CG-5 Mount: What can it do?

Has anybody got experience with the CG-5 mount and the RA motor drive? Not concerned with GOTO, but would like to know if this mount could work for non-telescopic film photography using a 350 mm telephoto.

Another use would be high-power (297x) visual observation of planets and the moon using a TV-102.

Suitable?

Steve

Steve,

Yes, the mount can do what you ask. It would not be a good choice for that work, but it will work as an introduction to astrophotography and high power observing. I would strongly suggest you get a dec drive also. In short--If you already have one, give it a try. But do not buy one if your goal is any kind of astrophotography or real quality work.

THe controls do not allow for an autoguider. Furthermore, the quality of the motors themselves leave a lot of backlash. I don't know how much backlash there is in the gears (since there is so much in the motors it is hard to tell).

But, all in all, you can get some photos at 350 mm if you are lucky.

Alex

In my opinion... nope. I had a CG5 that I modified so that it was extremely smooth and I would say that it still wasn't good enough for film or ccd other then possibly very short exposures. I did use a StellaCam EX and you could stack and combine images.

I highly recommend both the RA/Dec Motors. The extra motor only cost a few dollars more. It will be very adequate for high power viewing.

Paul Atkinson
AstroPro Products.com