Portable mount wonderings

[philipus]

Hello everybody

A newbie question that I hope someone could assist me with. With the holidays around the corner and travels home for Christmas, I'm wondering if it would be possible to find a mount (a GEM I guess?) that:

- is portable as hand luggage on a plane (though tripod could be in the hold)

- can take a camera+lens combo weighing ca 2 kgs, and

- can be autoguided?

I am looking for something for longer exposure widefield photography (no observing) with up to 50-400mm lenses as I will be at a rather dark location.

I've seen the SkyGuider, this Celestron kit and the iOptron SmartStar. Any thoughts on these and are there other/better alternatives at the same price point?

As for guiding, I'd also very much appreciate thoughts on a cost-effective solution for this type of photography.

Best and TIA,

Philip

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Hi Philip,

Some peeps seem to go for the SkyWatcher Star Adventure http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html  and its mountable on a standard tripod

[philipus]

Thanks very much for the reply Julian. I had seen that one briefly but not fully appreciated it. One question though (and it pertains to some other mounts I've also seen). It says:

"Built-in auto-guiding interface for single-axis auto guiding"

I would have thought for better guiding one should have two-axis guiding, or?

Thanks again

br
Philip

Hi Philip,

Some peeps seem to go for the SkyWatcher Star Adventure http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html  and its mountable on a standard tripod

[spaceman_spiff]

Single axis auto guiding will account for periodic error in the RA axis - It should be fine as long as you get a good polar alignment to minimise drift in the dec axis.

[ronin]

The iOptron Smart EQ's are pretty small and I think can be guided.

Says weight of mount is 2.8Kg - I presume this is the mount head, although if it is head and tripod then the head will be something like 2Kg.

I know they are small as it was the small size that put me off getting one.

[Owmuchonomy]

My early Xmas present.