EVERYONE IN IRELAND BUYS MEADE........

Keith,

I have only small telescopes and I'm into still photography as a separate hobby but I do know that I wouldn't buy this mount for shooting DSOs using a still camera or CCD regardless of which OTA. Webcams are a different matter because you can get surprising results on a small scope and basic tracking mount if you shoot 60+ frames and use software such as astrostacker to process them.

Personally I'm still thinking about it but if I do decide to buy it it will be to use the N6 visually. An f/5 Newt can be an amazing way to 'walk among the stars' given a good sky. I would try the mount with my other OTAs as well, particularly the C5 for shooting lunar stills and the PST for long solar sessions.

Dave,

I'd expect the N6 to be reasonably good on bright nebulae like Orion and nearby galaxies such as Andromeda but what range of DSOs do you think it would give an acceptable view of with the right eyepieces?

its best to know what you're looking at before you buy it,

read that comment, and read it again. I spent ages researching a scope, then finally took the plunge, and got a SCT, 6". i wanted portability and ease of use, but now im thinging if i went for a smaller refractor on a n Alt mount id be a lot happier, as living in dublin with terrible light pollution and no viewing spots around my house means i have to travel with my scope, and even though its only a 6", its not exactly portable, especially with the mount. also the thing will have to be collomated and getting to grips with the EQ mount is difficult( as its also non go to).Im sure my opinion will change once i get a car and get used to the scope, but all im saying is make sure what you think you are buying is really what you want. dont get blinded by low prices

I'd expect the N6 to be reasonably good on bright nebulae like Orion and nearby galaxies such as Andromeda but what range of DSOs do you think it would give an acceptable view of with the right eyepieces?

not to be sounding like politician, it depends on what you call acceptable, if you're happy just to see/detect something (which most are), then you'd be able to give most of the messier catalogue a run for its money, and many ngc objects, as for detail, thats another story.

If you want detail, you'd be better off downloading hubble images from the web.

I think there is probably a lot better value to be had for 600 lids than this scope. I don't think I could honestly recommend it to friends, like I felt I could with the ETX offer.

The OTA alone is worth at least €250 and you won't get a GoTo GEM elsewhere for as little as the price of the full package. The more I consider them as separate items the more sense they make as a bundle when put alongside what I have already.

The mount can be used with a wide range of lightweight OTAs, it doesn't have to be confined to serving the N6. The N6 OTA should be good for 300x in optimum conditions (with a 2.5mm eyepiece) and is more than capable of handling my Hyperion 3.5mm (217x) , as well as being a nice little number for wide field views and quite compact (but I wouldn't try to use it for imaging, visual is definitely its gig).

On the other hand if I didn't already have a NexStar 4 and had a choice between this and either an ETX 105 or a 125, I'd probably choose the ETX. But I might be wrong...

I saw the catalouge this morning, Is this mount good for astrophotgraphy???

Autoguiding ???

Keith..

It does not have an autoguide port but allegedly can be guided via the Meade imagers (LPI and DSI). Or so says the yahoogroup archives.

As for whats possible a browse though tech.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/LXD75telescopes/photos will give you an idea.