Celestron GoTo CG-5 Mount and Tripod

[jaspa]

Is this mount any good and will it take a Skywatcher 200 ?

Was going to buy a Skywatcher Explorer 200P (HEQ5) later in the year, reckon it might be a cheaper option to get secondhand of both the above (with the added bonus of goto which is an expensive upgrade on a HEQ5).

Thanks for any opinions.

Mark

[GordonCopestake]

Given the CG5 has recently dropped in price to £436 (minus any discounts) I think it's an excellent mount. It's not as acurate as the HEQ5 nor have as high a load capacity but for the price.... The equivilent HEQ5 Pro (with GOTO) is nearly twice as much. The non-GOTO version is closer in price and for photography is probably the best bet. If however you are purely a visual observer I would happily go with the CG5 and save your cash. You can happily mount your existing 5" OTA on the mount and add to it later with a new 8" OTA. One thing to note though is the CG5 can be NOISY when slewing.

[Black Shuck]

Mark,

My Celestron C8N (200mm) is on a CG5 mount. I assume the Skywatcher 200 is very similar therefore the mount would be suitable??

One thing of note though - the motor is quite noisy when slewimg to an object (i.e highest speed).

Are you looking at the one on EBay by the way?? Bear in mind that both Adam Hinds and Steve at FLO are doing the mount for about £450 (and don't forget your 10% discount).

Hope this helps.

Bill£

[Black Shuck]

Must be an echo in here!! Sorry didn't see Gordon's reply until I had posted

Bill£

[jaspa]

Yes looking at the one on ebay thats what gave me the idea and the seller is close to me.

Would like to do some photography in the future so am i best to get the HEQ5.

[GordonCopestake]

If you want to do photography I would go for the HEQ5 yeah, it has much lower periodic error than the CG5

[Greg]

I would have to say the HEQ5 with the 200mm and a later upgrade to the Pro....

IMHO..