Hi Dave,
I know your pain on this one, and astrophotography just makes it worse
, but homework is essential. Ive always been told spend as much as you can on your mount as this will be the point in your setup that will have the most effect. Ive looked at the heq5 but have decided on the eq6pro because down the track you will get appeture fever and the eq5 will have trouble with the extra weight. Unfortunatly the mount is over your budget but you can get them second hand around the $1500. If you want to do long exposure photography have you thought about a guidescope or a camera with a guide chip in it. The last two im still looking into but others on this site know a lot more than me
. Keep looking around, ask plenty of questions, hope my 2 bob worth is helpful.
Cheers
Scott
