[rrussell1962]

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