Researching my Mount...

[oymd]

Evening everyone...

I've recently purchased a Nexstar 8SE, and absolutely love the thing.

I'm researching getting a GEM as well, which I would like to use alongside the 8SE. The 8SE will be for pure visual use, as the kids love it.

My plan is to try a bit of astrophotography, and will pair the 8SE OTA for now to the new GEM mount.

I am planning to buy a mount that will be future proof, as I plan to get a C11 in the future, so should take the weight. I know it will be a big investment, but I plan to buy a mount ONCE, so have to get it right.

I would very much like to stay with Celestron, as I enjoyed using their Nexstar+ interface. I feel the AVX will not be beefy enough, and the CGX would be overkill.

On CNs, I was advised to get a CGEMII, which seems to be readily available in the USA, but NOT available at all in the UK. Any idea why?

The options that I am researching are the Skywatcher EQ6R-Pro or Ioptron CEM40 (possibly CEM60). I'm leaning more towards the Ioptrons, as they seem to be more modern mounts, lighter, and having newer technology.

Many thanks

Edited January 3, 2020 by oymd

[newbie alert]

Astrophotography is a broad spectrum.are you talking planetary or deepsky..

AVX with a c11 for deepsky?

Cgx with a c11 for deepsky a overkill, not at all

If you're looking to do deepsky you could make it alot easier on yourself than using a big sct( long focal length, narrow fov)...most nebulae are huge so unless you want to do multiple mosaics it's far easier to do the same job with a smaller frac( wider fov) and less taxing on the mount

For planetary it's a different ball game..

[Michael Hogan]

The Celestron CGX is not overkill the mount is the most important part of astrophotography then the scope i learned the hard way Celestron

mounts are the easiest mounts to use with the best software and Nexstar+ hand control Ioptron are a bit harder to use for learners not like

the great All-Star Alignment Ioptron CEM-60 is a great mount too but little more advanced for learner but could get use to very quickly.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Michael Hogan

[Whirlwind]

On 03/01/2020 at 22:05, oymd said:

I am planning to buy a mount that will be future proof, as I plan to get a C11 in the future, so should take the weight. I know it will be a big investment, but I plan to buy a mount ONCE, so have to get it right.

A budget would help.  When you talk about buying a mount once, that's great but if you want the best mounts out there for imaging then you are looking in the region of £4k upwards at least.

If you are looking at casual imaging once in a while (or solar system only) then you can get away with a lesser mount and then get a short focal length refractor for imaging. 

You might also want to consider portability if you aren't going to have a permanent set up.

If you really want top range mounts (and portability that will image with a C11 edge) then you could look at something like (in no particular order):-

Mach1 (used) or Mach2 (new) from Astrophysics
M-uno from Avalon instruments
GM1000HPS from 10 Micron
MyT from Software Bisque

Even a TTS Panther Mount if visual / solar system imaging are more your intent (these have potential limitations for deep sky)

However there are other portable mounts that will get you reasonably close (Ioptron, Skywatcher, Vixen etc) but generally they sit a bit below those stated above according to the community (*caveat I have not tested every single of these mounts!)

[Carbon Brush]

The advice on which mount also varies with time. New mounts do come along at intervals.

Rules that are reasonably fixed are:

Buy the largest/strongest/best mount your wallet will allow.
But also.....
Take into account the weight and your usage. That being fixed or setup every time out.

For example my alter D6 is on a concrete pillar in the observatory. Weight only matters if I remove it for maintenance.
It does thought tip the scales at about 35Kg, with another 35Kg for the tripod. Something to consider if I want it as my 'grab and go' option!

HTH, David.

 

[oymd]

sorry, repeat post

Edited January 6, 2020 by oymd

[oymd]

On 03/01/2020 at 22:42, newbie alert said:

Astrophotography is a broad spectrum.are you talking planetary or deepsky..

AVX with a c11 for deepsky?

Cgx with a c11 for deepsky a overkill, not at all

If you're looking to do deepsky you could make it alot easier on yourself than using a big sct( long focal length, narrow fov)...most nebulae are huge so unless you want to do multiple mosaics it's far easier to do the same job with a smaller frac( wider fov) and less taxing on the mount

For planetary it's a different ball game..

 

On 05/01/2020 at 12:44, Michael Hogan said:

The Celestron CGX is not overkill the mount is the most important part of astrophotography then the scope i learned the hard way Celestron

mounts are the easiest mounts to use with the best software and Nexstar+ hand control Ioptron are a bit harder to use for learners not like

the great All-Star Alignment Ioptron CEM-60 is a great mount too but little more advanced for learner but could get use to very quickly.

 

 

23 hours ago, Whirlwind said:

A budget would help.  When you talk about buying a mount once, that's great but if you want the best mounts out there for imaging then you are looking in the region of £4k upwards at least.

If you are looking at casual imaging once in a while (or solar system only) then you can get away with a lesser mount and then get a short focal length refractor for imaging. 

You might also want to consider portability if you aren't going to have a permanent set up.

If you really want top range mounts (and portability that will image with a C11 edge) then you could look at something like (in no particular order):-

Mach1 (used) or Mach2 (new) from Astrophysics
M-uno from Avalon instruments
GM1000HPS from 10 Micron
MyT from Software Bisque

Even a TTS Panther Mount if visual / solar system imaging are more your intent (these have potential limitations for deep sky)

However there are other portable mounts that will get you reasonably close (Ioptron, Skywatcher, Vixen etc) but generally they sit a bit below those stated above according to the community (*caveat I have not tested every single of these mounts!)

 

10 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

The advice on which mount also varies with time. New mounts do come along at intervals.

Rules that are reasonably fixed are:

Buy the largest/strongest/best mount your wallet will allow.
But also.....
Take into account the weight and your usage. That being fixed or setup every time out.

For example my alter D6 is on a concrete pillar in the observatory. Weight only matters if I remove it for maintenance.
It does thought tip the scales at about 35Kg, with another 35Kg for the tripod. Something to consider if I want it as my 'grab and go' option!

HTH, David.

 

Thank you all for your replies.

Yes, I agree, future proofing and best possible mount, without specifying a budget or level of use was pretty ambiguous on my part.

I am hoping to get a solid mount in the £1000 to £1200 range, that will be good for AP, and also take a C11 in the future. There are NO plans for a fixed location, and i have no problem carrying and setting up the mount etc, so weight is not a concern.

I have taken the advice of the folk at CNs, and will initially buy a small short & fastish Apo ED refractor, in the 80mm range.

I suppose in my budget the EQ6R-Pro is the best I can get? I wish I could stretch to a AZ EQ6GT Pro, as I like the option of have Alt-Az as well but its above my budget.

Does that clarify where i stand with my current plan? Hope you can give me some advice if there are alternate good mounts I am missing?

Many thanks

Edited January 6, 2020 by oymd