Suitable mount for astrophotography

[astromog]

Two things have coincided: 1. my AltAz GOTO mount seems to have gone kaput (see other post) 2. Thanks to being born, I am now in possession of a DSLR camera and adapter kit which fit perfectly onto the back of my SkyWatcher SkyMax 127 mak. I honestly haven't purposely broken my alt-az, but seem like a great excuse to buy a better mount. What mounts would you recommend for astrophotography (particularly planets) with my mak? Needs to be light enough to pick up and move in/out of the house/garden - ideally without collapsing, reasonably easy to use, and cost less than the scope. Oh and something that will function for more than two years would be good, otherwise per-use cost is very high!

Thanks in advance for your wise suggestions

[vlaiv]

I think that you will struggle to find any mount that is capable of tracking a target that costs less than your scope.

Your scope new is something like £265.

Eq3 mount with motor drive would be £176:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-2-deluxe.html

+

another £69 for tracking motor:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/single-axis-dc-motor-drive-for-eq3-2.html

Well, that is about it - totaling at £245 - just £20 shy of price of the scope.

Next option that will hold your scope (and has proper goto and all) is this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi-alt-az-mount-tripod.html

Which is £215 without tripod or £285 with tripod.

Maybe best option would be to reuse tripod from your AltAz goto mount and go for AzGTI mount head.

[astromog]

12 hours ago, vlaiv said:

I think that you will struggle to find any mount that is capable of tracking a target that costs less than your scope.

Your scope new is something like £265.

Eq3 mount with motor drive would be £176:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq3-2-deluxe.html

+

another £69 for tracking motor:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/single-axis-dc-motor-drive-for-eq3-2.html

Well, that is about it - totaling at £245 - just £20 shy of price of the scope.

Next option that will hold your scope (and has proper goto and all) is this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi-alt-az-mount-tripod.html

Which is £215 without tripod or £285 with tripod.

Maybe best option would be to reuse tripod from your AltAz goto mount and go for AzGTI mount head.

Many thanks (and for your reply in the other thread) much appreciated.  Reliability wise, the handset seems to be the weak point in my current set up, so simply replacing that seems like a bad move given the cost.  The EQ3-2 would remove that weak point, but the reviews for it are not very encouraging. The Wi-Fi option you mentioned also seems to cut out the handset problem... however the unit is out of stock. This below is in stock and seems similar feature wise, but for £4 extra seems to have an entire extra telescope included, which may help justify the purchase:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-mercury-707-az-gte.html

However I can't see any reviews. Any thoughts on this as a replacement?

I note that the GTi / GTe mounts have a payload capacity of 5Kg. My scope + camera comes in at 4.3 Kg. Is that enough margin or am I likely to burn out the motors and be buying another new mount in a couple of years?

Thanks

Edited October 31, 2020 by astromog

[vlaiv]

19 minutes ago, astromog said:

However I can't see any reviews. Any thoughts on this as a replacement?

It seems that these are not quite the same mounts. Here is what FLO has on AzGte versus AzGti:

Quote

(Please note: The AZ-GTe mount is identical to the AZ-GTi, except Freedom-Find™ dual-axis encoders are not present)

Freedom find means that you can release clutches, turn the scope to point the way you want it to and Goto and alignment will be maintained. With AzGte you don't get that option.

Not sure how big a deal that is going to be for you. I've had AzGti mount for almost a year now and I've never used this capability (although usage time was limited this year to hand full of sessions with this mount).

22 minutes ago, astromog said:

I note that the GTi / GTe mounts have a payload capacity of 5Kg. My scope + camera comes in at 4.3 Kg. Is that enough margin or am I likely to burn out the motors and be buying another new mount in a couple of years?

Honestly, I don't know. I have not put that much weight on my mount - either in Az or EQ mode. Yes, this little mount can be converted to work in EQ as well if you need it to. I'm currently using it as wide field imaging setup, although I've done some planetary imaging with it and my Mak102. It handled it and ASI178mcc (cooled version, a bit heavier than regular one) without any issues what so ever.

SkyWatcher does sell it as a bundle with the scope you have:  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

At least we know it can handle your scope for visual without much problems (or at least SkyWatcher seems to think so).

Only thing that sort of bothers me with this mount is - lack of hand controller

It works with mobile app, and it works fine, but mobile phones don't have regular keypads and there is no tactile feedback of any sorts. You need to look at you phone screen when you want to for example make corrections to mount position and that means moving away from the eyepiece.

I'm seriously thinking of getting myself one of those SkyWatcher ver 5 hand controllers to be used with both small mount and my Heq5. I purchased my Heq5 as SynTrek version (without goto) as it was meant as imaging platform connected to PC. I now use it like that exclusively but sometimes with to just use it for visual with heavier scopes and don't feel like taking out laptop and setting everything up.

In any case, that bundle with AzGte seems like a good value - you get another scope that you can either sell or keep for quick grab'n'go sessions when you don't feel like waiting for mak to cool.

[astromog]

22 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Freedom find means that you can release clutches, turn the scope to point the way you want it to and Goto and alignment will be maintained. With AzGte you don't get that option.

Not sure how big a deal that is going to be for you. I've had AzGti mount for almost a year now and I've never used this capability (although usage time was limited this year to hand full of sessions with this mount).

Great - that's really useful, thanks.

Quote

It works with mobile app, and it works fine, but mobile phones don't have regular keypads and there is no tactile feedback of any sorts. You need to look at you phone screen when you want to for example make corrections to mount position and that means moving away from the eyepiece.

Hmm. Good point. I do do that a lot, especially as the field of view is so narrow! However, having read about all the problems people have with the handset, think I'll see if I can get used to using the app. I found this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/sky-watcher-synscan-wifi-adapter.html

which seems like it should attach to my current mount in place of a handset and would save money... but have just realised it is out of stock. Therefore think the in-stock AZ-GTe with "free" telescope is the one to go for. Very nice that that scope, is very different to my Mak.  Thanks again for your help in finding a way forward. Will now have to consult the planning department for approval 😉

[astrorg]

I have an EQ3-2 - as a spare lighter mount, but are the EQ3-2 drives + ANY good?
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/dual-axis-dc-motor-drive-for-eq3-2.html
i.e. can they go as fast as the EQ6 ones when moving to target? Not hugely necessary, but a plus.

I already have a USB cable through ASCOM + joypad I use on an old EQ6  - rejuvenated years ago with GOTO - soon Belt mod too.

Maybe making this:
https://www.astroeq.co.uk/tutorials.php
https://onstep.groups.io/g/main/wiki/3860

 

Is it worth spending time making an interface?
I would like to use it for small telescopes like the SW 72ED

Just a thought... this might be far fetched, but can I use my EQ6 original SW GOTO remote with EQ3 - to act as a USB connection with computer?

or use a HitecAstro st4 cable -I am really not sure about anything.

Edited January 19, 2021 by astrorg