Which Mount !!!!

[pushkarsobti]

Hello

I am planning to purchase my first mount (for astro-photography), which as of now would be used with my dslr and 18-55 F3.5-5.6, 35mm F1.8, 70-300mm F4-5.6 lense untill I save Vitamin-M for a scope ( minimum 8")

My current budget includes

Celestron Advanced VX Mount

Skywatcher EQ3 PRO Synscan GOTO 

Skywatcher EQ5 PRO Synscan GOTO

Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO Synscan

Skywatcher NEQ6 PRO Synscan

My main concern is carrying it around (weight) as I love to travel.

I am looking for something that I can pick and travel but with the possibility of a long term upgrade.

How should I proceed.

Still in learning phase.

Thank you all.

Regards

[damnut]

Hi There,

If you are considering travel then have you considered a mount for a dslr such as  :-- http://www.365astronomy.com/NEW-AstroTrac-TT320X-AG-Compact-Telescope-Mount-with-Autoguiding.html?gclid=CLKlme_M38UCFUfMtAodLxIASw or  the skywatcher http://www.tringastro.co.uk/sky-watcher-star-adventurer-7345-p.asp?gclid=COPqy7HM38UCFQoEwwodLqYAoQ .

Iff you are going to use a telescope then it would probably be the VX or the NEQ6.

Good luck with your choice.

[xtreemchaos]

hi mate i can only recomened the EQ5 " cos ive got one " i find it dos the job good but its quite heavy with the steel legs, as for the AstroTrac TT320X on coolness it wins hands down ive hear loads of good things about them. good luck with your choice,charl.

[Tinker1947]

If you want a light weight mount to take a DSLR or small scope the the Skywatcher Star Adenturer will fit in a back-pack, run on 4 AA Batteries, and track for several minutes perfectly.....

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html

[Earl]

always get the best mount you can get as it makes it easirt from there onwards, and saves money long term as you can end up upgrading due to a bad earlier decision. (im guilty of this)

[RobertI]

What sort of travelling will you be doing? By plane or car? By plane means getting an astrotrac/star adventurer type mount. By car means getting one of your short-listed mounts depending on the size of your car (except perhaps the NEQ6 which many people don't consider portable).

[DaveS]

Get two.

Star-Adventurer for DSLR / Travel, NEQ6 (Or the AZ-EQ6 if you can stretch).

As for the 'scope, it's the last thing to be considered for AP, and of its attributes, aperture is probably the least important. Plenty of stunning DSO photos on 85-105 mm aperture range.

[ronin]

If AP is what you intend then maybe think against an 8" scope. An 8" scope tends to be aimed at visual not AP and a good visula scope doe not make a good imaging scope. Do not mix the 2 up without a fair amount of thought about what the intended purpose is.

[pushkarsobti]

Hi There,

If you are considering travel then have you considered a mount for a dslr such as  :-- http://www.365astronomy.com/NEW-AstroTrac-TT320X-AG-Compact-Telescope-Mount-with-Autoguiding.html?gclid=CLKlme_M38UCFUfMtAodLxIASw or  the skywatcher http://www.tringastro.co.uk/sky-watcher-star-adventurer-7345-p.asp?gclid=COPqy7HM38UCFQoEwwodLqYAoQ .

Iff you are going to use a telescope then it would probably be the VX or the NEQ6.

Good luck with your choice.

Thank you all.

This just cleared all the doubts I had.

I'm gonna go ahead with Star Adventurer !!

[Tinker1947]

Thank you all.

This just cleared all the doubts I had.

I'm gonna go ahead with Star Adventurer !!

Your love it......

[damnut]

That looks excellent, after seeing it a while ago and once again looking at it on Tring's website  I have been looking for an excuse to hit the pain button.

[Traveller]

HEQ-5 is a a reasonably portable mount. I have an EQ-6 pro which is slightly heavier but has better payload capacity. My next mount is AZEQ-6 same capacity as my EQ-6 but has built in encoders and belt drive.