Heq5pro + 250mm newt suitability

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Hi

I am considering getting one of Andrew Lee's 250mm f5 Newtonian OTAs
to mount on my HEQ5Pro mount. My intention is to use this for imaging with my Cannon 400D camera.
I would appreciate comments on the feasibility/suitability of such a setup.

Cheers Peter

[mick pinner]

for astrophotography the 250mm would be way to big, some may disagree but the cantilever effect combined with the weight of the tube would give you trouble.

[Tandum (Robin)]

I doubt you'd be able to balance it on a heq5. I have one on an eq6 and it needs 4 weights on the arm to balance and the eq6 arm is way longer than an eq5 arm.

[Manav (Yugant)]

I have the SW 254BD on EQ6 pro and I needed to get an extra weight to balance the scope. If you are serious about astrophotography you will require a guidescope and an auto guider down the track. All this adds weight and I think you will need a NEQ6 pro to manage it. Other option is to go to a 200mm and get a HEQ5 but I would encourage you to think about future proofing incase you upgrade later.

Conclusion - Get EQ6 pro for that OTA.

[AlexN]

For imaging - thats pushing it big time... for visual, a 10" on a HEQ5 is doable, but for imaging the poor little mount just wont handle the load.. even a EQ6 Pro will struggle unless the conditions are right.. a good breeze will put an end to a 10" newt on an EQ6 Pro without a few modifications here and there...

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

I had a 10" f5 on an HEQ5 and can confirm that it is a no-go for DSLR imaging. It was nice, but a bit shakey, for visual and OK for webcam stuff.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Too much I'm afraid. A 6 - 8 " would be a better bet as the tubes will be better balanced and less likely to shake the camera.

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Thanks All - this was just the type of advice I was looking for. I will have to restrain my aperture fever if I want to retain the HEQ5Pro mount.
I understand that the mount is supposed to take about 16Kg but a 300 mm Newtonian plus guider, cameras etc would probably exceed this limit.
The way the weight rod slides into the mount is neat but it makes for a very short rod. I have seen threads which give ways of extending the rod but if you have to do this it probably means that you are overloading the mount. Cheers Peter