Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos
Cost mostly hehe
A cass of some description would ride on the HEQ5 which is a pre-SynScan but tracks well. I can eyeball PA to within a degree or so which is enough for observing with occasional recentering so mount setup is a minute or so.
One of my other considerations is exit pupil. I can binoviewing up to about 3mm but for mono viewing I like to keep below 2.5mm otherwise astigmatism becomes distracting on star clusters. Basically, my young eyes suck 
95% of my trips to Heathcote are for AP but doing some visual between checking on everything keeps me happy. An 8” F/6 is easy to use no fuss visual and as you mention, dew on the corrector can be a pain. My first telescope was a 10” LX200 which I usually used on concrete to help stave the dew.
For DSOs they’re all the same aperture. For others the 8” dob is push to and has a much smaller CO and is optically simpler. The C8 and SW180 help with tracking and are binoviewer friendly but I’d probably do mono more often on these occasions anyway.
If I was up there more often I’d consider it. Some months I’m up there a few times but other times months can pass. Largely depends on the weather and work  |
I understand.
But if you are not there everything can be under threat.
I have learnt we only own what we can control..absense surrenders ownership.
Anyways maybe place land mines around the mount base that i suggest be kept outside...When imaging with time to observe I use 80mm binos which I prefer over everything else...3d effect etc..your photos are the close up..but cruising with big binos is hard to beat when imaging.
Alex