Step up from dob 8"

[edelweiss (Eeda)]

Good day everyone. I need some suggestion/recommendation from everyone about a suitable telescope for astrophotography. I already have a Skywatcher dob 8" and normally i just used my dob and camera phone for moon pics. However, recently i feel like wanting to try deep space astrophotography (just the easy ones like bright nebulae, clusters etc) and now i'm browsing the suitable telescope. My budget range would be around 500-1000$ (lesser is better as im in tight budget now)

thank you

[xelasnave]

Have you thought about a mount?
You could probably use your 10 inch on an eq6 mount.
Alex

[Jasp05 (Aaron)]

If you have a dslr with a zoom lens around 100-200mm I'd consider the skywatcher star adventurer. (Around $530 from Bintel at the moment, you will just need your own tripod - or buy a decent one).

Otherwise a second hand HEQ5 Pro mount would handle your dslr in the meantime and allow for an optical tube to be added in the future.

[doppler (Rick)]

A good motorized mount is the prerequisite for any astro imaging. If you are thinking telescope imaging then a HEQ5 pro is the best starting point. You can pick one up for around $700 ish second hand. If you are keen you could get some tube rings and use your 8" dob on that mount.

[xelasnave]

I goofed..you have an 8 inch I second Ricks approach although an eq 6 would manage it better.
Alex

[ThunderStorm (Alan)]

Shame...I got the 10 inch Dob few years back but did not get too much chances to use it except...moon watching, and the incident when Saturn crossed the Moon few years back, as I need to adjust frequently to see some "distant" objects.
My home has some light pollution (in townhose, western Sydney), I have a small car that is hard to transport to dark places.
I am thinking of some sort of Goto but not sure if my place will "allow" can see those objects, and also the price will be a bit high.

[Wavytone]

What is your car ?

I'd suggest a Celestron CPC 8" (CPC 800) or a Meade 8" LightSwitch would do nicely for casual use.

I have a Mazda 3 hatch and my rig is:

- SW AZEQ6 mount plus tripod, eyepieces and bits & bobs fill the boot,
- Santel 9" Maksutov in a soft bag on the back seat; this is comparable to a Meade 10", bigger than a Celestron 9.25 and smaller than a C11.

This defined the upper limit for me for "portable". The OTA is 15kg and the mount similar; heavier and I'll be concerned that I'd either do myself an injury or drop something expensive.

An EQ6R is a nice GOTO mount, slightly smaller.

For a smaller scope than the above, say a C5 or C6 or 6" Maksutov or smaller, you could get away with the Skywatcher All-View mount, this is altaz and full GOTO. The only aspect of the All-View mount is that its tripod is flimsy and it would benefit significantly from being placed on a surveyors tripod ($200 from Bunnings).

Another option is an altaz setup with setting circles that is PUSH-TO as distinct from GOTO. In this respect you could look at say a C8 or Meade 8 on a DM 4 or DM6 altaz mount with encoders fitted, to that add a Nexus II and an iPhone running SkySafari. Or a Losmandy AZ8 (+DIY encoders) or one of the AYO Swiss mounts (these have encoders).

See for example https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/5...-ii-skysafari/

This was dead easy to use - push it wherever you wish, no need for finderscopes or GOTO - and no coffee-grinder noises or heavy batteries. From arrival to observing in 10 minutes.

[that_guy (Tony)]

cant go wrong with a second hand ed80 and a heq5.

[Rkonrad (Richard)]

I second a 80 + apo on a good eq mount