I am interested in getting into astronomy and some basic astrophotography (piggy back?), possibly getting more heavy on the astrophotography side some time down the track. I currently have a Canon 350D (unmodded).
I have managed to stretch my budget out to $1000, I know this won't get me far in the astrophotography world, but I am just looking at getting my foot in the door at this stage...
I have set my eyes on a Meade LXD75 6" newt and an EQ5 mount, I was wondering if this is a good place to start? And can I do better for my limited budget?
In this case I think I would suggest the standard start into astromony. For your $1000 get a 8-10" dob, get to know the sky visually then later when you have some more money add a HEQ5 mount to this setup for the photography part of your hobby.
The best advice I can give in this hobby is to make haste slowly. Get a good basic setup, add the accessories you need (collimating eyepiece, red torch, planisphere, chair, Telrad, good eyepieces, remote focusing) then get into the photography bit MUCH later when you have more understanding.
Maybe not the answer you wanted but good solid advice IMHO.
Ditto what Rob said. Enjoy getting to know your way around the sky first. While you're doing this, you will be learning heaps about wheres, whys and how-tos of your longer term goals.
Rob and Dave, I have been researching and reading the forums for months now, and was kind of expecting people to say a similar thing. I just thought that maybe if I asked I might get the answer I was after.
Ving, I have seen on the forums elsewhere that mount and OTA combination recommended and from what I have read it would be good, but I would have to pull out the credit card to get it though . What do you mean by the visual aspect won't be much good? Do you mean the aperture is small or without a guiding scope you can't see anything while you are taking an image? If that's the case, is it possible to use a very cheap scope for guiding?
an 80mm scope is just that... visually it wont show you half as much as a 200mm or above scope. when i say visually i mean just looking thru the eyepeice. of course if you never plan to look thru an eyepiece then it doesnt matter.
Rob, you mentioned getting a Dob first and then a HEQ5 mount later. Can the OTA be taken from the Dob mount and put onto the HEQ5 mount? Or would I need to purchase another OTA as well as the new mount?
It is commonly done. You just take the dob OTA off its alt/az mount and put on the GEM rings and you have a GEM mounted scope. iceman and ving do this with their scopes.
You get the best of both worlds, if you want visual then the dob is great, for photography then the GEM rules.
I am not going to say which is better, I personally think they are all in the same boat as far as quality is concerned. I would look around at the deals offered by both online and local suppliers and look at things like crayford focuser (should be mandatory on all new scopes, R&Ps are a thing of the past in my opinion), eyepieces offered in the deal, finderscope offered, etc.
Is there any particular brand of Dob that is better than the other. ie. Starhopper/Meade/Bintel/Skywatcher etc.
each has its strengths and weaknesses, but the one piece of advice i'll give you is if you plan on EQ mounting it later you need to get a solid tube dob like a skywatcher or GSO rather than a truss like the meades lightbridge.
I have a 8" GSO. used to be dob mounted, now its on a heq5. I have linked the controller to a laptop computer and i can controll the goto from there
here she is with her proud owner
Hi adds and welcome from another newcomer. I asked the same question not too long ago and got the same answer. I had a similar budget and have the same camera.
In the end I was persuaded and got a 10" dob from Andrews. I have to admit that they were right, the views through the 10" dob are amazing and I know I would have been very disappointed with the 5" SCT I was considering. The otehr thing is that when you get the scope there is actually a lot to learn about its use, eyepieces etc. and gaining experience really is necessary to get the most out of it.
I got a GSO dob from Andrews (delux version with Crayford and right angle finder). The bintel and skywatcher are also made by GSO I think and basically the same (?). I ahd a problem with glue on the primary mirror of mine from the little ring they stick on to help collimate. I'm told this is very rare, I don't know whether that is true but I can tell you that lee Andrews was very good about taking the whole OTA back and cleaning the mirror - he paid for shipping both ways too. So thumbs up to Andrews from me as it's when things go wrong that you really see differences in customer service.
adds can I suggest you go to an public night at one of the Astro Societies or even pop up to the SVAA's astro camp on between the 16-20 March there will be a great range of scope to look at and through. There will be scopes from 8" to 18" truss dobs, SCT's, MAK's & refractors.
You can come for one night or stay for the weekend, here are the prices. http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...3&postcount=47
All the people coming to the camp are a great bunch and the will answer most of your questions you have and you are welcome to take my 12" dob for a drive around the sky for a while.
I totally agree with Darrens (wombat) post above. Come along on the 16th - 19th of this month to the Astronomy Camp at Snake valley. It is a great way to see all sorts of set-ups in use, ask a zillion questions, get to use some of the gear (I'll have a 12" available for you to use too, and you can try out my EQ6 with GoTo), and meet like-minded folk.
There is also a talk on Astrophotography which will help you immensely.
You don't have to stay all 4 nights, but the more time you get researching and testing with equipment in one place (and the owners of the gear explaining its good & bad points) will help you in a big way before you make your decision.
Solanum, I'm sure it must be one of the most asked questions...
Knowing that I can at least take photo's of the moon with a Dob (even if it is just holding the camera up to the eyepiece) is enough to keep my astrophotography desire temporally satisfied while I take the time to learn and enjoy..
So I am probably looking at a Bintel 10" Dob also with the Crayford focuser. At this stage anyway.
But I think before I make any purchases I will try and get to the SVAA's astro camp for a night or two. I just need to get permission from the boss of the house first.
So, hopefully Darren and Ken, I will be able to take you up on those test drive offers.
If you want to have a go at widefields using only your camera and the standard lens have a look at the "barn door concept" if you are handy you can knock one up in an afternoon. I use a very cheap set up for widefields..a $200 guide scope only to get polar aligned and piggy back the camera on a cheap Chinese mount cleaned up a bit. keep your eye out for a second hand eq mount maybe but realise mounts are the game in astro fotos there is no limit on the cash you can throw at one but an eq6 finally is not bad around $2000 after that mm 5,000 6,000 15,000 just say when. Good luck
alex
. What do you mean by the visual aspect won't be much good? Do you mean the aperture is small or without a guiding scope you can't see anything while you are taking an image? If that's the case, is it possible to use a very cheap scope for guiding?
