New mount or replace old mount?

[NightSky_Wanderer]

Hi all,

So I dropped my mount off with one of the guys from Altair Astro (he lives in the same village as me) something was up with the motors i think. This is the old scope.

Anyway Im preparing for the worst, that I will need to get a new one. But Im in a bit of a dilemma.......... Do i replace it with the same one or upgrade ready for future scopes?

I haven't had to much experience with the scope as i only got my first one 4 months ago and the mount started going wrong not long after (it was second hand). Although Im new at this i have taken my first steps towards photography (pics in a previous post). I also like the goto mounts. 

I would say Im looking to spend no more that £500 although i just brought a car so the cheaper the better.

Any suggestion and advice would be great.

Adam

[jambouk]

You can pick these up for £250 or so second hand. In fact if you have the handset already you could probably find one for £100 or so.

James

[ronin]

If you are intending to do astrophotography then you need an equitorial mount, the one shown is Alt/Az.

So the intended use would mean a change to an EQ mount.

[jambouk]

In fact £85 to replace mount:

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/301575201235?nav=SEARCH

[jonathan]

The Celestron Omni CG-4 is a handy EQ mount that will carry a good range of scopes suitable for visual and photography, not too expensive with dual axis or single axis motor drive, add a polar scope for precise alignment.  After that it starts getting big, heavy, and pricey with the HEQ5 Pro or NEQ6 Pro for more serious photography stuff.

[NightSky_Wanderer]

Thanks for your replies so far.

In fact £85 to replace mount:

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/301575201235?nav=SEARCH

Cheers, I totaly forgot about looking on ebay. That might be the way.

The Celestron Omni CG-4 is a handy EQ mount that will carry a good range of scopes suitable for visual and photography, not too expensive with dual axis or single axis motor drive, add a polar scope for precise alignment.  After that it starts getting big, heavy, and pricey with the HEQ5 Pro or NEQ6 Pro for more serious photography stuff.

Looks good and a nice price too. I had looked at eq mounts after reading up on astrophotography but didn't really know what to go for.

[NightSky_Wanderer]

If I were to get the EQ mount are the motors easy to attach? I dont wanna end up breaking the mount. I also found on another thread about the kit to make the mount goto compatible AstroEQ its called. 

Also when browsing other threads on here I read about people having difficulty with polar alignment. Is it hard? and whats the purpose of it? Would i still do the 3 star alignment like i do at the mo? Sorry for all the silly questions.

[jambouk]

No idea about the motors, but polar alignment is dead easy, honestly, it just takes a few times to get your head around why you are doing it and how to actually do it. You polar align first, to tell the mount where the north celestial (or south celestial) pole is, as everything in the sky appears to rotate about this point, then you would do your star alignment so the mount knows at which point in the 23hr 56min cycle of the sky around that point the sky is at the moment. Dead easy.

James

[NightSky_Wanderer]

Thanks James that makes a lot of sense. I imagined having to do a whole song and dance for polar alignment.

[jambouk]

When starting out, it seems like a massive song and dance, but once you have it under your belt it can be done in a minute or two. It is easier to learn with someone there to help the first time as i've yet to read a good written guide on how to do it.

You'll be fine.

James