How to set up a guiding system for your EQ5 mount on a budget.

 A new telescope has arrived the Sky Watcher 130pds much smaller and lighter then the 200p but with a better focuser and set up specifically for astrophotography I was hoping to be impressed with this little telescope having read glowing reviews of it. I was not disappointed its brilliant. I have an EQ5 mount and have used them for many years with the 200p but strictly speaking its pushing the weight carrying capacity of the mount. So the 130pds brings the balance back to normal and has many benefits. 

Firstly the 130pds compared to the 200p is smaller lighter secondly it comes with a much better focuser for very accurate focusing and thirdly it provides a larger field of view to capture those bigger targets like the California Nebula and M31.

So I was keen to put it through its paces and got it set up when it arrived by colminating the mirrors with my laser colminator. Next step was to balance the scope on the mount with the guide camera and Canon 450d in place. I didn't have to change anything else as the mount is in a permanent position and is polar aligned.

Next step was to get set up for a night session gathering RGB data and Ha data on the California Nebula a target that has alluded me for a long time.

First I needed to get a good focus and this was done with a Bahtinov Mask using Astrophotography tool as I normally do then I lined up my image after a few test shots and ran a total of 15 images at an ISO of 800 two minutes long. Time was short so only 15 rgb images but that was good enough. Next off was the Ha data this meant taking the camera off and putting in the Ha filter then refocusing and also making sure the camera was back in the same position.

That done I captured 23 images ISO 1600 3 mins each then called it a night having got my data ready to process the next day. The final result is the picture below combining the RGB data and Ha data together. Of course all of this is a steep learning curve if your new to astrophotography but the equipment is not mega expensive and the results are very worth while.

And for comparison the same target with the sky watcher 200p