Quote:
Originally Posted by Kokatha man
Hi Shev, I'm just dipping my toes into the imaging waters too at present: waiting for my modded 20D from Eric Ezystyles, and am paying a keen interest in any info on the subject too.
It's important to remember when listening to advice that you pay attention to the actual experience/track record of the people giving that advice and their credibility: assastronomers comments about the EQ mounts, and their suitability, are typical uninformed, throw away remarks that aren't based on any authoritive credibility.
To infer that they "are inadequate" (quote) is offensive and derogatory to 2 of the best of our IIS imagers: Mike (Iceman) Salway and his excellent planetary imaging, and Eric (Ezystyles) Lo with DSI's that have a far-reaching reputation for their amazing quality.
Both of these gentlemen use EQ6 mounts; sure there are superior mounts (and often) incredibly priced; but there results have been obtained with aforesaid units and bespeak their capacity. There's an old adage that "a fool and his opinions are freely dispensed" - fortunately you (and I) can find many IIS members that actually have a lot to offer in this imaging etc department.
Lots of success with your imaging when you decide on your chosen equipment: I'm sure you'll be posting before me, even though I've got my mount etc already - an HEQ5, which although not as capable with the load demands of the heavier scopes, is well capable as an imaging/tracking and autoguiding unit, as many good IIS DSI ers and planetary images will confirm.
Cheers, Darryl.
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Darryl,
Firstly let me point out that of the two people you mention, Mike Salway is predominantly doing very short exposure high resolution planetary imaging, with long focal lengths, where the demands on the mount are less than critical. So you can immediately remove him from the list. Eric Ezystyles has obviously been lucky and got a good EQ6 mount. Yes some of them are ok, but you take pot luck. Unfortunately with respect to the EQ6 mounts the quality control is not great and they are not all created equal. On some, the tolerances are poor and the periodic error high and unsuited to long exposure imaging. Now that isn't so critical when using the 20D camera which Shev intends to start with, but I am prepared to bet it won't be long before he graduates to a CCD camera where quality of the mount will be far more critical. He is better starting off with a mount he can keep forever for a few extra $$$ initially. For every two people you find happy with their EQ mount for imaging, you will find 5 that weren't happy and subsequently upgraded the mount as their imaging skills improved. In 99% of cases the EQ series mounts represent a means to an end for people who are budget constrained. Be rest assured
"NONE" of the worlds' best imagers are using an EQ anything mount. Shev is starting off with a high grade APO refractor, should he not buy a mount in keeping with the quality of the scope he is buying?
I am also prepared to bet that it won't be too far into the future that both Mike Salway and Eric Ezystyles upgrade their mounts as finances permit. I can guarantee you that if you offered both Mike Salway and Eric Ezystyles a free upgrade on their EQ mounts to something better, both would jump at the opportunity. I know for a fact having observed with Mike Salway on countless occasions, he bought what he could afford that had the load capacity to carry his scope. Had Mike had a spare $20K lying around he wouldn't have bought an EQ6.
Cheers,
John B