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advice on using eq mount and gymnastics

nicks90

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nicks90

nicks90

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hi folks,

i recently picked up a celestron astromaster 130eq and have had a couple of short observing sessions with it - previously i was using a little frac on a table top alt/az mount.

one thing i noticed alot of last night (excellent seeing by the way last night!) was that when looking at objects nearly overhead, eg bigW, i was performing some right gymnastics to get my eye to the finder. I wont comment on the usefulness of the red dot finder for now :lipsrsealed:

I was also struggling with getting the ota lined up when pointing overhead, as the 2 axis movement at certain points - especially overhead - just didnt seem to feel 'right' and i often found i was spinning the whole thing around and reversing the ota on dec axis by 180deg and rotating the ota in the rings to get it lined up right, as it seemed to run out of movement in one axis.

it was quite a frustrating session actually and i;m starting to wish i had gone for a dob or a heavy duty alt/az mount for simplicity sake, as i dont intend on imaging and dont need motor drive etc I;m more of a point and shoot type!

Am i doing something stupid, or is this just how it goes?

Although the overhead stuff was literally a pain in the neck, I did grab some epic views of M45 and jupiter and the moon. Plus i am pretty sure i caught uranus, SkEye said i was pointing at it and my rediculous red dot finder was in the right direction, plus there was nothing else near it in my ep or on SkEye. It was small faint and bluish. Hope it was, as its a big one on my list to tick off!

cheers

Nick

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rwilkey

rwilkey

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Hi Nick, that is one of the pains of an EQ mount if you want to keep it polar aligned, one of the reasons I now prefer to use my frac on an AZ mount, plus being partly disabled after a stroke a couple of years ago, I find things much easier now.

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Eastridge

Eastridge

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Don't berrate yourself too much for not getting a Dob, although generally I find our Dob easier than old EQ mount scope we had to use, I feel I should point out that for overhead finding it is a pain as well. At least ( I assume) yours it at some height I have had times laid on the floor trying to align it!

( I know I should get a right angle finder really (RACI probably) but want to spend the money I have on EP's instead. )

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nicks90

nicks90

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Hi Nick, that is one of the pains of an EQ mount if you want to keep it polar aligned, one of the reasons I now prefer to use my frac on an AZ mount, plus being partly disabled after a stroke a couple of years ago, I find things much easier now.

next time i go out, I am really tempted to knock the latitude part of the eq mount on the head - return it to horizontal and not bother polar aligning the thing - then use it as a slightly complicated AZ mount instead.

and the mod to the red dot 'get-loster' is a blinding idea!

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rwilkey

rwilkey

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Hi Nick, to be honest I just moved the scope into the best viewing position for me, unless you are doing automated tracking, which I don't. EQ mounts are OK for those that get on with them, but personally I prefer my AZ mount now and the frac.

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nephilim

nephilim

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I know exactly what you mean mate, I bought my first scope nearly 2 months ago (Skywatcher 130m EQ2) & thought i'd made a BIG mistake, astronomy can be quite frustrating at the best of times and having to constantly fight with the mount makes things doubley difficult. I'v no great advice other than to try n stick with it, at some point 4 me (& I've heard others say the same) it 'clicked' as it were & now I find it fairly str8 4ward, Its alot easier following an object with the slo-mo 'sticks' as it keeps to the correct path of the sky, rather than having to go 'up,across,up,across' etc with an Alt/Az. It's never going to be easy observing overhead with any type of mount & I think the pro's of an EQ outweigh the con's. Thats just my opinion & everyone is obviously different in whats best for them!

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cantharis

cantharis

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wow! thats a bit harsh mate.

desperate to get out again now, as a friend is popping over after tea with his laser collimator and is going to give my scope a quick once over for me.

Harsh? - possibly, but only too true I fear . This is why dobsonian mounts are so popular - otters again I am afraid

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Trouble is lots of (would be) astronomers are basically [offending text replaced by otters].

I think this remark is way out of line and the follow up makes it worse.

Harsh? - possibly, but only too true I fear . This is why dobsonian mounts are so popular - the cerebrally challenged can just nudge them into place- and briefly observe their target - without having to engage brain to work out the niceties of an equatorial mount - [offending text replaced by otters again I am afraid].

Total rubbish. Most people get dobs because for visual they give by far the best bang for buck. I prefer EQ mounts, and just pretend they are dobs at the north pole. No intellectual effort required. EQ mounts are not much of a pain on the ligaments as long as you use a frac, RC, Mak or SCT. With Newtonians rotating rings help.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Well EQ mounts do tax some people, and as we are being so frank and forthright, I have long suspected that some Dob users are in fact just plain scared of EQ mounts and rationalise it away with the " I've got a bigger one " argument. As they should know its rarely size that counts :)

Theres no great intellectual challenge in an EQ mount and its has some big benefits for planetary and high power observing, namely not having to constnatly nudge the scope about and being able to get on with observing what your looking at. The tracking means you are fe to use cheaper narrowfield eyepieces rather than having to whinge constantly that you need expensive well corrected widefield EPs cos you dont want to nudge the Dob about. So intead of buying a £40 tracking motor you end up having to buy £600 a pop eyepieces ( and generally become a Televue groupie into the bargain :) oooooerrr mind my exit pupil )

Personally I prefer an EQ as you can mount other stuff on it...and I do. Try having a Dob mounted Mak some time :) Also I cind contsntly having to nudge a scope to be a royal pain. You stand back for a few minutes to have a coffee and ........oh the target has drifted away. Its like chase the chicken. Oh and while I am it the next Dob owner who steps up and asks me to find something with my GoTo cos "he cant sem to find it though he is sure its there somewhere" might just get a less then helpful response :)

To the OP you need to rotate the scope in its rings so that the EP is in a good position for each view. On a small scope this is easy but on a bigger one rotatimg rings become almost essential. Another tip is when the scope is ponting North in its home position put it into its rimgs so that the EP is facing the ground. That will mean in most Southern positions, which will be where you are mostly looking, the EP will always be in a reasonable position.

Looking vertically up is fine with my EQ mount refelector because the EP is about head height. With a frac or a Mak it can involve kneeling on wet grass a lot. Most scopes have a bad angle where they are a pain in the neck to use, think of it as a game of Twister with Techo :)

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Well EQ mounts do tax some people, and as we are being so frank and forthright, I have long suspected that some Dob users are in fact just plain scared of EQ mounts and rationalise it away with the " I've got a bigger one " argument. As they should know its rarely size that counts :)

For visual (and dobs are really visual scopes) size is king for DSOs (and under good skies on planets too). Ye cannae break the laws of physics, capt'n.

Theres no great intellectual challenge in an EQ mount and its has some big benefits for planetary and high power observing, namely not having to constnatly nudge the scope about and being able to get on with observing what your looking at. The tracking means you are fe to use cheaper narrowfield eyepieces rather than having to whinge constantly that you need expensive well corrected widefield EPs cos you dont want to nudge the Dob about. So intead of buying a £40 tracking motor you end up having to buy £600 a pop eyepieces ( and generally become a Televue groupie into the bargain :) oooooerrr mind my exit pupil )

I like my ultra-wides in my EQ mounted scopes. Large field at small exit pupil and all that. Besides, the EQ mount for a 16" Newt is going to set you back a trifle more than £40, or even £600.

To the OP you need to rotate the scope in its rings so that the EP is in a good position for each view. On a small scope this is easy but on a bigger one rotatimg rings become almost essential. Another tip is when the scope is ponting North in its home position put it into its rimgs so that the EP is facing the ground. That will mean in most Southern positions, which will be where you are mostly looking, the EP will always be in a reasonable position.

Looking vertically up is fine with my EQ mount refelector because the EP is about head height. With a frac or a Mak it can involve kneeling on wet grass a lot. Most scopes have a bad angle where they are a pain in the neck to use, think of it as a game of Twister with Techo :)

This is odd. A refractor with its longer tube makes the EP swing through a much larger arc than an SCT or Mak (with their short tubes). I generally have use just three height settings of my observing chair (range 16cm), or at most four (range 24 cm) between zenith and treetops.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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Hmmmmm must make mental note next time I order a 60m scope to have alt az as a mount. :)

I have a 70mm scope on an Alt-Az mount. You'll love it. Not sure 60mm will be enough though. Might want to push the boat out a little.

For the record................i HATE EQ mounts not because i am "stupid" (which i am not), but because i am disabled and they are not a lot of fun to get on with when you have mobility issues.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, no one read the above comment as me saying disabled people are stupid. I was pulled up once before by the Mods because someone read a similar comment i posted as such.

I just meant that as a person with mobility issues, i find Dob mounts, Alt-Az mount more practical.

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dtr42

dtr42

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an eq mount with a long frac can be a bit of a pain and with low down moments but astronomy tends to have loads of pain for a few WOW moments . i have had dob's, eq, az mounts and have found good and bad points on them all . its simply a matter of experiience and patience, again astronomy, teaches patience and you'll get used to the eq mount .good luck

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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My main issue with EQ mounts is the size,dimensions and weight to transport from the house to garden. My 90mm refrac has a f/l of 1000mm. That was ok as the OTA weighs next to nothing. The trouble with it is the mount,tripod and counter weights, weigh-in at just under 38 Lbs. Not the easiest thing to transport (even in 3 parts).

Give me my 8" Celestron SCT any day of the week. Even for me, its almost a "Grab n' Go" setup.

My 130mm Heritage Dob...............is a walk in the park to transport and setup.

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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Says Mel whilst peering into her 100deg ES eyepiece :p

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