescope quiet well and the HEQ5 being a little sturdier should be fine with a slightly heavier load..
cheers Gary

[Satchmo]

Thanks for the advice guys:).

I might make it a two stage process. I have a 6" F8 Achro languishing. Maybe a GOTO would breathe some new life into it. I also have a 5.5" Schmidt camera which I would like to resurrect. I might do a years worth of work with it on an HEQ5 pro , using autoguiding and shooting slide film and then scan them in to photoshop.

I'm sure in another 18 months there will be even bigger and better things available for the money in the CCD field. And by then I may have decided what instrument to put on it. A lightweight 10" F4 with a conical mirror might still be an option on the HeQ5 with a wind break.

[gbeal]

Mark. A smaller mount like that could be "helped" slightly by a little lateral thinking in getting the load as close to the piviot as possible. It will take some ingenuity but could pay dividends in weight savings. Most seem to flop the guide-scope in rings, atop the imaging scope. And while this is OK, it just shifts the weight outwards, and this is something you can do without with a smaller more challenged mount.
Given you affinity for using your hands design a close in, dual mount system for the imager and guider.
Gary