I had a Vixen SXW about 6 years ago and sold it soon after... I found it too tedious to use, and the software reminded me of a badly designed 1980's video arcade game. Might suit an imager but not a visual observer.
The AZ-EQ6 would be my pick for what it does, but enough issues have been reported that I haven't bought one.
The other aspect has been the really poor weather in Sydney lately combined with a new member of the family means I don't have much time for observing these days.
Hi Jim, I'll give you a call this weekend. If you really think your EQ5 is the culprit for the egg shaped stars then I have an auto guider and guide scope you can try out if you want to see if you can do a better polar alignment and guide it out before you spend big bucks. Or you can borrow my Vixen GPD and/or VC200L, or try out the SXP. Not the Takahashi TSA120 though!
I suspect you are at the point where you need to decide whether you are going to be primarily imaging, or will mainly do visual and dabble in imaging like me. In which case your equipment needs may be very different. I would not claim to be an expert in either, but after 40 years or so at this game I really would suggest that you try to only spend your money once and get it right! After a point you will be on curve of expensive diminishing returns. The other thing I would say is that lots of people get great results from very modest equipment - so don't be too hasty in blaming the equipment. Upgrade when you get to the top of the learning curve with what you have. If not you could end up with a house full of telescopes and mounts - like me!
Cheers
Richard
Last edited by rrussell1962; 29-08-2015 at 09:17 PM.
Hi Jim, .....
The other thing I would say is that lots of people get great results from very modest equipment - so don't be too hasty in blaming the equipment. Upgrade when you get to the top of the learning curve with what you have. If not you could end up with a house full of telescopes and mounts - like me!
Cheers
Richard
Same here 2 x SCT's , 2 x 80mm refractors, coupla mounts, box of eyepieces, etc ....
I had a Vixen SXW about 6 years ago and sold it soon after... I found it too tedious to use, and the software reminded me of a badly designed 1980's video arcade game. Might suit an imager but not a visual observer.
The AZ-EQ6 would be my pick for what it does, but enough issues have been reported that I haven't bought one.
The other aspect has been the really poor weather in Sydney lately combined with a new member of the family means I don't have much time for observing these days.
SXW is not even in the same leage as the SXD, let alone the SXP. It's like comparing a Skywatcher EQ3 to the SW EQ8.
The SXW just LOOKS similar (seeing it was the first Sphinx, technically the SXP looks like the SXW). In every other respect, there is NO comparison.
The SXD alone was a MAJOR improvement over the SXW, but it too was hampered by the original Starbook. The SXD2 and SXP use the new Starbook TEN, which is not even backwards compatible with the older mounts.
Agreed Lewis, although I will admit that I have never used the older Sphinx mounts. But the SXP is very good indeed. The only 2 minor quibbles I have with it are: 1) Starbook Ten is advertised as having umpteen thousand SAO star numbers built in - it probably does, but there is no way to search by SAO number, only by Bayer designation by constellation, and 2) No automated polar alignment routine, not strictly necessary but useful for getting close to polar alignment as a first cut. The older Skysensor 2000 had both of these and I am a bit mystified as to why Vixen dropped these features.
What I was going to suggest to Jim was that he pop round, he lives just up the road, and borrow the SXP, do his normal polar alignment and a couple of 2 min unguided subs. If there are still star trails and egg shaped stars then the issue is probably his polar alignment as I think the SXP tracks pretty well. If the subs are fine then start to look at the EQ5 more closely.
I don't really do a lot of imaging, so any suggestions from anybody as to whether this is a good approach would be welcome.
Jim, You are in all probability tackling your problem from the wrong end.
Your EQ5 with an ED 80 on it, if polar aligned to within an arc minute or so of the SCP, will allow subs of at least 100-120 secs, and if really accurately aligned, a bit longer than that. Unless your mount has some
unusual mechanical or electrical problem, your alignment must be quite a way off. The fact that you are getting 30 secs suggests that your mount is o.k. Usually, if a mount has a problem, it shows up almost immediately you start tracking. I assume you are pointing the mount at due South, not magnetic.
If your alignment is in fact off, you will have the same problem with a new SXP or Az- EQ6.
If you fix this problem, you can defer buying another mount until you move up to a larger scope.
raymo
Assuming you are using Sony A6000 with your ED80, that gives less than 1.4 arcseconds per pixel.
Given that your EQ5 mount has a periodic error of 30 arcseconds, which to my knowledge would be awesome for EQ5, that would result is 30/1.4= about 20 pixels, meaning a small star that should normally be represented by one pixel would be stretched over 20 pixels, given perfect polar alignment and an exposure equal to a full worm cycle. Even with shortish 60-second exposures I would dare to say you would be throwing away most of your subs, even with perfect polar alignment. I am afraid it would also be the case with AZ-EQ6; it needs guiding at that resolution, unless you are prepared to accept elongated stars.
Echoing others, the cheapest solution would be to guide with EQ5
Sorry, late in the game here. Another happy SXP user here for the past year. I've actually tried to make the most out of it too especially the Starbook Ten.
As I have the Advanced Unit module, it's now my intervalometer for my camera, I also have the video camera feeding into it and it's also a guide computer.
If you're into portability without access to main power, nor want to bother with a laptop/notebook, the Starbook Ten & SXP works great. So it's not just a GOTO computer.
The SXP mount itself is also nice from the perspective it's portable, smooth, & quiet. I am overloading my setup by putting on a 2500mm Mewlon 250CRS on it and for visual it's fine but not good for astrophotography (the only way up for me would be the AXD rather than Paramount, Astro Physics, etc. but that's another topic).
If there's any criticism about the SXP from my side, I wished it could carry more weight. The price jump from the SXP to AXD is massive and Vixen doesn't offer anything in between. My attachment to the Vixen mounts is really more pinned down to the Starbook Ten than the actual mount itself.
I've seen the AZ-EQ6 many times but never really had a chance to have a good play with it. Seemed like a sturdy mount but I kinda feel the likes of SkyWatchers and iOptrons put down rather "ideal scenario" specs.
Jim, You are in all probability tackling your problem from the wrong end.
Your EQ5 with an ED 80 on it, if polar aligned to within an arc minute or so of the SCP, will allow subs of at least 100-120 secs, and if really accurately aligned, a bit longer than that. Unless your mount has some
unusual mechanical or electrical problem, your alignment must be quite a way off. The fact that you are getting 30 secs suggests that your mount is o.k. Usually, if a mount has a problem, it shows up almost immediately you start tracking. I assume you are pointing the mount at due South, not magnetic.
If your alignment is in fact off, you will have the same problem with a new SXP or Az- EQ6.
If you fix this problem, you can defer buying another mount until you move up to a larger scope.
raymo
Hi Raymo. Both you and Richard were on the money re the polar alignment. I'd trusted the iPad compass which unbeknown to me was in a true south mode when I assumed it was magnetic mode, then I was deducting the offset from that (give self uppercut). Your prompting and my son's compass got me on track.
Anyways, slewing to targets has now become pretty damn good...who'd a thought
I can now get 1min unguided subs about 50% of the time. Other times it's like all the stars are almost touching, double stars. Started dismantling the head tonight. Both worms have backlash play, so obviously a source of movement, but also one of the worm assemblies was way too tight on the end play tension which was pushing the bearing sideways and the shaft would rumble when turned with your fingers. Anyway, still working on the maintenance and hopefully get to have it ready for the weekend.
I'm glad you're well on the way to fixing your problem. If you are getting
60 secs 50% of the time you can probably improve on that. Good scope
balance is important. The double stars suggest a backlash problem. This
can be minimised by balancing the scope a little against the drive, keeping the gear engaged, and lessening the effect of any wind.
raymo
Hi Raymo. Both you and Richard were on the money re the polar alignment. I'd trusted the iPad compass which unbeknown to me was in a true south mode when I assumed it was magnetic mode, then I was deducting the offset from that (give self uppercut)
That is a feature I was not aware of, could be very handy for quick setup.
Sorry, late in the game here. Another happy SXP user here for the past year. I've actually tried to make the most out of it too especially the Starbook Ten.
As I have the Advanced Unit module, it's now my intervalometer for my camera, I also have the video camera feeding into it and it's also a guide computer.
If you're into portability without access to main power, nor want to bother with a laptop/notebook, the Starbook Ten & SXP works great. So it's not just a GOTO computer.
The SXP mount itself is also nice from the perspective it's portable, smooth, & quiet. I am overloading my setup by putting on a 2500mm Mewlon 250CRS on it and for visual it's fine but not good for astrophotography (the only way up for me would be the AXD rather than Paramount, Astro Physics, etc. but that's another topic).
If there's any criticism about the SXP from my side, I wished it could carry more weight. The price jump from the SXP to AXD is massive and Vixen doesn't offer anything in between. My attachment to the Vixen mounts is really more pinned down to the Starbook Ten than the actual mount itself.
I've seen the AZ-EQ6 many times but never really had a chance to have a good play with it. Seemed like a sturdy mount but I kinda feel the likes of SkyWatchers and iOptrons put down rather "ideal scenario" specs.
And 11 days after posting this, I'm upgrading to the AXD tomorrow. Expect an SXP for sale soon . Kyoei in Tokyo had awesome 1-set only deal with the AXD and TR-102 tripod that was too good to refuse. However, my current setup isn't ideal (not with a Takahashi μ-250CRS 16.2kg gear on the SXP).
Fingers crossed that the AXD will actually help improve my astrophotography with the μ-250CRS.
After a total strip down, I got the EQ5 Pro back together the other day and got a short test run before the clouds. Motors clearly don't buzz as much anymore. Not a smidgen of backlash when using the hand controller.
Managed to do a set of 6x1min unguided exposures of swan nebula with only 1 sub I would call a dud. Need to do more testing though.
Tried some 2min subs...probably would've processed okay with DSS to adequately mask most of the eggs, but naahh!
If anything this has been a good learning experience. I'll still upgrade the mount at some time, but at least now I'm more savvy.
Also a ZWO camera and guidescope I ordered recently has now arrived, so I can have a dabble with autoguiding.
So Jim, you would have probably managed 90 sec subs, a great improvement. If your P.A. is close to spot on, you should get 2 mins
using your 80mm. I sometimes get 2 mins using my 1000mm f/l scope.
raymo
So Jim, you would have probably managed 90 sec subs, a great improvement. If your P.A. is close to spot on, you should get 2 mins
using your 80mm. I sometimes get 2 mins using my 1000mm f/l scope.
raymo
Hi Raymo, I thought I'd revisit this old thread to give an update. This mount has totally redeemed itself after the operator did a bit more learning. I can now reliably get 3 min subs (suspect longer but haven't bothered) and have proven this on many nights now. As mentioned in an earlier post, I sorted the PA, but the other week I bought an illuminated reticle to do my alignments, rather than the cross hairs in the finderscope, from thereon it's been happy nights. I've also screwed some permanent mount points made from marine ply, onto my concrete lawn pads. Plus I put alignment marks on the mount itself to visually indicate if my RA or DEC has been bumped out between sessions. My PA is now so close every time I setup the mount, that I usually bypass it altogether and just do a 2 point alignment.
. Kyoei in Tokyo had awesome 1-set only deal with the AXD and TR-102 tripod that was too good to refuse. However, my current setup isn't ideal (not with a Takahashi μ-250CRS 16.2kg gear on the SXP).
