Mount advice for 40KG scope

[Essex Stargazer]

I am looking for advice from people who know more than I do

I am weighing up the purchase of a used OTA that weighs 40KG

but the purchase depends on the cost of a affordable mount , would like go to capability

Any advice most welcome

Thank you

[JamesF]

I'm not sure that most people would manage "mount for a 40kg OTA" and "affordable" in the same sentence

Olly has been singing the praises of the Mesu 200 for some time and if it does what it says on the tin then it appears very reasonably-priced for what it does. Not that I could afford one without selling a child first.

James

[DirkSteele]

The Paramount ME will certainly take that load (rated to 68kg of load) but unfortunately it is not cheap.

The Paramount MX is a bit cheaper* but rated to 40kg, so if you started putting a lot of imaging equipment on it, the mount might start to struggle.

If you are curious....

http://www.bisque.com/sc/

*still means $9,000!

[ampleamp]

Give Bernard at Modern Astronomy a ring re the Mesu - http://www.modernastronomy.com/mounts.htm#mesu - he will be able to tell you a lot about it. When I have had the chance(!!) I have been hugely impressed by mine so far. It will easily handle 40Kgs; what are you thinking about getting?

[Essex Stargazer]

Give Bernard at Modern Astronomy a ring re the Mesu - http://www.modernast...mounts.htm#mesu - he will be able to tell you a lot about it. When I have had the chance(!!) I have been hugely impressed by mine so far. It will easily handle 40Kgs; what are you thinking about getting?

Hi , One of these Orion Optics ODK 16

Should be good for imaging and viewing ( I hope )

Early days yet , I have some reserch and reviews to read first

[JamesF]

AFAIR Olly is using Yves' ODK (perhaps not a 16?) on a Mesu 200, so his brains are probably worth picking.

James

[Daniel-K]

http://www.365astronomy.com/fornax-51-heavy-duty-equatorial-mount-for-telescopes-up-to-40kg-p-2078.html just found this and its cheaper than the mesu ?

[angusb1]

http://www.opticcraft.com/telescopemounts.html#models

These will go way past the 40kg you want to mount and you can fit AWR drive systems to them for goto. NASA use them. Worth considerng alongside the likes of Mesu, AP1200GTO (if you can find a secondhand one) and Paramount.

[Essex Stargazer]

OK , thanks , Looks like more reading and reserch