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Old 05-07-2019, 01:00 PM
RussellH
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RussellH is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Sunny Queensland
Posts: 172
HEQ5/Canon M50/auto guider configuration?

Hi folks,

Brief history. Started astro about 40 years ago as a teenager with a cheap alt-az newtonian, about 6 or 8” I think. Had some fun with it, but couldn’t track squat and being in Brisbane suburbia, seeing wasn’t great. Can’t remember when or where it disappeared. Then about 12 years ago, had a tree change out west with the family with nice dark skies. Picked up a 10” cheap Dobsonian which I still have, but have used infrequently as it’s too unwieldy to bring in and out of the house, and once again can’t track squat.

Now here we are again. Kids have all moved out of home and I’m revisiting old hobbies. Just got myself a new Canon M50 mirrorless camera for nature photography, and would like to get into Astrophotography if I can afford it as well.

I could do just Milky Way photography with what I have, but DSO and maybe some Planetary is what I’d like to get into eventually. I was looking at the Star Adventurer package to mount camera, to get some better quality imaging and stacking. After looking at what a guided Star Adventurer costs, and the limits it has, I’m thinking I should just future-proof my needs with. HEQ5 in case I end up wanting an EQ80-100 or an RC6 (yes I know an RC is not a beginner scope, but it’s very tempting). I’ll probably never (or very rarely) leave my backyard for imaging.

Money as always is an issue for me, as well as starting something and continuing to expand on it. So I want a decent but budget setup. So, the crux of the matter is, should I just ditch the star adventurer idea and go straight to the HEQ5? If I did, I’d need a Dovetail mount and a ball head just for the camera, but if I wanted an auto guider as well how would I mount them both up? I imagine this is the point where someone steps in and says I don’t need an autoguider for just DSLR tracking?

Thanks.
Russell.
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