AZ or EQ mount for beginners

[qwins14]

thanks for all the detailed explanation. first I think I will need to do exactly what Gary said: to search for all the telescopes I'm eyeing and then ask for opinions, so I won't be comparing across a wide range.

at the moment I'm looking at the entry scopes that have about 114mm. even that seems to have a wide price range lol. will try to narrow it down to 3-4 of them first.

thanks a lot guys!

[superiorstream]

Hi,All
I strongly recommend AZ-mount .Look for those with a 360 degree swing horizontally so
that if part A of the sky is cloudy suddenly;just swing your scope to partB.In the case of a EQ
mount,you might have to dismount the whole telescope to do it if the clear portion occurs
in the 'other' part of the sky.
You may ask for go to feature.They are good but complicated--what 3 or 1 star alightment.
If you are using a Android phone,there are freeware like google sky map that help you
navigate the night sky WITHOUT those complex procedure.Look at my article(cant remember where is it--either in beginner or general astronomy sector)
'handphone go to'.Follow the procedure to make +mount your handphone on the scope viewfinder
and you are in bussiness--navigate the WHOLE night sky like a pro.
Simple and easy.My 2 cents.

[kochu]

I think for the Newbies who has difficulty in making up their mind, Meade LX 80 Mount may be a good solution. It can be used as an Alt-Az mount as well as an Equatorial one.
More over it is just over 1.1K S$.

A better option may be the New Sky watcher EQ6 mount which also can work both ways However it costs 2800 S$ in Singapore.

And , GOTO is the way to go , considering the scarce opportunity we get in Singapore for observation.

Would you prefer driving with a GPS Navigator ,or stopping at road side to check the street directory.

Kochu

[qwins14]

thanks everyone, I do have an iphone app called Star Chart. Haven't tried it yet though.

I think the Meade lx 80 is a bit too high for me atm. I'm looking for entry scopes as I have other costly hobbies (collecting 1/18 diecast cars and star wars models) so I really cannot afford to invest that much in an expensive telescope for now, at least until I'm sure I want to pick this as a second hobby (and after I have more money!).

I have narrowed down my choices to the
1. powerseeker 114mm EQ
2. powerseeker 114mm AZ - so much cheaper than the EQ!
3. powerseeker 127 mm EQ - BirdJones so I'm not sure if i'm up to the task of collimating this one in the future

Potential celestron fan in the making.

[Mariner]

Alternative is to save your money and get a pair of good binoculars. In the long run, you will eventually find small scopes unsatisfying and move on to bigger scopes.