Help for a newbie - Celestron C5 Mount/tripod suggestions

[AllanK]

I’m just starting out and have recently bought a Celestron C5 OTA as I heard good things and have a tight budget. I had to get a tripod to go with it and (again based on budget) got a Cullman Mundo 525M which is fine for lunar viewings at lower power but anything with higher power becomes really unstable.
The tripod has a ball head and I was thinking of replacing with an AltAz mount in the £100 to £150 range...I’ve seen a couple - SVbony SV134 and Omegon A-Z Baby which are in my budget. I’m just wanting something I can use to get me started for lunar, planetary and maybe some deeper space(if possible).
Should I go for one of these mounts (if so which one)or ditch my current tripod and get a bespoke astronomical tripod like a heavy duty Celestron? I’ve also seen a version of the Omegon on AliExpress (Sky Rover 2inch Follow-up AZ Pan&Tilt Telescope Mount) for about 1/3 less ...any thoughts on this?

Lots of questions but if anybody can give any help it would be gratefully received.

Edited March 19, 2021 by AllanK

[Tiny Clanger]

It is £20 above your stated budget, but I have a skywatcher 127 mak on a skywatcher az5 attached to a manfrotto tripod which works pretty well .

I'm not acquainted with the  Cullman but it has a claimed capacity of 8kg, so ought to cope with the 3kg az5 plus your C5 which I'd assume is a similar weight (my 127 is 3.5kg) If the Culmann tripod has a 3/8" standard screw between the tripod legs and head  it should fit.

Heather

[Tiny Clanger]

And, I should have said : welcome ! 🙂

[AllanK]

Hi Heather. Thanks for the advice and welcome. I’ll check out the az5.

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, AllanK said:

SVbony SV134 and Omegon A-Z Baby

Of the two I would choose the Omegon as the side mount means that the telescope can rotate around its centre of mass. With the "over the top" style mount, the friction required to hold a telescope changes with the altitude it is pointed at, and at high altitudes the mount may not be able to cope.

1 hour ago, AllanK said:

Sky Rover 2inch Follow-up AZ Pan&Tilt Telescope Mount

That is not the same mount as the Omegon, it is actually a bigger, probably more stable (i.e better), mount. I've actually got one (branded as the Altair Astro Starwave Mini-Az). It's a reasonable travel mount for small telescopes but you might want something more stable for high power viewing. As the C5 is quite a short telescope it might fare ok on this mount.

1 hour ago, AllanK said:

Cullman Mundo 525M

I've got a Zomei 818C, which looks very much like it is the carbon fibre version of your tripod and almost certainly came out of the same factory. More accurately, I've got the pieces of it, because one day it came apart in my hands. The "stopper" inside the central shaft that the 3/8" screw screws into is only glued in place and this is where it failed. I would not trust it with a telescope attached having seen this. In addition, the tripod itself is nowhere near rigid enough for astronomical use. If you turn a mount head on top of the tripod, the whole thing flexes at the joints and then springs back a little when you let go. 

 

If I was in your position I would look at the Skywatcher AZ5 mount as I believe it is more stable than those previously discussed and use it with your existing tripod only while saving up for the Skywatcher 3/8" stainless steel tripod. 

[Tiny Clanger]

7 minutes ago, AllanK said:

Hi Heather. Thanks for the advice and welcome. I’ll check out the az5.

I find the slo mo controls on the az5 very handy , but I've no experience of any of the other mounts you mention. I did originally sort of hope I might get away with the 127 mak on the heavy duty pan/tilt photographic head I already had on my manfrotto tripod, but it just couldn't cope , so I ordered the az5 .

I've since successfully used a small refractor and my 150 heritage dobsonian on a slightly lighter duty tripod and a pan/tilt head by having the telescope not on top of the head in the obvious way, but on the side, as if using a camera tilted over for an upright (portrait format) photo, This lowers the centre of gravity somewhat, and makes the 'scope less precariously balanced, but I doubt it would work as well with the heavy maksutov . Also you have to use the head sort of backwards, as photo heads are not set up to look as high as telescopes want to go !

Do put a post in the 'welcome' section too, and say hello 🙂

Heather

[John]

Hello and welcome to the forum !

The good thing about the C5 scopes is that they can be handled well by quite lightweight mounts. I've even used one successfully on the humble AZ-3 mount !

The AZ-5 would be better though as would an AZ-4 if you can do without slow motion controls.