Noob intro

[NTgazer (Chris)]

Hi guys, I thought I would introduce myself I've been researching/lurking for a while. I'm currently on my 'B' plates (binoculars only) but am narrowing down my search for my first scope and will no doubt pick your brains for some advice soon. I'm a pom living in Darwin and am still amazed by now dark the skies are here, especially if you go a short way down the track - unbelievable. Downsides at the moment are wet season cloud cover (although lightning storms are spectacular) 28 degree nights and mosquitos that could easily carry off a small refractor. More frustrating though is shipping/freight costs, some quotes are just crazy!

As far as viewing target interests go I'd say a bit of everything but prioritising widefield views + nebulae etc then globs and double stars, then planetary and lunar.

I will definitely be looking at getting into AP once I've got to grips with eq mounts and have learned more of the sky, I have already had a go with just a regular tripod mounted dslr and rotating, cropping, stacking short exposures. I love photography and have experience with photoshop and various aspects of image editing so the steep AP learning curve should be manageable. Goto isn't a biggie either way for me, I know it makes things easier and I have a lot to learn as it is but I would like to be able to navigate from charts and star hopping eventually. Partly due to high shipping costs and small re-sell market up here I will be erring more towards the "buy it right first time" mantra where possible rather than buying a 'beginner' setup and selling it 6/12 months later for an 'intermediate' etc. To that end my aim is for a G11 mount (tripod at first then in approx 18 months I will be in a position to install permanent pier at a new rural property where it is fabulously dark) and scope-wise unless I'm talked out of it I've almost got my heart set on the carbon fibre Explore Scientific 152mm mak-newtonian. I hope to use my canon 400d for imaging and if all goes well will look to do some mods to it like remove chip filter and possibly even add peltier cooling some time in the future. Any advice or help will be much appreciated, this forum has been most informative already and there's clearly a wealth of knowledge and experience here
Thanks and clear skies

[ianB (Ian)]

Hi Chris,
Welcome, I am also new to Astronomy, only had my Celestron 6SE for just on a year so I'll let others with the experience answer your questions.
I bet you get great dark nights where you are without all the LP we get in the Cities, anyway welcome and I know you will get excellent feedback from the members here.

IanB

[ianB (Ian)]

If you dont get any feedback here you may want to ask your questions at cloudynights.com, I have always found them very helpful in answering questions, especially for those new to this great hobby.

[CJ (Chris)]

Welcome aboard.
England to Darwin eh.
That's a bit like actually moving to another planet!

[NTgazer (Chris)]

Thanks guys, yeah Darwin is like another world, been here for 3-4 years now and some things still surprise me! Awesome place for outdoor stuff like fishing and camping.
Quick question about mounts, I've heard the adage about halving the stated weight capacity for AP but does that go for midrange brands like Losmandy and upwards from there or just entry level? I'm wondering whether I need a G11 or will a GM8 suffice for imaging with the scope I have in mind, it's a 6inch mak-newt OTA quoted weight as 7kg? I will be using a dslr (eos 400d - actual 570g) and maybe something like the 'magnificent mini' guiding rig -quoted weight less than 1kg. I know it's best to over mount when in doubt but it's a big step up in size weight and price between the 2 mounts

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

I'll leave it to the imaging guys to give a comprehensive answer regarding weights, but from what I understand the weights quoted in the specs on mounts are more what can be mounted and get reasonable performance, which in effect means OK for visual use. High end imaging is much more demanding of a mounts capacity. And from what I have seen of imagers, they do tend to keep piling more stuff on their rigs, so a good bit of leeway is a good idea.

Also bear in mind there is no independent standard for the weights quoted on mounts, it is entirely the manufacturers opinion, so often a good idea is to get in contact with people using those mounts and pick their brains.

Malcolm

[raymo]

Chris, with the 6" scope and accessories that you mentioned, any mount from the Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Go To [13.7kg rating] or equivalent in other brands will easily meet your requirements. The Losmandy G8 will
therefore be fine. The only possible consideration is whether you might
want to upsize your scope in the foreseeable future, in which case it
would make economic sense to buy a heavier duty mount now rather than later.
raymo

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Chris and .
I'm just starting to get to grips with imaging myself and have done a fair amount of trial and error practical testing.

As Raymo says anything from an EQ5 up should handle the weight you are talking about. The 'Half rated weight' is a guide only but makes good sense if you want stability and reliability in the hardware. I'm using an EQ6 which is what I would recommend as minimum. It's rated at 25kg and I'm loading it at about 18-20kg depending on the current setup.
Balance East\West and at the saddle becomes more critical as you approach the rated specs but I've had no problems and been able to guide for several hours at that
Long term a permanent pier\observatory is the best solution as my setup time is only 10 minutes to boot the PC, open the roof and align and target. My Ob is just a tin shed with sliding roof but works well for me. Plenty of good advice and options from the folks on here when it comes to that stage so hang round and ask questions ( it's a bit quiet at present, summers hols I guess ).

And enjoy !!

Cheers
Brent

[PhilTas (Phil)]

Hi Chris,
I'm Darwin local and have a few telescopes. If you are interested, pm me to set up a time for a chat and some hands-on. although given our weather of late, a night session might be a bit hard to arrange except at short notice. Anyway you're welcome to have a look.
Phil

[raymo]

Brent, from memory, the NEQ6 is rated at 20kg: I'd be surprised if the
EQ6 would be a heavier rated mount.
raymo

[NTgazer (Chris)]

Thanks Phil I might just take you up on that! Yeah bom reckons the monsoon trough will be clearing off in a few days, hopefully get some clear nights. I have a conflict of interests around the new moon with my other hobby being fishing and making good use of neap tides!

[PhilTas (Phil)]

no worries. If you're considering an equatorial mount, check that the latitude adjustment will operate down to Darwin's latitude 12 degrees. I've heard that some mounts won't go below about 15 degrees. cheers Phil