Mounts in a Nutshell

[Pappy Nick]

Dear All ...

Is there somewhere on this forum that explains all of the mount designations ??

I have tried searching on EQ and Equatorial but can't seem to find a definitive explanation.

Or can some kind person enlighten me ?

All advice/pointers appreciated.

[Psychobilly]

Have you tried wikipedia...

A quick google search for "telescope mount types" pulled upsome useful links....including the wiki entries

Peter...

[Pappy Nick]

Thanks for that Peter, but it wasn't really the Mount types (ie Equatorial/AltAzimuth) but rather the designations within the types that I was after.

You quite often see people recommending, for example, an EQ5 over an EQ2, or an AZ3 over an AZ1, and I was curious as to why.

I did follow your advice and google around, and promptly found a similar question (and subsequent answers) on the Society for Popular Astronomy forum. This gave me the impression that it's mainly a weight issue so, again for example, an EQ5 can carry a bigger scope than an EQ1.

Is it as simple as this, or are there any further differences that could be added ??

[garethmob]

equatorial mounts all basacally do the same thing but as you go up each mount gets a higher carrying payload. also as each one gets bigger there is less backlash and a better tracking accuracy (which is good for Astrophotography) ((providing the mounts have motors of course)

also as each gets higher you will find a little bit of technology on them (computer controled ect)

EQ1 usally the most basic eq mount you can get a telescope on

EQ2

EQ3

EQ3-2

EQ5

HEQ5

EQ6

(then the celestron versions of the same mounts)

im not too sure about the AZ designations but i can only assume the AZ3 has a higher payload, newer

[E621Keith]

The recommendations are mostly to do with carrying capacity and machining quality.

EQ1 to EQ6 are Skywatcher's equatorial mount. They are the most common mount and best value for money. Parallel to that, Celestron's CG5 sits between EQ5 and HEQ5, while CGEM sits slightly above EQ6. All of those are made by the Chinese manufacturer Synta.

Non Chinese mounts are usually more expensive hence not usually recommended for beginners. If someone is considering getting the non Synta mounts, they usually know what they are doing. Apart from Vixen's Japanese GP (original EQ5) series and Meade's yet to be released Mexican LX80, I don't think you can get a non Chinese EQ mount for under £1K.

[Psychobilly]

This link will take you to Skwatchers "mount" sectionontheir website....

TELESCOPE SUPPLIERS - SKY-WATCHER TELESCOPE

The specs and other info should only be a few clicks away...

Peter...

[E621Keith]

You may find this thread useful.

http://stargazerslounge.com/discussions-mounts/97150-eq5-mount-variants.html

These mounts are available in several different forms each. Obviously the weight capacity is higher the further up the range that you go... EQ6 (or NEQ6 as I believe it is now called being the best)

Here are the meanings of the two drive options, the third and fourth options are fairly self explanatory.

Synscan - full goto, the best option to have.

SynTrek mount has the same pre-installed stepper-motors, motherboard and autoguider port from the PRO SynScan but is supplied with a non-GOTO hand controller that provides slewing controls and automatic tracking of celestial objects. You can upgrade from Syntrek by just purchasing the SynScan handset.

EQ6 - Dual Axis Drives

EQ6 - SynTrek

EQ6 - SynScan

HEQ5 - Dual Axis Drives

HEQ5 - SynTrek

HEQ5 - SynScan

EQ5 - Undriven

EQ5 - RA Axis Drives

EQ5 - Dual Axis Drives

EQ5 - SynScan

EQ3 - Undriven

EQ3 - RA Axis Drives

EQ3 - Dual Axis Drives

EQ3 - SynScan

EQ2 - Undriven

EQ2 - RA Drives

EQ2 - Dual Axis Drives

EQ1 - undriven

EQ1 - RA Drives (Table Top Tripod)

EQ1 - RA Drives (Full tripod)

Hope that this is sort of what your after!?

Ant

Carrying capacity

EQ1 - 3kg

EQ2 - 4kg

EQ3-2 - 5.5kg

EQ5 - 9kg

HEQ5 - 13.5kg

EQ6 - 18kg

Mount weight

EQ1 - 5.5kg

EQ2 - 8kg

EQ3-2 - 12.5kg

EQ5 - 16kg

HEQ5 - 19.5kg

EQ6 - 34.5kg

Numbers from Orion USA, converted to metric and rounded to nearest 0.5kg

[cowasaki]

This link might be useful to you:

TELESCOPE SUPPLIERS - SKY-WATCHER TELESCOPE

Basically you can click on several of the EQ mounts and it compares them, showing you the differences.

EDIT: DOH! I had the window open and the courier just arrived with my new ST80 By the time I got back to the computer lots of other replies have happened but I didn't refresh the display.

[Pappy Nick]

Brilliant !!! That's just the stuff I was after.

Many thanks to one and all.

[ollypenrice]

Be aware that tracking accuracy is ever more important (for imaging) as focal length rises, so if you have a two metre focal length scope expect the mount to cost about £2000 per metre of that FL!! For 3 metres of FL it's more like £3K per metre... Ouch.

Olly