Motorised goto mount for a 130p?

[BeerMe]

Are there many options available?

I've heard of the Advanced VX mount but the prices are obscene - is there a cheaper option?

[Knighty2112]

Unless you specifically want an EQ mount, then the Skywatcher Star Discovery AZ Goto mount is very good, and won't break the bank either. I have one and can easily use all three of my scopes on it, two of which are 'fracs, and one which is a Maksutov.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-star-discovery-az-goto-mount.html

[Cornelius Varley]

SW EQ3 Pro, SW AZ-Goto, SW  Star Discovery, SW  EQ 5 Pro, Ioptron SmartEQ Pro. The choice depends on its purpose and how much you wish to pay. If it for your Heritage 130 then I suggest the Star Discovery.

[Putaendo Patrick]

You're thinking of taking the Heritage out of its Dob mount?

What do you want the go-to to do? For observing some of the cheaper Alt-azimuth go-tos would probably be fine. For photography the very least you would need would be something like https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-pro-synscan-goto.html

This said, I have no idea how possible photography is with the Heritage. If you find you may want to change scope, this may mean a different mount.

[BeerMe]

1 hour ago, Putaendo Patrick said:

You're thinking of taking the Heritage out of its Dob mount?

What do you want the go-to to do? For observing some of the cheaper Alt-azimuth go-tos would probably be fine. For photography the very least you would need would be something like https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-pro-synscan-goto.html

This said, I have no idea how possible photography is with the Heritage. If you find you may want to change scope, this may mean a different mount.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

This isn't something that I'm planning for the immediate future Patrick, but I had seen about the AVX mount and it got me thinking of what is available if I decide to go down this road in the future.  I've no interest in the astrophotography side of things thankfully, and it's interesting to know that different OTAs can fit on a single mount - plenty of scope to upgrade, if you'll pardon the pun!

[BeerMe]

1 hour ago, Knighty2112 said:

Unless you specifically want an EQ mount, then the Skywatcher Star Discovery AZ Goto mount is very good, and won't break the bank either. I have one and can easily use all three of my scopes on it, two of which are 'fracs, and one which is a Maksutov.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-star-discovery-az-goto-mount.html

Thanks Knighty, much more affordable and it looks quite nice too.  Great to know I have options if I go down this road in future ?

[happy-kat]

What you might want to keep in mind seeing as you have started your journey finding things manually most go to mounts do not allow you to move the scope manually you have to have power and use the handset buttons. The star discovery is an exception you can use that mount fully manual with no power to it, it can track and it can go to and it can be moved manually in the middle of a goto session and it knows where it is still, it's called freedom find. There is a video on youtube by nature and astronomy tv.

[BeerMe]

Just now, happy-kat said:

What you might want to keep in mind seeing as you have started your journey finding things manually most go to mounts do not allow you to move the scope manually you have to have power and use the handset buttons. The star discovery is an exception you can use that mount fully manual with no power to it, it can track and it can go to and it can be moved manually in the middle of a goto session and it knows where it is still, it's called freedom find. There is a video on youtube by nature and astronomy tv.

Yeah I seen that feature on the description, that's a very neat option to have and makes the price even more attractive.

I do enjoy using manual tracking but something like this would be good for the family who love the stars too, but will always be reliant on me to find and follow things - this would give a much greater deal of flexibility.

[Knighty2112]

The Skywatcher Star discovery Goto mount is priced down until Sunday night at FLO for Black Friday at a £55 reduction in normal price, so going for £214 (plus £7.95 courier delivery). If I didn't own one already I'd snap one up myself!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/black-friday-offers/sky-watcher-star-discovery-az-goto-mount.html

[ollypenrice]

Since you don't want to do astrophotography I suspect that you'd find a Go To Altazimuth mount a more natural and comfortable choice. On an EQ mount a Newtonian often needs rotating to get the eyepiece in the right place and you also end up doing meridian flips when observing around the south. An alt az moves in a far more logical way and the ability to move manually or electronically on the Alt Az Star Discovery, as Happy-Kat said, would be a huge bonus in my book.

Olly

 

[ronin]

If equitorial then I would say aim at the EQ5 size items, the EQ3-2 might do but it would be a case of it would just do. So get one with a bit of safety in hand.

After that there is the iOptron CEM25, more cost but they seem a bit more stable in terms of firmware and electronics then the Skywatcher items. iOptron also do an Alt/Az mount but the Cube is not going to take the weight and the Minitower is £800. For that price I think the equitorials ar a better option.

Not sure what is around from Meade/ES.

[ollypenrice]

1 minute ago, ronin said:

If equitorial then I would say aim at the EQ5 size items, the EQ3-2 might do but it would be a case of it would just do. So get one with a bit of safety in hand.

After that there is the iOptron CEM25, more cost but they seem a bit more stable in terms of firmware and electronics then the Skywatcher items. iOptron also do an Alt/Az mount but the Cube is not going to take the weight and the Minitower is £800. For that price I think the equitorials ar a better option.

Not sure what is around from Meade/ES.

Really?

[BeerMe]

43 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

The Skywatcher Star discovery Goto mount is priced down until Sunday night at FLO for Black Friday at a £55 reduction in normal price, so going for £214 (plus £7.95 courier delivery). If I didn't own one already I'd snap one up myself!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/black-friday-offers/sky-watcher-star-discovery-az-goto-mount.html

Aw man I wish!

Such a shame, but there's a lot more I need than another mount right now so even if I had a spare 200 quid lying around, it would be for EPs and the like.

Maybe they'll do it again next year....;)