EQ vs AZ Mount (New to Telescopes)

Here is the place to talk about all those equipment(Telescope, Mounts, Eyepieces, etc...) you have. Not sure which scope/eyepiece is best for you? Trash it out here!
Post Reply
xerith
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:38 pm

EQ vs AZ Mount (New to Telescopes)

Post by xerith »

Hi,

I'm new to telescopes / astronomy and I read that EQ mounts are difficult to use in Singapore because we can't see Polaris. So is it worth buying a telescope with EQ mount here (without motor)? Anyone have any experience or recommendation? Or if I have misunderstood, please feel free to correct me and let me know.

I'm trying to use this with my 4 year old son, so I want something that is easy to follow the star/planet movements or else every 3 second I need to reset it and I might need at least 10-15 seconds each time which he probably won't be patient enough to wait for me...

Thank you very much.
geyes30
Posts: 132
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:07 pm

Re: EQ vs AZ Mount (New to Telescopes)

Post by geyes30 »

HI,

If you are going to do visual observation or even short imaging sessions (for bright objects like planets), an AZ mount might make more sense. They are a lot more intuitive to move around and Celestron has nice goto models (Nexstar 6SE, 8SE, etc). I also own an Ioptron Cube which is a nice if slightly flimsy AZ mount. They are cheap-ish though, and good for small scopes. If you want to go the non-motorized route you will probably need slow motion cables, and a mount that can take the cables. I am not familiar with these so I'll leave someone else to answer you. On the other hand, if you want to do imaging, Equatorial mounts will be more useful. You can use them here in Singapore, but you will need to be aware of possible problems with the counterweights hitting the tripod. Not seeing Polaris is not a huge issue, since many mounts allow you to perform some form of polar alignment using other stars.

Cyrus

Edit: Since you don't want to consider goto (i.e. computerized) Eq mounts, it might be a bit more difficult to use them in Singapore.
Hardwarezone
Posts: 350
Joined: Fri May 17, 2013 2:50 am
Favourite scope: maksutov

Re: EQ vs AZ Mount (New to Telescopes)

Post by Hardwarezone »

Manual mount don't need to move every 3 second.
About every 30-60 seconds to keep it at the center.
A good comfortable finder device (bought separately) is important to realign after the target drift out of eyepiece.

Pick telescope and mount separately if possible , don't be forced into buying an EQ just because it is bundled with the telescope you want.
Dark Neptune
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:18 am
Favourite scope: Sky-Watcher SkyMax 90mm, Coronado PST

Re: EQ vs AZ Mount (New to Telescopes)

Post by Dark Neptune »

Ditto what the above posters said.

AZ mounts are the best, especially if they have those slow motion cables (or knobs). They would be more lightweight as well, vs. the counterweight with the EQ mount.
Thanks.
Post Reply