Hi Eric, a few things...
Usually, the ETX is used as a guidescope for a larger instrument. The f/13 is awfully slow for most photography. Also, the FOV is narrow and hard to center anything on a small CCD chip. CCD imaging is tough, and it takes a lot of practice and patience. It seems like you're done quite a bit of reading to know about the mount issues and things, but actually putting it all together is a separate issue.
That aside, I've never used a Vixen GP mount, but I'm not sure if you could get enough play out of the axis for fine guiding. I am unsure if the Vixen mount has PEC, someone that has experience with that mount will have to answer.
What I'd do if I were you... get your setup the way you want MINUS the CCD camera. Continue to take shots with your digital camera and make sure you can process shots well. There are some very nice planetary/solar/lunar shots done with digicams. After you are sure about your setup being how you want it, invest in a CCD camera.
I'd think that a jump directly into a high end CCD would be overkill and a mistake financially. If you add it up, the HX camera runs about $2000, the mount another $1000... and then a $150 OTA? Go for a nice mount, stay with the same OTA and use your digital camera for quite sometime. You can buy adaptors to directly mount it to your scope... OR get a modified webcam to use for a while.
Good luck on your quest!
Usually, the ETX is used as a guidescope for a larger instrument. The f/13 is awfully slow for most photography. Also, the FOV is narrow and hard to center anything on a small CCD chip. CCD imaging is tough, and it takes a lot of practice and patience. It seems like you're done quite a bit of reading to know about the mount issues and things, but actually putting it all together is a separate issue.
That aside, I've never used a Vixen GP mount, but I'm not sure if you could get enough play out of the axis for fine guiding. I am unsure if the Vixen mount has PEC, someone that has experience with that mount will have to answer.
What I'd do if I were you... get your setup the way you want MINUS the CCD camera. Continue to take shots with your digital camera and make sure you can process shots well. There are some very nice planetary/solar/lunar shots done with digicams. After you are sure about your setup being how you want it, invest in a CCD camera.
I'd think that a jump directly into a high end CCD would be overkill and a mistake financially. If you add it up, the HX camera runs about $2000, the mount another $1000... and then a $150 OTA? Go for a nice mount, stay with the same OTA and use your digital camera for quite sometime. You can buy adaptors to directly mount it to your scope... OR get a modified webcam to use for a while.
Good luck on your quest!
