I have a Meade star explorer for the last 4 years, looking for an upgrade.

[burnt glade]

This should work. I don't know anything about the camera, but the mount, scope, filed flattener, guidescope and guide camera should work fine

[idle tapir]

I have ran nearly the exact setup before, except I did not use guiding. I would say that it is a worthwhile investment to get either of the two flatteners available for the Z61 (either the Flat61A or the Flat61R if you want a focal reducer), as there is a bit of SA without. I ran both a DSLR (Canon 60d) as well as a cooled astro cam (ASI183MC-Pro) and have had great results.

The only thing I would be against in your list here, is the Tripod. I'm not a fan of the ones with an adjustable height outside of the legs. It creates a rotational moment and it less solid than a videographer's tripod. That said, I have NOT tried the one you listed and it may work just fine. I purchased one from Amazon. https://a.co/d/bAliPw8

On the camera, the D3500 has a good sensor and has quite low read noise and even low ISO settings, but the D3500 is NOT compatible with an intervalometer, nor does it have a built in utility. You can install software to run the shutter from a computer, but now the setup is getting a bit bulky. My choice would be to get a camera that either has one built in (ran through the rear screen, generally) or even better one that can run off an accessory port. Also, I'm not sure I would go full on with a camera kit. The kit lenses are well known for being rather low quality. With the $300 or so difference between the kit and just the camera body, you're over halfway to a good quality Rokinon135mm f/2 lens. Now with that lens, you're good for landscape as well as extreme widefield work at night. If you're still wanting a really short focal length lens, I'd just pick up a used one on FB Marketplace or something similar as the cost of a comparable lens to the kits' would be trivial. The quality of the lens is far less pronounced in day-to-day photography than it is in astrophotography.

[marsh jetty]

I already bought the camera from a friend, no lenses included. The Amazon listing was the first result that popped up. I’ll definitely check out your recommend tripod.

[idle tapir]

Well, good news is you're not stranded. I did find that DSLRDashboard is something you can use. Basically, you'll just need a laptop or RaspberryPi to control the camera via USB. I have no experience with it, so can't help, unfortunately.

[flat mirage]

I would go with he new star adventurer gti. Tracking is much better than the 2i and it has go to. You already have a good enough tripod for it

[idle tapir]

Yes and no. My switch from the SWSA to an HEQ5 was awesome for sure. the GoTo really helps me take more data throughout the night. BUT, learning the night sky with the SWSA was a much more fulfilling task over "let the robot do it." So much so, that I kept my SWSA and continue to take it out for widefield shots with the DSLR.

Not to mention the price difference. I think the price point of the GTI is too close to something like the iOpton CEM26 with twice the capacity.

[burnt glade]

Half as more expensive half as more payload

The gti is gonna work good with small apos

[idle tapir]

Very true and I agree. I just also know that the difference between having my Z61+accessories on my SWSA versus having it on my HEQ5 is noticeable enough that it doesn't leave the HEQ5 anymore. I don't see the differences between the SWSA and the GTI being enough to justify the $220 difference, but then not also making the justification to jump to a 20+lb capacity mount. I will say that this opinion is not solid, as I've not had a chance to see the GTI in action and it may be far better than the credit I'm giving it now.

[flat mirage]

There is a BIG difference between "learning the night sky" and messing with a 560mm fl telescope trying to find the andromeda galaxy

[idle tapir]

Yes, but with that setup he'll be at 288mm.

[leaden peak]

yep, the tripod dosen't look great imo

id get something like this instead: https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/ioptron-tripod-for-skyguider-proskytrackercube.html

worked great with my swsa

[marsh jetty]

I'll look into it I haven't really confirmed with anything

[leaden peak]

if you dont need a dslr for other stuff aswell you could always go with a ASI 533mc Pro or a QHY 294c

[marsh jetty]

This is my first time ever doing astrophotography with a camera setup. although the QHY does look amazing

[leaden peak]

533 has a really clean sensor, but the 294 has a great Quantumn efficency, dynamic range, well depth+ the 294 colour can unbin and capture 46mp images, the smaller pixel size works great with smaller scopes aswell

[floral terrace]

Thought only the mono could do that?