Portable mount for starting astrophotography

[RoloFanatic]

Hi,

I am just getting back into astronomy after a number of years, but I really want to give astrophotography a go. I have 2 limiting factors really: cost, and portability. I live in the centre of a city without a car or garden, so I need to be able to take everything in a case/backpack to a different location to use it. This also means that the mount needs to have a power supply built in. I don't have a set budget, but less than £500 would be great. The portable mounts seem to be fairly cheap anyway from what I can see. 

I am planning to use a 60-70 mm small refractor and DSLR for imaging. So the real issue is that I don't know whether to buy a startracker (e.g iOptron SkyGuider Pro) or a cheap equatorial GoTo mount like the Explore Scientific iEXOS-100 PMC-Eight. I am a bit sceptical of the Explore scientific mount though since it is so cheap compared to all the other equatorial goto mounts. The startrackers seem great portability wise but I like the option of autoguiding and GoTo on the proper equatorial mounts. 

Any suggestions/advice would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

[Snoani]

If you are looking for portability and low price then I would suggest something like the Skywatcher Star Adventurer or iOptron Skyguider Pro.   There are other options but these two are popular and there is a lot of information out there about them.  

You may benefit by looking at Peter Zelinka's Youtube channel because he has made a lot of videos that review, use and compare these two mounts in particular.  

Jem

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Sound advice above.

You don't say if you already have the DSLR and small frac already or whether they are part of the budget.
For a budget around £500 if you do not have the frac then I would be tempted to forget the scope and just use a mount similar to the suggestions from @Snoani with a DSLR and DSLR lens and start with some great widefield stuff.

I now have some great AP gear but it is heavy and thinking of of going this route as a widefield setup and for something to easily throw in the car and get out to some dark skies for an hour or two, or to fit in when we go on one of our cottage holidays and then I can still fit the wife and dog in the car 🤣.

THIS  may be of use.

Steve

[RoloFanatic]

Thanks for the replies!

I will definitely check out that youtube channel, looks like it has a lot of useful tutorials and comparisons.

I already have the DSLR and the scope has a separate budget, im keeping an eye out for second hand small APO refractors at the moment. 

The more I think about it the more im leaning towards just a startracker for the portability. I ll just have to deal with upgrading mount later down the line if necessary.

 

Hugo

[Chefgage]

I would say for portability you cannot go wrong with a star adventurer pro. Power wise it works perfect with just the 4 double A batteries that it uses. These last ages. I have also coupled mine with a asiair pro, guide scope and camera, 72ed refractor, dew heaters and DSLR. This is all powered by battery packs of various types. Means the whole lot is portable.