Hi Folks,
[Start Essay]
OK, here's the deal, I have just done my tax return online and am getting around $1450 back from Aunty Julia and considering the missus said "That's good, you can buy yourself something telescopy with that"...enough said, here I am!
Now, my current crop is a 5" SW135 on an Eq2 which has an RA motor for tracking, not bad for visual but no chop for AP. I also have my 12" SW Collapible dob which is great for visual but I am not very keen anymore to stand in the cold and star hop to find things (M104 is great, but I want to find other things which are a bit harder). I also have a Toucam with mod for long exposure and use of my son's Canon 1000D DSLR which I can control for long exposure from the lappy (have the T ring and EP/ 5 x powermate adaptor already)
SO: Here are my choices for the dosh, feel free to comment on the pros/cons or offer alternate suggestions;
1) Ioptron SmartStar A Alt/Az & EQ mount with GPS = $599 (from Andrews) - has 11lbs (about 5kg) capacity which I thought I could mount my short tube 130mm reflector on and get some goto/AP out of. Due to the fact that its both AltAz AND EQ, it can be used both ways. I can also control this from the Laptop which gives me that warm fuzzy techno head feeling in the nether regions....oooerr!
2) SW ED100 (gold tube) refractor = $899 (from Andrews), older PRO model but has all the bits I need and comes in a nice Aluminium case too, so I can pack it away neatly and not scratch it in transit. This only weighs about 3kgs so it should be ok on the Ioptron.
3) Argo Navis for the 12" dob = $996 (quoted off the Wildcard website with AN unit, serial cable, USB converter and SWDob hardware kit). This gives me push to on the dob which makes life easier for the big light bucket (yeah its not THAT big - but still) although doesnt give me any AP capability
4) Sell the current crop of scopes for say around $1000-$1200 combined (new prices were $1499 + $500) and put what I can get for these with the $1450 to purchase something more kick arse? Suggestions here please. Perhaps an ED on a goto mount PLUS a better CCD AP camera???
Now, if I combine the Ioptron Smartstar A and the ED100 I come up to $1500, which SHOULD give me access to AP and allow me to keep my current scopes (makes 3!) but I am not sure if its up to the chop. I can still do planets via the dob nudge and the webcam, but this in itself is starting to annoy me....
Before anyone suggests MORE aperture by selling everything, this is not going to happen as I am still left with star hopping and field rotation and no tracking as well as a BIGGER dob to bend over and make my back sore. After seeing Rolf's amazing deep sky stuff that he got from a Toucam, I think I can, I think I can....
See my dilemma?
I await thy divine advice with baited breath....
Cheers
Chris