Some Questions About Mounts

First off, I would like to say I am a relative beginner to astronomy, so any advice you can offer would be appreciated. I am currently in the process of learning the sky with several pairs of binoculars and I'm just now getting comfortable to the point where I am considering the purchase of a telescope. Obviously, there are a couple different ways I could go, but at this point I am strongly considering an Orion reflector for the following reasons:

1) Orion offers a number of packages with the Sirius EQ-G mount, which is recommended as a best value mount for astrophotography in the Backyard Astromomer's Guide. I should probably stress here that I do not plan on jumping right into astro-imaging, as I understand the difficultly of this sort of thing for beginners. However, I am an avid amateur photographer, so the idea is certainly something that would be appealing to me down the road in the event that I can obtain a certain level of proficiency with a telescope.

2) What does not appeal to me is the idea of upgrading a mount every time I want to consider upgrading the scope. I would rather put my money into a good quality mount from the start that will allow me to utilized a number of different scopes as needed. The reflector tubes are priced quite reasonably, which would allow me to put the money into the mount. Down the road, I might be interested in adding a nice refractor (Tele Vue makes some nice ones, but as a beginner, I cannot justify the price) or a catadioptric. Ideally, I could just purchase the tube on mount it on the Orion mount.

Having said this, here are a number of questions that I have concerning these mounts or mounts in general -

The equatorial mount seems like a good option to me. Certainly, many of the reflector telescopes are offered in packages with this mount configuration. Would this mount also be appropriate for a refractor or catadioptric telescope?

Some of you may argue that a GOTO mount is a poor choice for a beginner and that I should take to time to learn the sky without it. Fair enough - I happen to agree with you and I will make every effort to proceed in that manner. Others might argue a GOTO mount would be a good choice given that fact that I am a beginner and will struggle locating points of interest. Again, I think this is a valid point. However, I would like to ignore this argument for the time being and simply take into consideration my preference to purchase a mount that will allow me the most versatility.

In summary, what I am looking for is a quality mount that allows me to upgrade to other scope options without having to continually upgrade the mount. I would like an equatorial mount with motors and the option to utilize a GOTO feature. And finally, I would like a mount that work well with astro-imaging, in the event that I expand into that (which seems likely).

If anyone has any comments, suggestions or recommendations for me concerning mounts, I would really appreciate it. Perhaps me thinking is completely flawed and if so, I would like to elicit your opinions before I invest in any equipment.

In short, this mount will fill all of your needs for many years ahead - and to a good price!
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=75&class1=3&class2=304
/Jonas

Gregory,

If you haven't already, I'd strongly suggest you join a local amateur astronomy club. This will give you all kinds of resources to learn from. My club, for example, has a number of loaner scopes for new members to check out and use for a month at a time. This way they can get some experience with operating an equatorial mount or a Dob, without having to buy one. Club star parties also afford the opportunity to see what other members are using, learn how they operate, learn some of their problems, idiosyncrasies and limitations, see what the views are like and begin to get an idea of what appeals to you. Club members also sometimes buy/sell/trade equipment among themselves.

Between my daughter and I, we own an 8" Dob, a Celestron C8 on a GoTo equatorial mount, three TeleVue refractors, a Losmandy GM8 mount with Digital Setting Circles, a TeleVue Gibraltar mount and a heavy duty Bogen camera tripod with a TeleVue Telepod (Alt-Az) Head. What gets the most use? The Bogen tripod with Telepod head, with a TeleVue TV76 Apochromatic Refractor and a Telrad finder. Why? Because it's compact, very quick to set up and take down (an advantage in cold weather), it's dirt simple to operate and it works very well.

You've already addressed your feelings on GoTo. In my experience it has its place but I've had to spend a lot of time helping beginners set them up, polar align them, then star align them, then lead them through the controls, just to get them up and operating, simply because they didn't spend some time with a simple mount just learning the astronomy basics. (You can't polar align a mount if you don't know how to find Polaris.) Many of them are overwhelmed, get frustrated and lose interest. Also, GoTo telescope mounts are not "plug-and-play" as the advertising would lead you to believe. Most all of them are fraught with mechanical or electronic glitches which can be time consuming to work through.

You mentioned you have some binoculars. Have you got a stable tripod and adjustable head to mount them on? A mount to hold binoculars steady is a very good investment.

Good luck.

A few thoughts:

First are you mainly in interested in observing planets/moon, double stars, DSOs or all of the above?

Do you live in or in close proximity to a dark sky site? Do you have an interest, time and patience to learn how to star hop?

If you're not going into imaging anytime soon, and you have decently dark skies I would go with a 10" dob. The Orion 10" Intelliscope is a good compromise between goto and strictly manual starhopping (about $700 USD).

If you have seriously light polluted skies (like I do) star hopping is miserable, I'd recommend, depending on your budget a NexStar 5 in the same budget class. I'd also recommend this over the Dob if you prefer to observe sitting.

Both of the above mentioned telescopes are alt/az rather than equatorial RA/DEC which makes it much easier and more convenient for a visual observer to deal with than an EQ mount.

As far as EQ mounts go, I hate to tell you this, but as your desire for a better optical tube goes up so will your desire for a better mount. The mount tends to be the more expensive of the two. In my opinion good equatorial mounts without goto start around the $2000 mark.

Anyway my two cents. Best of luck, and welcome to astronomy.

Regards,

Chuck

Gregory,
Thomas made a very good suggestion about finding a local club or at least others in your area who may offer some assistance.
I will offer my suggestions as to what you may want. Since you indicate that astrophotography may be in your future I would suggest the best equitorial mount that you can afford. You can find good used mounts for sale with some regularity.

Goto mounts are not an alignment panecia, as most folks wind up not getting the mount properly polar aligned; polar alignment is one of the most important aspects of taking astro photos. From what I have seen, anything more than a one star alignment with a goto mount add corections for declination and RA to make up for polar mis-alignment. Goto mounts do make locating your target a little easier if the mount is properly aligned.

My personal reccomendation for a mount is Losmandy. Losmandy are good solid mounts which do have some drawbacks but are minor in my estimation. The GM-8 can be guided with enough accuracy for photography at a focal length of 1000mm at pixels of 5.7microns. My GM-8 hasn't objected to 25 pounds or so of scope and camera weight. The G-11 will track to the limit of the sky stability and carry more weight than the GM-8. The mechanical setting circles on the Losmandy mounts are a little awckward for some folks to use, however they will get you pretty close. Digital setting circles add to the cost but make aiming the scope much easier.

If you can find some amateur astronomers in your area who are willing to assist you, some of the mistakes quite a few of us have made can be avoided.

There are many interesting things to see and study up there, so above all enjoy yourself.

Greg:

You have gotten come good advice, I would like toss in my two cents...

- I think it is unrealistic to think that you will buy a single mount and be done with it. A telescope and a mount need to be matched, a massive mount with a lightweight scope will simply not get the use because dragging it out to use will be awkward and difficult. On the other hand, a large scope and an undersized mount will be disappointing as the scope will vibrate at the slightest touch. One needs to find a balance.

- EQ mounts definitely have their place but they are typically more awkward than ALT-AZ mounts. Also, the tube rotates as you move around the sky. And too, it is important to recognize that a mount that is fine for visual work may have real problems when used for Astrophotography. There are some good reasons why people spend $10,000 on a mount for taking photos...

- Astrophotography, it's wonderful to think about but it's a lot of tedious work. Learn about the equipment and the night sky first at the eyepiece.

- Give the Dob a look. At first they turned me off, they seemed so crude so I stuck with my old Orange Tube C-8 SCT. However, somewhere along the way I was seduced by the simplicity, the solid mount, and the great views possible with a Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount.

- Goto Yes or No?? Myself, I am a dedicated Starhopper. Oh, I have a couple of GOTO mounts but I rarely use them and when I do it is only because they offer tracking. But I am a Starhopper because it is something I love. It's kind of like riding my bike, I don't need a motor, I don't need a computer to tell me where stuff is and how to find it, I know... And I enjoy finding new stuff and stumbling across stuff...

If Starhopping does not excite you, if finding the target is not a pleasure in itself, then GOTO is probably the way to go. But Thomas points out that GOTO is not as easy as it is made out to be, there is a learning curve. I have purchased a number of almost new GOTO scopes from people who gave up in frustration. There is a learning curve to Starhopping, there is a learning curve to operating a GOTO scope.

I would add one word of caution, the suggestion is that you can always push a GOTO mount if you want to Starhop but it is not always quite that easy. With an Alt-AZ mount you will need to use the drives or you will lose alignment and therefore tracking.

So, as others have said, lots of choices, hooking up with a club is good way to start.

Jon

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