EAA Mount suggestions

[Astro74]

I’m considering buying a new AZI GTI or even GTE for m EAA rig pairing it with the SW ST102 ( m OTA of choice for EAA) has anyone else used this mount and would to recommend it for EAA ? 

I’m not too hot on the complexity of an EQ mount and would rather avoid having to polar align if possible but if general opinion is an EQ mount is a better investment I’m open to it - any recommendations?

[Gfamily]

I'm not an EAA user, but as a primarily visual user, a neat feature of the AZ GTi (or 'e') is the point and track capability, so if you can manually find a target that's in its internal catalogue, you don't even need to do an initial alignment - just

set it up so the bubble mount is level

select the target in the app

find the target in the scope - manually or by slewing (finish with an 'up and right' to remove the backlash

and it the Point and Track button. 

it'll track the target from then on. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Gfamily

[Astro74]

Thanks I’m just wondering if an EQ mount would be a better long term investment although I agree the azi is a fun system to use 

[Surreydocker]

I used an AZ GTI with a 100mm refractor for EEA and it was perfectly adequate. There is no need for an EQ mount for EEA where your subs are short. If you ever felt the need, you can convert an AZ GTI into an EQ mount with a wedge. 

[Astro74]

11 hours ago, Surreydocker said:

I used an AZ GTI with a 100mm refractor for EEA and it was perfectly adequate. There is no need for an EQ mount for EEA where your subs are short. If you ever felt the need, you can convert an AZ GTI into an EQ mount with a wedge. 

Yes this was my thought also but I was ponding if an EQ would be a better buy - perhaps not ! Although I am tempted by azi GTI mount as it’s a cheap option with a sw st102 included 

[barkingsteve]

If you have any inkling that you may do longer exposures  ( 30 secs + ) down the road, you will be better off getting an eq mount now. I started out with an alt/az when i first decided to do EAA and wished i never bothered as it only took a few sessions before i wanted longer exposures.

Don't be deterred about polar aligning, with modern equipment it is easier than you probably think  That is what scared me off originally but with ipolar and now asiair it literally takes a few minutes ( as long as your mount is fairly level and pointing roughly north ) and with the new harmonic mounts you don't even have to worry about counterweights and balancing.

 

[Dazzyt66]

7 hours ago, barkingsteve said:

If you have any inkling that you may do longer exposures  ( 30 secs + ) down the road, you will be better off getting an eq mount now. I started out with an alt/az when i first decided to do EAA and wished i never bothered as it only took a few sessions before i wanted longer exposures.

Don't be deterred about polar aligning, with modern equipment it is easier than you probably think  That is what scared me off originally but with ipolar and now asiair it literally takes a few minutes ( as long as your mount is fairly level and pointing roughly north ) and with the new harmonic mounts you don't even have to worry about counterweights and balancing.

 

+1 for the EQ advice. I have a HEQ5 permanently setup outside for a couple of years now and it’s great. I use Ekos on a RPI and did polar alignment through that - took about 15mins and now I just check it before I start in case the tripod has moved (due to me knocking it) between sessions… so most of my ‘observing’ is done from the kitchen 😊

[Astro74]

16 hours ago, barkingsteve said:

If you have any inkling that you may do longer exposures  ( 30 secs + ) down the road, you will be better off getting an eq mount now. I started out with an alt/az when i first decided to do EAA and wished i never bothered as it only took a few sessions before i wanted longer exposures.

Don't be deterred about polar aligning, with modern equipment it is easier than you probably think  That is what scared me off originally but with ipolar and now asiair it literally takes a few minutes ( as long as your mount is fairly level and pointing roughly north ) and with the new harmonic mounts you don't even have to worry about counterweights and balancing.

 

Any mount suggestions? 

[Astro74]

8 hours ago, Dazzyt66 said:

+1 for the EQ advice. I have a HEQ5 permanently setup outside for a couple of years now and it’s great. I use Ekos on a RPI and did polar alignment through that - took about 15mins and now I just check it before I start in case the tripod has moved (due to me knocking it) between sessions… so most of my ‘observing’ is done from the kitchen 😊

Unfortunately the heq5 is too expensive for me to consider and I want something portable- I’m considering an SAGTI 

[bosun21]

4 minutes ago, Astro74 said:

Unfortunately the heq5 is too expensive for me to consider and I want something portable- I’m considering an SAGTI 

The EQ5 mount with an RA motor is far cheaper than the HEQ5 and it’s far more steady than the Alt/Az mounts you are looking at.

[Astro74]

But not a go to which is what I’m after - go to is essential so it’s more likely I’ll stick with the azi GTI tbh and just upgrade the tripod next year 👍🏼

[barkingsteve]

3 hours ago, Astro74 said:

Any mount suggestions? 

If the heq5 is too expensive for you, then i really do not have a mount suggestion. The mount is the most important part of the system as i am sure everyone will tell you here. It may be worth waiting for the smaller brother to the AM5 from ZWO ( announced a few days ago ) but this will probably cost 1k+ It will be a harmonic drive and guessing a payload of around 10kg's and probably weigh around 3kg's. Of course this is speculation but this may be a perfect portable platform for EAA and ap. In the mean time you can stick with your current plans until the 'itch' for longer exposures becomes too great  ( what camera do you have or considering ? )

 

Edit: AM3 ( new ZWO mount )  Weighs 4kg's and a payload of 8kg's without counterweights.

Edited April 12, 2023 by barkingsteve

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, Astro74 said:

But not a go to which is what I’m after - go to is essential so it’s more likely I’ll stick with the azi GTI tbh and just upgrade the tripod next year 👍🏼

You can buy the EQ5 pro which is go to or you can buy the standard EQ5 and upgrade it with the full go to kit when you are ready.

[Astro74]

2 hours ago, barkingsteve said:

If the heq5 is too expensive for you, then i really do not have a mount suggestion. The mount is the most important part of the system as i am sure everyone will tell you here. It may be worth waiting for the smaller brother to the AM5 from ZWO ( announced a few days ago ) but this will probably cost 1k+ It will be a harmonic drive and guessing a payload of around 10kg's and probably weigh around 3kg's. Of course this is speculation but this may be a perfect portable platform for EAA and ap. In the mean time you can stick with your current plans until the 'itch' for longer exposures becomes too great  ( what camera do you have or considering ? )

 

Edit: AM3 ( new ZWO mount )  Weighs 4kg's and a payload of 8kg's without counterweights.

Hi I have a zwo224 camera I’ll be using with no plan to upgrade it for now 👍🏼 I’ve opted for the Azi GTI mount was on a steel tripod as the set up - it’ll be fine for my needs 👍🏼