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Old 06-01-2008, 09:27 AM
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Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)
Let there be night...

Omaroo is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hobart, TAS
Posts: 7,639
I recently bought a small Takahashi Teegul Sky Patrol II mount for this very purpose - no scope - just a camera. While it has an advertised weight limit of 3kg, there are plenty of people who push them to 4 and over. The new model is now out (III).

Here is a good review of one, and this bloke loads his up pretty well. PEC findings are included.

Typical Takahashi quality - I'm very pleased with mine. It's so small that it is a pleasure to fling its case on the seat beside me and go. The case image I've provided here shoes the scope packed - and next to a PDA phone for reference. It's a lot smaller than an EQ5 and even an EQ3.

Given that your glass only has a f/l of 200mm, I take it that you won't be chasing DSO's and other distinct objects, but going purely for wide field. The Teegul is pretty easy to drift align with a small scope (66mm or something around that size), so typical wide field is doodle to set up for. If you don't have a scope, the small (optional) polar finder will get you to within 30 arc-mins of the pole - so Milky Way photography is possible without much setup.

Here's the link to the test: http://www.astrosurf.com/carreira/co...k_sp2_eng.html

Pic 1: How loaded???

Pic 2: Mine - with Nikkor 300ED & D40. Not a particularly light combo.

Pic 3: How small?
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Last edited by Omaroo; 06-01-2008 at 09:58 AM.
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