I'm looking for opinions on this motorized equatorial mount. Seems like a good value at $615 (and free shipping) through OPT. The mount features 2" steel dia. tripod and holds up to 35 lbs. By contrast, the Orion Atlas features 2" dia. tripod and holds up to 40 lbs - and costs $800 more.
One difference that I noticed in the literature for these mounts is that the Atlas is capable of 9 different slew speeds, 3 tracking speeds, backlash compensation, and periodic error correction. The Celestron doesn't mention any of these items - it has a slew speed of 4 degrees. As such, it would seem that the Orion would be a better choice for astrophotography.
Anyway, I would be interested in opinions on either one of these mounts.
One difference that I noticed in the literature for these mounts is that the Atlas is capable of 9 different slew speeds, 3 tracking speeds, backlash compensation, and periodic error correction. The Celestron doesn't mention any of these items - it has a slew speed of 4 degrees. As such, it would seem that the Orion would be a better choice for astrophotography.
Anyway, I would be interested in opinions on either one of these mounts.