Advice on employing an Orion Atlas 10

[stoicmatt]

I'll preface this with, I am very VERY new to all this!

I found a gentleman online who's selling an Orion Atlas 10 EQ-G without the mount, just the OTA with a few extras.  The price seemed decent, but I wasn't too thrilled about the cost of a new Atlas EQ-G mount ($1349).  I'm wondering if scope mounts are universal or am I screwed into buying a proprietary mount.  I don't think I need the GoTo option, or even the motor though it would be nice to have.  Can anyone give me a few options?

I currently have an Astromaster 114 but I'm having issues getting my SLR to see anything.  Everything I've read thus far says I need an eyepiece extension or a T-threaded Barlow in order to get the focal length to where the SLR can focus.  

I'm not comfortable with the idea of dropping a lot of money on something I may lose interest in.  If I can come out with a few photos of the moon, maybe the sun using a filter, or even an easy nebula, then I can determine if this is a hobby I can stick with or not.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

[dweller25]

Not sure what the OTA is but usually an OTA will fit onto any mount as long as you have the right dovetail

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Ya Stoicmatt and welcome to the SGL, sounds like you have a 10" diameter Orion Newtonian tube assembly.  To mount the thing for long exposure/imaging your going to need a very expensive mount, as the tube is quite large, so there will be issues with mounting the tube assembly and trying to get very accurate tracking - not sure if your any good at DIY - if it were me the I would probably get someone to build me a Dobsonian mount for it and just use it for visual Astronomy - with the ease of mounting it in a wooden cradle, using teflon "bearings" to "push" the scope around the night sky - your going to have hours of fun with that.

Actually mounting the scope for Astro photography and buying all the necessary "add ons" your going to need an absolute fortune - just Google a Dobsonian telescope - you'll see what is needed.   Paul.