Before I Pull The Trigger (First AP Setup)

[Lilac_dust (Jasmine)]

This is my very first AP setup, I want to capture the Andromeda, as many Nebulae as possible and honestly whatever else that I can.
So I think I've finally made a decision that's suited to what I'm after but before I do lock it in I just want to see what everyone else thinks.

How does this sound;
Heq5 Pro
Redcat 51
Asi533mc Pro
(Later) Uniguide 32mm and ASI120MM Mini Guider

Now because this would be blowing my budget and is already making me feel guilty
Can I get away with no guide scope for a little while? Along with whatever else I may need and cant think/know of right now.

Two more questions that may be silly but as this will be my first dedicated astrocam could someone please explain how this is powered, is it a usb cable or does it use a power adapter? I'll just be using it at home for now.

And how does the guide scope attach to the telescope?

Thanks!

[Wilsil (Wilco)]

Welcome to the rabbit hole.
You might have a look at this site: https://astrobackyard.com/
He started with a DSLR and a Redcat and no guiding.

I don't know the 533MC, but if it has cooling (what I think it has) it needs to be powered separately in order to get the cooling to work.
You can start without guiding, but you are limited to shorter exposures.
The better your polar alignment is, the longer you can however there is a limit.

[Kuz]

Welcome Jasmine

Soundslike a pretty sweet set up . You will need 2 power packs 1 like the attached photo for the mount ( cigarette plug )and one for the camera Later you can run the 120 guide scope from the back of the zwo 533mc pro.You should be right without an auto guide with shorter exposures due to the wide field of the red cat . I got my power packs through jaycar. Some here might have a better solution, but this will get you going for around

[Kuz]

Jasmine , just looking at the bintel site. The zwo 183 would better than 533.

If you go to the bintel site . In tools you can match cameras to your telescope.

[Lilac_dust (Jasmine)]

Ah okay that makes sense, I didn't realise the mount was a lighter plug. The camera is just a usb then yes?

As I only have views of West and South is blocked by a wall, I'll be (hopefully) polar aligning/3 star aligning with N.I.N.A. Would the guide scope be more important taking that into consideration?

I just had a look at bintel and I see what you mean, I was just going off what I've seen and the reviews for the 533mc and the ZWO comparison chart which gave 5 stars for DSO. I like the FoV of the 533mc too but I'll do some research on the 183mc anyway.

I do have a Nikon D7500, I just thought the image quality would be better with a dedicated. But if the guide scope is more important then I could probably deal with the image quality of the DSLR and actually have 1 less thing to learn as well.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Welcome to IIS
HEQ5 mount , great choice
Redcat 51 scope , great choice
Using ASI533MC will result in a pixel scale of 3.1 arc sec per pixel ( way under sampled )
Using ASI183MC will result in a pixel scale of 1.9 arc sec per pixel ( reasonably good sampling ) This camera is slightly cheaper than the ASI533MC too
You can just capture unguided subframes to start off with , autoguiding can come later ( with tight polar alignment you can push 60sec subframes which is more than adequate for now )
The ASI183MC will require a USB3 cable for data and for cooling a Powertech power adapter 12V 7.5amp ( same as one already mentioned with photo ) or alternatively the ZWO power supply with a suitable power cord 2.1mm centre positive

Good luck and enjoy this wonderful hobby
Martin

[Kuz]

This is the cord you will need for the zwo pro camera . I personally would be a zwo air . They are worth their weight in gold. Polar aligment takes me about 2 minutes to do now . Although good chance won't be compatible with a dsl . Sadly this equals more money. Skywatcher 72 ed could be another option as well. Good luck .