Upgrading mount; suggestions please

[Marki]

Hi all

As per thread title I'm looking to get a heavier/better mount. I'm looking for suggestions for a medium to heavy mount, with greater stability and load bearing capacity than the (undriven) eq5 I mostly use. At the moment I am a mainly visual observer (with longish focal refractors and occasionally my 8" SCT) but I may want to go beyond afocal dabbling soon, and so am looking to future proof by getting something capable in the astrophotography area (time to use my Equinox 80mm for something other than grab and go, plus I want something to do on cloudy nights...). Ideally with full go-to (not essential, but must be driven at least). Something "portable" (at least in bits) would be good. I really only want to do this once (unless I get lucky with the lottery) so looking for something solid and reliable. My budget is around c. £1.5 - £2k.

I've been looking at the well-regarded NEQ6, as well as the AZ-EQ6GT, and also considering the iOptron iEQ45 (kinda quite like the AZ-EQ idea at the moment, but I also like the iOptron goto routine).

I'd really appreciate some thoughts from users of any of the above, and suggestions regarding other models/manufacturers would also be welcome.

Many thanks!

[VigdisVZ]

Well, the NEQ-6 has its flaws but you wont find a more price worthy mount. I think the next "bargain" mount is the extremely good MESU 200 but that is over twice of your budget.

The iOptron seems pretty nice however, considering those reviews that can be found on google.

Not adding very much am I?

[JamesF]

I think I'd probably describe the NEQ6 more as "luggable" than "portable".

James

[Marki]

Well, the NEQ-6 has its flaws but you wont find a more price worthy mount. I think the next "bargain" mount is the extremely good MESU 200 but that is over twice of your budget.

The iOptron seems pretty nice however, considering those reviews that can be found on google.

Not adding very much am I?

LOL - thanks for the response Carl, much appreciated anyway! I'd love to get a Mesu type thing one day...but really I don't think I'd get the value out of it, given my limited photographty ambitions.

[Marki]

Well, made a decision - AZ-EQ6GT inbound

[VigdisVZ]

Well, made a decision - AZ-EQ6GT inbound

Looking forward to some unboxing pictures, and your verdict

[Marki]

Arrived from FLO within 24hours of ordering....awesome! Box appeared to have been opened, was a bit worried, but then I remembered Martin had said it they had upgraded the handset to v3.32. And they'd helpfully put in a print out of the pdf manual as well - thanks FLO !

First impression is that it makes my eq5 look like a toy! It's massive....definitely and barely "luggable" not "portable"! Will try to get it set-up and post some piccies in another thread...typically its clouded over again, so doubt I'll have it fully working tonight.

And in a break with tradition, I think I'm going to read the manual first.. !

[ollypenrice]

Good choice. In a nutshell I'd skip the next £2000 beyond the EQ6 variants because there's nothing useful to be had till you get to the G11 or, better still, the Mesu. This always seems odd to me but it seems to be the case. The iOptron is no real advance all things considered. It's better in some ways but worse in others

Olly