Quote:
Originally Posted by Amaranthus
Chris, this might be a radical suggestion, but have you thought about going down rather than up. Say a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6. In AZ mode it's great for visual, in EQ it's a solid AP platform with a belt driven and controllable by the wonderful thing that is EQMOD. It would handle both the RC10 and mid-sized frac with ease.
What's the catch? Visually, none at all. Synscan is beaut for portable pointing and slewing, and this mount works well for SkySafari etc. with a wireless dongle. For AP, obviously there is the PA and worm smoothness to consider. So it comes down to your pixel scale and camera's read noise. If you're using one of the new CMOS imagers, such as the ASI1600, then the read noise is insanely low at medium-to-high gain. So you can get away with much shorter exposures for the same SNR. This is a bit of a game-changer, IMHO, because it means we are inching towards the inevitable obviation of expensive high-end mounts that require super-long-exposure guiding/tracking precision. Not there yet, sure, especially for narrow-bandpass filters, but inching there. It's still a personal judgement call, but there are many pros these days to offset the cons of a solid mid-range mount, when coupled with the right scope and camera.
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It's an interesting idea, but I don't think it would be worth the change - I'm effectively 100% AP, no visual. I am using an ASI1600 but I think it might not be the best match to the RC10 - it's probably borderline with the 0.67FR I'm using. But I'm not too worried about the camera right now as if I need to get something different in the future, it's either going to be because I got a bigger RC and/or the tech has improved further.
I think your point about the shorter exposures is part of what's been kicking around in my mind for a while now. I might be better off sticking with the G11 for now and sorting out some other issues instead. For example, changing the focuser on my refractor to work under Linux and maybe add a rotator (or sell the whole unit and buy something else completely).
More food for thought.