AP Travel Mount Suggestions?

[MushroomBill]

Hi

Could anyone suggest a decent mount for travelling with? Need something that will fit into the car roofbox and not take over! Ideally I'd like to mount my WO ZS70 and guide through a finderscope. Tthen the filter wheel & atik or just the DSLR.

If it could take the weight, then I could use a side by side bar and guide through a Celestron travelscope. The finder scope is working well though on my existing setup though.

Ideally I'd like Goto

Candidates seem to be the SW EQ3-2 Pro or the new iOptron Smart EQ Pro.

Any views?

How small is the EQ3 when packed?

Reading up on the Smart EQ Pro would suggest that the mount is the weakest link although it can be modded. Presumably the same could be said of the EQ3-2?

I'd love to take the HEQ5 but that means leaving the kids behind..... hmmmm

Thanks!

[MushroomBill]

"suggest that the mount is the weakest link although it can be modded"

Ooops meant tripod but can't edit!

[nightvision]

Interested in what suggestions come along, I would like to travel and do AP. I was thinking of a EQ3-2 but with short (non-extending) bespoke legs and a web cam for PA using a small laptop. It would great to put everything in one compact case.

[perfrej]

I do believe that yo ucannot go below HEQ5 if you expect consistant results. If money is no object I would suggest a 10Micron GM1000HPS in the tailor-made carrying case! Now that's a mount

/per

[MushroomBill]

I like the look of the GM1000HPS but I only said that I'd consider leaving the kids behind - not selling them!!

u cannot go below HEQ5

I suppose its a compromise and/or gamble isn't it - you pay less money for a lightweight mount but will it do what you want it to? Sadly there's just no way I can take the HEQ5.

Perhaps the answer is an Astrotrac and perfecting the art of star hopping.

Off to research further...

[perfrej]

I would definitly wait until an EQ5 can be obtained. Buy one used and it will perform just as good as a new one. Find one with a great scratch in the paint-job or something.

Astrotrac and the lkes are not cheap either.

/per

[ollypenrice]

Yes, if you are going to all this trouble take something that will work. HEQ5. Not too big, you could use the battery as the counterweight or use some kind of water filled C/W or something that you have with you anyway. Toolkit? No point in humping weights around. For imaging the tripod can be trimmed down low. Finderguider should be fine.

Olly

[MushroomBill]

Sadly there's just no way I can take the HEQ5.

Thanks for the help. I have decided that the quote below was incorrect. I am going to find a way of taking it.

[MushroomBill]

Make that quote above!

[Spikey]

I've taken my HEQ5 and NEQ6 away with me in the car quite a few times; along with the wife+kids, 4 push bikes and all their associated paraphernalia.

I tend to put the tripod in the roofbox and put the mount head in the passenger footwell.

Counterweights fit quite nicely under the seats. I've got a dual bar setup so I just pick it up, scopes,camera and all and put it in the boot with a few bits packed around it.

I'm fortunate enough to own a caravan and the boxes of cables/PSU's needed for AP just fit under one of the caravan seats.