[throwaway64643]

Haha. This reminds me of a Redditor's story. Despite having no money to afford professional hardware, he still managed to take good astronomy photos using his phone. In one of his posts, his photos impressed a "kind stranger" so much that they gifted him one of the most expensive Reddit awards, whose value can buy him a third of his desired gear.

[Firmwarrior]

haha, oh man

(For context: Reddit awards don't give the recipient anything except the ability to browse Reddit without any banner ads, and access to a special forum. If you make a big Reddit donation to someone, you're actually donating to Conde Nast, Spez, etc)

[LegitShady]

pretty sure the most expensive reddit award is worth $120, which isn't a down-payment on an equatorial drive. It might pay for 1/3 of an IR conversion on an existing DSLR camera, maybe.

professional astronomy photos is an activity where the low end starts very expensive. Basic setups are in the thousands of dollars.

[thayne]

If you are imaging bright objects like planets or the moon, you don't need an equatorial drive. Especially if you are using a "fast" telescope.