Sturdy GOTO mount

[madjohn]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a good GOTO mount and the concensus appears to be a EQ6 Pro, however I was wondering if there is any other comparable mounts out there.

I've been told that the EQ6 pro is the best when you consider the payload capacity/tracking ability relationship for the price.

Any comments welcome

Cheers John

[ngc2403]

the Gemini mounts are better made than the SWs and they can use PEMPro which is like advanced PEC. they are also alot more expencive but the people how have them all say that they are much better than SW, it may be another one of those things where they say that because they have one and feel the need to defend the extra money that they cost but they are very good and can take more weight than the EQ6 Pro i think.

not portable thought, but better tracking

[Doc]

Depends on funding.

As stated above the Losmandy G11 with Gemini Go-to is the one to go for but it's expensive.

The Eq6 is a surpurb mount and lots of people use it.

[beamer3.6m]

HEQ5 Pro.

Sturdy but lighter than the EQ6, cheaper too, but not as high weight bearing ability.

[astro84]

Hello,

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a good GOTO mount and the concensus appears to be a EQ6 Pro, however I was wondering if there is any other comparable mounts out there.

I've been told that the EQ6 pro is the best when you consider the payload capacity/tracking ability relationship for the price.

Any comments welcome

Cheers John

I'd be useful to members if you'd stated your requirements for the intended use of the mount.

Most folks would usually have a criterion list to begin with. Assuming that "GoTo" is a given, something along the lines of: -

a) Budget

Quality

c) Raw payload vs OTA type

Knowing (a) in most cases, pretty much settles it for ( and ©. For the overwhelming majority of amateurs in the UK (that is, not in the US), mount solutions rated below 50lbs are limited to pretty much two options, EQ6-Pro or the CG5-GT.

For everyone else wishing, or fortunate enough to be able to explore beyond, you're in a happy place bound only by (a) + your own creativity.

You didn't state the budget you have, but do be practical in assessing recommendations (like mine,I suppose ) about mount solutions. One guideline I've come to go by is that "just because everyone uses brand / model x, doesn't necessarily mean its any good - it might well be due to the fact that its just affordable, or, well...,, simply cheap".

Hope that helps..,

Regards,

astro84

[Ben Ritchie]

I've been told that the EQ6 pro is the best when you consider the payload capacity/tracking ability relationship for the price.

I think that's a pretty reasonable statement. I'd pick the EQ6 unless (a) you value portability over capacity, in which case the HEQ5's worth considering, or ( you need more capacity than the EQ6, which means a G11 or CGE.

If you can afford it, the G11 or CGE is a nice step up, but it's twice the money (and even that's really comparing a new EQ6 with a used G11/CGE) and it's not a massive step up in performance in practice - and improvement, but not to another level, for that you need to go another step up to the AP, Takahashi etc. mounts. A G11 or CGE will still need to be guided for most practical purposes, and the EQ6 performs very nicely when guided.