Quote:
Originally Posted by Jowel
Thanks again people for your responses.
20kg for the HEQ5 mount is massive! Geez. I think I'll be needing a trolley to carry everything from the car to a setup place. Out of curiousity, how much would an HEQ6 weigh?
Also, just say that during a night of observation I didn't want to track objects, but instead wanted to freely point the scope every which way as I desired. Can this be done or does the mount restrict you to tracking only?
And just a question on 8 inch scopes. I'm aware that if you look through a 10 inch you see everything a bit brighter, and that some objects can be seen in an 10 inch whilst not in an 8 inch. Just wondering if you used an 8 inch for an long exposure astrophotograph would some stuff that is invisible to the eye in an 8 inch actually be seen when taking a photo through the 8 inch? Ie, the photo would collect light for long enough to make out the object when the eye couldn't? Therefore it could possibly deliver what a 10 inch can?
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Hi Jowel,
No, not really, 20Kg is easily handled in the components, ie, the tripod, the head, the tube and the counter weights, all very manageable separately (and better for them as you dont whack it on things and scratch or drop them.)
YES, definitely more details and greater reach when taking a photo through the scope than visually as the CMOS or CCD on the camera can STARE
at the object for much longer and is MUCH more sensitive to low light than our eyes, so if you can see it with your eyes as a small blob, when you take a picture of it, you WILL see more and also get the colours like in my M20 Trifid shot attached. You DONT see those colours in the eyepiece.
When Visually touring the sky, you simply set the scope's controller to 800x slew and then DRIVE with the up/down & left right cursor pad to point the scope wherever you want it to point.
BEST fun for visual is take a Night's Highlights tour and the scope will cycle through a list of interesting fuzzies, nebulae and clusters visible to the scope for that time of the night. AWESOME fun and all you have to do is sit back and let the scope find the stuff for you.
You can also loosen the clutch knobs and manually point the scope, but its MUCH more fun driving it like a Tank Commander and slewing your turret to where you want.
Trust me, I am a bit of a techno freak and love cool electronic things, and this is one COOL gadget to play with when out under the stars. PLUS, there is the added bonus of being able to take some kick ass photos as well.
Chers
Chris