I just picked up a nice C-11A OTA, but I'm stuck about what mount to get. The OTA is a newer #91036-XLT with the CGE dovetail bracket. I was told that this would also fit the CGEM EQ mount. The problem is that I can't afford either of these mounts. In fact, the CGE would be out of the question entirely, and the CGEM is out of my reach for at least a couple of years. I plan on doing some astrophotography with it. Probably about 70% viewing, and 30% imaging. At this point I don't have a preference as to weather I get an Alt/Az mount or an EQ mount, as long as it's stable enough to be useful. I'm not opposed to changing out the mounting bracket, if needed. I knew this would be a bit of an economic trap when I bought this thing, because you save so much money when buying the OTA and mount as a package, as opposed to seperately. But, I got it cheap, so I took on the challenge. If I can't find a mount by the end of spring, I will probably end up building my own manually operated mount so I can at least get some viewing in this summer. So my question is, does anybody have any reccommendations as to what type of mount I can get for less than 1200 bucks, that would be anywhere near steady enough for a 28Lb tube? Could I even get an Alt/Az mount for this scope? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
A mounting conundrum for a newbie. "C-11A"
Started by cdfratzog, 03/06/2009 02:14PM
Posted 03/06/2009 02:14PM
Opening Post
Posted 03/07/2009 08:44AM
#2
Chris Deppe said:
I just picked up a nice C-11A OTA, but I'm stuck about what mount to get. The OTA is a newer #91036-XLT with the CGE dovetail bracket. I was told that this would also fit the CGEM EQ mount. The problem is that I can't afford either of these mounts. In fact, the CGE would be out of the question entirely, and the CGEM is out of my reach for at least a couple of years. I plan on doing some astrophotography with it. Probably about 70% viewing, and 30% imaging. At this point I don't have a preference as to weather I get an Alt/Az mount or an EQ mount, as long as it's stable enough to be useful. I'm not opposed to changing out the mounting bracket, if needed. I knew this would be a bit of an economic trap when I bought this thing, because you save so much money when buying the OTA and mount as a package, as opposed to seperately. But, I got it cheap, so I took on the challenge. If I can't find a mount by the end of spring, I will probably end up building my own manually operated mount so I can at least get some viewing in this summer. So my question is, does anybody have any reccommendations as to what type of mount I can get for less than 1200 bucks, that would be anywhere near steady enough for a 28Lb tube? Could I even get an Alt/Az mount for this scope? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
For a short tube scope, even at 28 pounds, you should be able to build your own alt-az mount. With components from a local home improvement store.
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