Three questions: mounts, filters, reducers

[Joel Shepherd]

Three mostly unrelated questions:

Filters: Is there some sort of handy filter box that will hold ~6 filters safely but with easy nighttime access? (As opposed to, say, 6 itsy-bitsy plastic boxes floating around.)

Reducers: Just to verify what I thought I read on another thread. If I stick a focal reducer on the light path after my secondary (Newtonian), will I need to back-focus to refocus (i.e., back the focuser away from the secondary)? Or is it one of those "it depends" kind of things?

Mounts: Are there examples of GOTO/tracking mounts that also allow easy and fast manual slewing?

Thanks! -- Joel.

[brantuk]

Goto/tracking mounts mostly have up to 9 selectable speeds and 4 arrow keys for manual slewing - so your answer is a big yes on that one. A reducer reduces the focal length of the scope and hence the focal ratio. Some scopes need additional and/or less back/inward focus depending on which scope. Usually newts are the ones that cause most problems with that. So best to check before buying - speak to the seller or retailer.

[Geordie mc]

Some mounts such as the AZEQ6GT from skywatcher have encoders that allow you to unlock the clutches, move the scope by hand then re-engage the clutches without losing the alignment. Without this, if you move the mount without using the handset you'd have to realign it.

[Joel Shepherd]

Thanks for the info. So back-focus is actually moving the focuser inwards towards the secondary? Hmm, then yes, that could be a problem. C'est la vie.

I'm curious about the mounts, because I motorized mine (a CG-4) to tinker with AP and it's fine when that's what I'm doing, but I much prefer to work without them when hunting for things visually. So, at some point in the future, a mount that allowed for both would be great.

-- Joel.