Mount comparison tables & graphs

[ecuador]

Don't know if you have seen these before, but I recently updated the comparison tables and graphs that I keep. I had first done them for myself, because a UK shop that had nice aggregate tables (forgot its name now) shut down. There are separate sets for the low-end mass market mounts, and the mid-high end mounts. I did try to assemble things like PE values from various CN threads etc, but they are too anecdotal to chart. However I did chart price & head weight per payload (even though payload numbers are obviously not directly comparable), which gives an interesting at-a-glance view of the current market. For example here are the payload/mount head charts (the rest in the linked blog posts):posts):

Edited July 15, 2020 by ecuador

[steppenwolf]

They're very interesting comparisons - thanks for posting them.

[John]

Interesting tables.

Tube lengths come into the equation having as much or more impact than weight as they get longer.

 

[ecuador]

2 hours ago, John said:

Interesting tables.

Tube lengths come into the equation having as much or more impact than weight as they get longer.

 

Some mounts are more tolerant than others to length too. Payload definitely does not tell the whole story, even if we had an unbiased 3rd party decide on maximum payloads, never mind each manufacturer having their own ideas...

But I like charts and the payload/weight, price/payload seemed like the most interesting without being too controversial... 

PS. I feel a bit bad I had to list the EQ6-R with the "photo" payload, as there is no official "visual" figure and I thought I shouldn't just make one up. But since it takes more photo weight than the NEQ6 it will take more visually, so it should be considered the new payload/£ champ.

Edited July 15, 2020 by ecuador

[John]

I found the limits of an EQ6 for visual. This scope made the EQ6 seem small and a touch puny

 

[MarkAR]

Interesting stuff, makes the Mesu seem like a masterpiece of engineering  being able to hold 4 times it's own weight.

[ecuador]

9 hours ago, MarkAR said:

Interesting stuff, makes the Mesu seem like a masterpiece of engineering  being able to hold 4 times it's own weight.

I haven't seen a report of someone using it with that kind of load, but I remember reports of the previous version being used near max load (although it did require good balance), so I assume the MKII specs are not exaggerated either. It is a very minimalist design in general, which helps a lot with weight.

[AstroMuni]

Thats useful information @ecuador I couldnt spot the MEII in these??

[ecuador]

47 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

Thats useful information @ecuador I couldnt spot the MEII in these??

Thanks. As I note on the page, I decided to stop at $15k - the Paramount ME II is just at that limit, but also at 100kg payload capacity (the ME II is 109kg). I just had to stop somewhere (to avoid comparing the completely incomparable) and it so happened the ME II fell right outside. I mean now that you mentioned it, maybe I will include it if I update again, since it is quite popular in its category...