Telescope time trial

[Meneldil]

Suppose I have two telescopes of 150mm aperture, one on an equatorial mount, and the other is on an alt-azimuth. Neither mount is a computerised go-to one.

They have already cooled to the outdoor temperature, but they have to be carried to the end of garden, tripods set up and mounts adjusted/aligned etc.

The alt-azimuth mounted one is going to have the shortest 'time to usability', right? But it would be harder to follow objects across the sky. Is the quicker setup time worth the extra hassle of keeping things in view?

[ashenlight]

For me, nothing has been more enjoyable than using my telescope, on an EQ mount, to track objects. Can get it into view, call people to have a look, make proper observation notes of it... all the while just twiddling the RA to follow it across the sky (or by using the motor drive - even easier!)

It may take a few more minutes to set up but this is definitely worth the easier, smoother viewing. Now that I can set up my telescope without having to refer to the manual to balance it or to polar align, it takes me about 2 minutes to set up!

[John]

For visual use I don't think there would be much difference to be honest as the eq mount only needs to be aligned roughly north for the tracking to work reasonably well. EQ mounted scopes tend to be a bit heavier because of the counterweights.

That said both my scopes are mounted on undriven alt-azimuth mounts because I like the "dump it down and view" simplicity and the portability - an eq mounted 12" newtonian is a huge beast wheras my 12" dob can be put out in two quick carries.

John