Next mount - advice please

[Neil27]

I would just like to share my future plans with you guys (& gals)!

Since moving to Lincoln last year, my partner and I are moving into our new place together in the next month (hopefully) and being Lincoln and a rural area the skies are simply stunning. So once the move has happened there will be funds to hopefully purchase a roll off and new mount for my astronomy fix (she's quite understanding lol)

So advice please on what would be a suitable mount for my C11 edge and my Tak 60C. Mainly visual, with a little dabble into AP, although planets and double stars are my main passion. The mount would be permanently installed in the roll off, possibly PC controlled so should have an accurate polar alignment - no need to set up each night.

I'm looking at the new sky watcher AZ EQ6, but have heard good things regarding the Celestron CGEM which according to FLO's "The Celestron CGEM mount is essentially the next step up from the skywatcher NEQ6 PRO and sits neatly between the Celestron Advanced series CG-5 and the CGE PRO"

A couple of questions people:

Is the software better on the Celstron using the nexstar software?

Is the CGEM more suited to an observatory having better adjustments for polar alignment?

How easy is the EQMOD for skywatchers mounts to connect to the PC?

Anyone with experience of either mount I would appreciate their honest views, good and bad. Currently the market for mounts between 1 to 2k is dominated by these 2, looked at the i-Optron45 but weight capacity may be an issue. Would love an Avalon but they are way outside my budget unfortunately and it may seem overkill for what would predominantly be used for visual viewing.

Thanks for reading.

Neil.

[chrisshillito]

How easy is the EQMOD for skywatchers mounts to connect to the PC?

To perform the "EQMOD" itself you need to install the ASCOM platform, install the EQMOD ASCOM driver and have a means to connect directly to the mount.

When we first started the EQMOD project the only option to connect to the mount directly was to either modify the handset (hence the MOD part) or build your own interface box.

Things have moved on a lot since then. The interace now has RS232, USB and bluetooth options and if you don't fancy building your own there are ready made units available for purchase. The synscan handcontroller also now includes a PC-Direct mode that provides a similar function.

EQMOD provides a lot of funtionality and there is a learning curve associated with its use. However, there is plenty of support available in terms of online documentation, video tutorials and dedicated yahoo group.

Chris.

[Neil27]

Hi Chris and many thanks for the reply.

So PC control is relatively easy for the Skywatcher and after looking at the EQMOD hardware available now it would seem so.

Regarding both of these mounts from an actual load carrying and 'usability' context, if it was your money guys which one would you buy?

I'm just trying to assess the difference and the extra money that the CGEM DX commands over the AZ EQ6, is it worth it?

Many thanks Neil.