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Equatorial mount


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Hi and welcome to the forum.

We need to know more about the scope (eg: the specifications) that you are going to put on the mount, whether you have a budget in mind and whether you are interested in imaging, visual observing or both :smiley: 

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You should find out the weight of your telescope with your usual attachments and an eyepiece fitted (you can weight them separately and add the weights up for safety if you like), then look for a mount with a carrying capacity that is something like 1.5x the weight of your telescope setup.  This should provide good stability and minimise vibration.

EQ mounts can be motorised in a few different ways - the most basic is RA tracking, with a manual slow motion control knob for the DEC axis.  This will allow the mount to track the movement of the stars as they race across the sky with only minimal input from you, depending on how well you align the mount to the pole star (which can be as simple as pointing the N leg of the tripod to magnetic North or the pole star).

You can also have dual motors for RA and DEC, with this setup it's the same as before except you'll make small adjustments to the DEC axis using the motor controller instead of a slow motion knob.  Personally I find this setup tedious as it's much faster to make small adjustments with a manual slow motion knob than it is with the motor controller (which is mainly designed for use as you look through the finder or eyepiece, so the movement is very slow).  With either of these motor setups you'll have a basic hand controller with just a few settings such as speed and direction buttons.

The next step is full Goto, with a hand controller containing a database and small backlit LCD display.  This type usually requires more precise polar alignment and has a bit of a learning curve when it comes to doing the star alignment routine, Goto accuracy will depend on how well the initial alignment is done... poor polar alignment, tripod levelling, or star alignment will result in objects not appearing near the centre of the eyepiece, or not in the eyepiece at all.

For simplicity and reduced expense I much prefer the single axis RA tracking setup, this can be purchased as an optional extra to the Skywatcher EQ3-2 or Celestron CG4 mounts, EQ5 often comes with motors built in.  Which mount you look at will depend on the weight (and to some extent, size) of your telescope.

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Hi @DaveDiamond and welcome to SGL. :hello2:

The best EQ mount I have owned was the Vixen GP, (images below). I believe this is/was the start of the popular EQ3/2 clones.

IMG_0050.thumb.JPG.0e83cba8a43fca7212f2ea43c0df5c0f.JPG  IMG_0051.thumb.JPG.216a619401be6d13bc865743a8b5d7da.JPG

I have since sold it and now gone manual alt/az.

My opinion is: "Where do I see myself in a few years?... bigger 'scope? what eyepieces, accessories, etc?" - these need to be taken into account.

My advice would be to future proof yourself and and your investment and what you can comfortably afford. Prices will increase in the future and any mount is the solid foundation for pending future OTA upgrades, etc.

Edited by Philip R
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