HEQ5 or Meade LXD75 Beginner Mounts for WA Astro

[Davekyn (David)]

Question:
Is the HEQ5 with the “simple” Dual Axis Hand Controller (not synscan and NO PEC!) good enough to start experimenting with astrophotography? I have an ED80 I wish to start using for with a cheap DSLR. If I was to keep the FOV as wide as possible could I get away without having the super accuracy the PEC gives?

Question:
The Meade LXD57 that Bintel sells looks very attractive and the following review is also very convincing:
http://www.cloudynights.com/documents/lxd75.pdf
This has PEC as well as many other features with Bintel’s Meade model including auto-star. Would I be better off with something like this for a beginners Astro mount.

I do not wish to attempt accurate planetary photography, but as a Wide field I can get through my ED 80 and a cheap DSLR...possibly an elcheapo CCD...but many in here advice against that...I’ll probably use it for something else when I get bored with it.

Anyways back to the mounts...can any of these two fit the bill for those simply wishing to experiment with astrophotography or not? I am not looking at the mount as the only one I will be stuck with for the rest of my life...

Actually, let me put it this way...I intend to buy one of them...which would you choose if you could not afford PEC or the latest and greatest but still wanted to play with cameras ect...

Cheers
Dave

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

For widefield imaging I use a Skywatcher EQ5 GoTo mount (almost identical to the LXD75 in specs). Never used the PEC function as it's easier just to autoguide with it - very reliable too. I've just bought a HEQ5 though - looking to mount something bigger down the line.
EQ5 mount will be up for sale soon at a price way below Bintel's LXD75 too!

Doug

[bato (Luke)]

Hi Doug,
Does the HEQ5 (non PRO) mount have the facility to autoguide or did you get the PRO version? This may be a point when it comes to the HEQ5 or LXD75 choice as the LXD75 can.

Luke

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Originally Posted by bato

Hi Doug,
Does the HEQ5 (non PRO) mount have the facility to autoguide or did you get the PRO version? This may be a point when it comes to the HEQ5 or LXD75 choice as the LXD75 can.

Luke

Hi Luke,
I've got the HEQ5 Pro which has a dedicated autoguider port as you said.

The non-pro version's handset can be modified to add a guider port if needed though and controlled via EQMOD software...
http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/introindex.html

But, after autoguiding for so long with the EQ5, the convenience of the pre-installed guider port on the HEQ5 Pro was a major draw.

Cheers
Doug

[bato (Luke)]

No worries. Thanks Doug.

Luke