Beginner scope $2k - 2.5 K

[Phoebus]

Hi all,

Long time lurker first time poster...

I'm looking at getting my first scope and am interested in getting getting into astrophotography as well as casual viewing; I'm thinking mainly DSO's - nebulae, galaxies etc. My budget is between $2000 - $2500. From researching through these forums it seems like a Skywatcher black diamond 8" Newtonian + NEQ6pro could be a good start - these two cost around $2300 from Andrews. However, I have a few questions that I'm hoping I can get some help with.

1) Would an HEQ5 Pro mount be adequate for this set up? I'm thinking this would leave me with more money left over to purchase other items. However, I keep reading it is important to "upsize" for your mount in order to future proof (though I can't imagine getting a bigger scope for a while).
2) In addition to the scope and mount, what accessories/eye pieces should prioritise first?
3) Any issues with fitting this set up in the back of a hatchback (a Tiida), there's a reasonable amount of boot room and back seat room?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

welcome to the boards

my thoughts on your questions

1) people on this forum do use a EQ5 for a similar telescope, but i dont think you will ever be annoyed you spent the extra money on a mount. the more weight capacity the more stable your scope and the better the subs you are likely to get
2) if you are looking to get into astrophotography, a autoguider is the best use of any additional money
3) Nah, i have had my 10" and eq6 in the back of a hatch, the scope usually goes across the back seat

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi and welcome , I would say the HEQ5 will be easily up to the job of holding the 8 inch it would work great for visual and limited AP if you go that way .

As the Newtonion has the eyepiece at the top you can use the mount with the legs under 1/2 way extended improving stability a lot .

Here is my HEQ5 under my C9.25 and it holds this OTA easily and the 8 inch OTA is a lot lighter than my CAT which is quite a substantial weight , compact but solid , very good for visual and I don't do AP except a few moon shots .

I would buy this mount and put the saved $$$ 's into a few nice GSO Superviews a Telrad and red torch etc .

Brian.

[Phoebus]

Thank you both very much and thanks for the welcome . The scope I'm looking at is the f/5 rather the f/4 I assume this is fine. Only other question I have is are
there any alternate set ups I should consider? Otherwise I might go ahead and order!

[dannat (Daniel)]

yes the setup should fit in a tiida -how far will you be travelling with it

f5 will be better images visually & only slightly slower for photography, fair bit easier to collimate though

have you looked thru a newtonian before? still advised to go & watch someone collimate/setup to see how it all works -ASV have their xmas bbq coming up soon

[sil (Steve)]

two accessories I'd suggest are a telrad finder and a baader zoom eyepiece. its a good quality eyepiece and covers a big range, it'll help decide what eyepiece sizes to go for if you ever want to buy some expensive ones, I only use my baader zoom, i dont need anything else.

the point about getting a big mount is not so you have room to upgrade later its mostly about having a solid, stable, reliable base. any tiny vibration can ruin a photo, you dont want to load a mount close to its limit and risk wear on the gears.