First test of new AZ-EQ6

[Retrograde]

Hi All,

A few months ago I upgraded from an old Vixen SP (that was struggling under the weight of equipment I had loaded onto it) to a new Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 GT. Finally after 3 months the last new Moon weekend was clear and I had a chance to get out of Sydney and give it its first test under dark skies. I have a heap to learn about SynScan (and need to RTFM) but was reasonably happy with the first proper test.

This pic was taken using an unmodded Pentax K-5 through a Pentax 6x7 165mm f2.8 lens (stopped down to f5.6). This image is neither deep nor high-res (it's a significant crop of the full field) and I only managed 4 usable 2 min (unguided) subs before the Trifid dropped below the limbs of a large tree but I'm reasonably happy with how it came out given all the limitations. I'm looking forward to learning more about the mount and getting auto-guiding up and running.

Somewhat larger at Astrobin: http://www.astrobin.com/full/211010/0/

[rustigsmed]

looks pretty good to me Pete. lovely golden star clouds too :)
what version of firmware are you running on the synscan?

cheers

[Retrograde]

Thanks Russell,

V3.34 (if my memory serves me correctly). I decided not to upgrade or anything until I'd tried it out.

[Slawomir]

The photo looks good Pete :thumbsup:

Wishing you (and all of us) many clear nights to have fun with you new mount.

[DJScotty]

That's excellent work for unguided subs. :thumbsup:

You are going to love that mount! Make use of the polar align function!

[Retrograde]

Thanks Slawomir and Scott.

The write-ups and images from you guys and many others helped me decide that it would make a good long-term imaging and observing platform.

I plan to get a larger OTA to put on it at some stage and I'll definitely have to work out how to use that polar-align function! I must say I'm impressed with the altitude adjustment for the polar axis too - really nice to use. :thumbsup: