Mount for Williams Optics Zenithstar 70ED

[naxos10]

I am looking at a Williams Zenithstar 70ED as my first scope and was wondering what would be a good mount for it. I am looking for something portable and would be not worried if it is a manual or goto.

I thought about the the Vixen porta mount and tripod or the Skywatcher AZ4 but would appreciate your suggestions and comments.

Many Thanks

Alan

[andrew63]

Either of those would be ideal Alan - i've used both on a 4" refractor. I favour the porta mount 11 as i like the slow motion controls. A good photographic tripod would also handle it well.

andrew

[wurzelmike]

Looks like a nice scope Andrew - this suggestion might be completely heading in the wrong direction, but I've just come across it for the first time about an hour ago...the Skywatcher Merlin SynScan AZ GOTO Computerised Table-Top Alt-Azimuth Mount

http://www.acecamera...D/1/product.asp

I just think it looks interesting, even if its not the right choice for you

mike

[Keiran]

Both of those are

I am looking at a Williams Zenithstar 70ED as my first scope and was wondering what would be a good mount for it. I am looking for something portable and would be not worried if it is a manual or goto.

I thought about the the Vixen porta mount and tripod or the Skywatcher AZ4 but would appreciate your suggestions and comments.

Many Thanks

Alan

Both of them will be ideal for the scope. I have personally considered the vixen in the past for my megrez 72, only thing that stoped me was funds

[Dunkster]

I've travelled with my ZS71 and the mini Porta mount and it was sufficient, albeit a little dsturbed by the wind. The normal weight Porta II should be a good solution.

[rwilkey]

I suggest the Vixen Porta II as a good choice, will handle the Zenithstar with ease, and also as said in another post, the slo-mo controls are a great plus.

[Herbig]

I'm considering getting the Merlin mount, aparantly you can remove the stand from the table top mount and fit it to a standard photographic tripod. So you could get a decent tripod first and then buy the mount if you want goto later.

[naxos10]

Thank you for all your suggestions.

I was wondering if it was also possible to convert one of these scopes so it could be used on a Celestron 6/8SE mount?

[Dunkster]

Like this...?

The ZS70/71 is rated at 2.7kg, the 6SE ota is 3.5kg, so it's very sturdy The pic is with the dewshield extended and the Vixen-style dovetail/foot of the scope is centred in the clamp of the fork arm. There is plenty of room for a diagonal to swing through and not scrape the mount, at least with a 1.25" diagonal - just beware the focus is dialled all the way in here but has 80mm or so of travel - however it should be possible to reverse the foot on the scope to give more room, or alternatively bolt it on to a longer dovetail bar. I've found that the scope is back heavy when loaded with a 1.25" diagonal and 24mm Panoptic (not a particularly heavy combination), so mounting it further forward would probably also help balance.

Just be aware that this mount is motorised only, so unless you have a power tank or an endless supply of AA batteries, you're stuck.

[naxos10]

Hi Dunkster,

Thanks for the information and picture, just a couple of further questions:

What finderscope do you use?

Is the goto accuracy affected in anyway?

[Dunkster]

I use a Rigel Quikfinder - you can see the mounting bracket just below and left of the lower red ring.

I haven't used it yet on this mount - I've only used it so far on a mini Porta I don't see any reason why goto accuracy would be affected... it's lighter than either of the OTAs Celestron ships with it.

Unless you already have one of these mounts, it'd also be worth considering other options, as the SE mount is pricey compared to other goto mounts such as the iOptron Cube Pro, but you do pay quite a premium for goto mounts over the manual ones... even small ones! You can get an AZ4 or even an EQ5 deluxe for much less...