IF01 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Having received lots of feedback and advice on choosing my first scope I thought I'd throw out some questions about mounts.My thoughts for a scope are heading down the route of a Mak-Cass scope. I notice many of these are packaged with computerised Altazi mounts. Well I'm not sure at these early stages I want to go down the GoTo type of route. I've just got myself a planisphere and star atlas so I want to plan, explore and find things for myself.So Altazi or EQ for a beginner who may eventually go down the route of computer drive add ons - which should I be looking at? My philosophy at present is keep it simple and enjoy without too much worry about the technology. That can come later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Alt Az is so much more intuitive and so easier to use in my opinion, and the eyepiece stays in a comfortable position too. Remember if you buy a scope with goto you don't have to use it - you can find things for yourself - but you have it available if you need it.Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Drew Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 A Dobsonian Newtonian might well be your best bet at this stage, you could easily remount the tube on an equatorial mount in the future for astrophotography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan46 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 If you do get a Mak you are better off with a driven mount as the narrow field of view means you will need to work harder to keep things in view. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/slt-series/celestron-nexstar-127-slt.htmlhttp://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-skymax-127-synscan-az-goto.htmlhttp://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-127-supatrak.htmlThese are obviously the 3 you are looking at. if you are asking is it worth the extra 20 quid to get the goto over the tracking mount I would say yes as to whether you get celestron or skywatcher both are very good in fact they are the same scope with slightly different software. I prefer the celestron software, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IF01 Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 I'm hoping that a Mak is a scope I can 'grow' into. I realise that as a beginner it may well be a little challenging at first to find certain objects given the F length of 11.8 (hence the narrow field of view I guess?). I'm thinking that because it will be my first scope I'll be looking for 'easy' viewable objects to start with anyway and as my knowledge grows with the hobby I will get better use from it. What I don't want to do is buy a scope and 6 months down the line think I should have gone for something better. I guess we can all do that though if we have deeper pockets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti monster Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 A motorised equitorian mount would be my suggestion, EQs aren't hard to master and once set up a motorised mount will track your object whilst you observe, requiring minor adjustments now and again. Many can be upgraded to goto by changing the handset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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