dual mounting question :)

[Ashley Morgan]

Hey everyone,

looks like after two years of not knowing what equipment to choose and going around in circles I've finally come to a decision on what first serious scope setup I would like to get. Which leads me to my question that I need help with from all you knowledgeable stargazers out there and thanks for all the help so far on this forum

the story so far to help you understand where I'm coming from:

Ive decided that I'm going to get the evostar 120mm refractor by april as I'm purely interested in visual astronomy of solar system objects, namely the moon, jupiter and saturn. P.s. I love refractors hence my decision over a mak or dob etc

I decided on an eq5 mount, as this from what i could tell will be a good candidate for stability and price as I'm only a visual observer not photographic and prefer to star hop (as best i can haha) over goto...

but I'm interested in eventually getting a 150 or 200 reflector later in the year (funds depending) to compliment the evostar 120mm so i can enjoy both solar and then dso observing when the conditions allow as i saw my first dso last week in my 80mm frac and was blown away by what could be seen in this little scope under street lights! the orion nebula was amazing! so would be interested in eventually getting the newt as i mentioned to get the best of both worlds for some dso hunting.

SO! almost there haha, I then got the Idea for dual mounting two scopes on one stand as id prefer to have it all in one space instead of on separate mounts etc...

so my question is! finally lol which would be the best approach to dual mounting? I've tried looking online but finding it hard to figure out... so here are my ideas:

A) get the eq5 and combine it with this:

First Light Optics - ADM Vixen-type Dual Mounting Bar

to mount both a evostar 120mm and a 150 or 200mm skywatcher newt. would this be strong and stable enough for the two?

OR

use the skywatcher pillar mount:

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Pillar Mount Support for HEQ5 & EQ6 series mounts

with the skytee 2:

First Light Optics - Skywatcher SkyTee-2 Alt-azimuth mount

for a stable dual setup

OR FINALY!

C) combine the eq5 tripod with the skytee 2 mount head?

as either way I will need to get the eq5 until i can afford the pillar or skytee 2 mount head.

so which would provide best stability and usability for mainly an evostar 120mm and a 200mm reflector? the only considerations are that its stability on a visual level not a photographic level and also height for using a 120mm refractor as a primary scope... and don't worry about weight or transportability as I'm only 15 mins away from the best dark skys in my area so I'm not one to worry about it being grab n go as i make a night out of going to the dark sky area when i do

Sorry for the essay and thanks for all the help so far, as this is the last piece of the puzzle to think of before finally upgrading from my little 80mm helios ST frac hehe

thanks in advance!

Ash

get the skywatcher pillar mount from flo:

[Stephen]

In my opinion that's far too much weight on the EQ5

200 : 9KG

150 : 6KG

120 : 6KG

Dual mount bars : 1KG

EQ5 limit : 9KG

[Ashley Morgan]

just so you know its either a 200mm or 150mm not the two lol haven't decided yet.

would the skytee and pillar mount work?

also any suggestions on how this could be achieved to mount both a evo 120mm and the sw 200mm reflector say as an extreme example, what equipment would be best? as I'm not sure hence why I'm asking lol

so any advice or help would be much appreciated and thanks for the speedy reply

[Stephen]

just so you know its either a 200mm or 150mm not the two lol haven't decided yet.

would the skytee and pillar mount work?

also any suggestions on how this could be achieved to mount both a evo 120mm and the sw 200mm reflector say as an extreme example, what equipment would be best? as I'm not sure hence why I'm asking lol

so any advice or help would be much appreciated and thanks for the speedy reply

I wasn't thinking both, it's one of them plus the 120 yes? I put all the weights for comparison.

I don't know enough about the Skytee to add a comment on that I'm afraid!

For the 120/200 combo, it's at the max (but within) the HEQ5 limit, NEQ6 would be better.

I'm not sure what the benefits of two primary OTAs dual mounted would be though?

[Ashley Morgan]

hey thanks for the reply so quick again and yes

Its just more of a personal reason for dual mounting can move it from conservatory or garage then pop it out into garden instead of setting up two separate mounts etc lol but its not essential i do was just wondering if it was possible with these two scopes

thanks again

[RikM]

The SkyTee II would be perfect.

[barkis]

Ashley,

Why not put rings and a dovetail on both scopes, and mount them independently as required. swapping them over would not be a time consuming business.

You are visual only, therefore no guiding scope would be required on the EQ5.

I understand your desire to have both mounted for convenience, but the alternative method will save you money.

You can upgrade as and when you are ready to.

Ron.

[Ashley Morgan]

true it does look like it will be costly to do effectively, just out of curiosity would a skywatcher AZ4 be capable of holding a eve 120mm and remain stable? instead of using an eq5 or would the eq5 be better longterm than the AZ4?

thanks again guys

[RikM]

For purely visual use, I would say the AZ4 would be good. I use a 150P on one and it is rock solid. I have a 5" frac in a box under the stairs but haven't had the chance to use it on this mount yet.

[Ashley Morgan]

ah right ok, as i don't mind the idea of an eq5 but i am tempted to get a good alt az just for simplicity of use, but looking some threads here it would be apparently at the edge of the AZ4 limit, the only thing I'm worried about is if I'm going too get the 120 id want a stable mount without mad vibrations if i know it lol

or i can probably see myself just going with the eq5 if its more stable haha

thanks again