Buying a new equatorial mount

[Louwai]

I need to replace my CG-5. It's been good, but time to move on.
Can anyone suggest a GO-TO mount for around the $2k mark with Tripod.

I see the EQ6 with SkyScan for $1999. I also see on here a few people with EQ6 issues.

Any others that you recommend???

[mill]

Bryan get the EQ6.
There is nothing wrong with them.
Most people have problems with them because of tinkering too much or user error :scared3:

[aokman]

most tinkering is done to try and improve the PE. They are a good mount but do have their limits being a Chinese build quality :) im happy with mine but there are some serious design flaws in some aspects but nothing to really limit your capabilities.

[Marke]

Instead of an EQ6 just go straight to a CGEM it is an improvement over
the EQ6 and has the advantage of any star polar align.

[casstony]

If you do go for the CGEM it might pay to wait for a short while - supposed to be significant price cuts for all Celestron gear soon.

[Louwai]

Cheers, guys. Will do a little more looking around.

[digby dart]

Australian store A:
Celestron CGEM Computerised Mount au$2799.00
Australian store B:
Celestron CGEM Computerised Mount au$3250.00

Most US internet stores:
Celestron CGEM Computerised Mount us$1,399.00 (au$1560.00 - which is about what some Australian stores price a HEQ5Pro.)

These prices suggest there may be a little bit room for the local distributor to lower the price of the Celestron CGEM mount and associated telescope packages here in Australia.

A CGEM mount with 8” EdgeHD tube thrown in costs the US astronomer us$2399.00 (au$2675.00), cheaper than the Australian price for just the mount.

Australians buy the mount and then if the muse takes them fork an extra au$2999 for the otherwise included EdgeHD tube. At best, the package costs au$5798 in Australia against the au$2675.00 American astronomers pay.

Maybe Australian astromomers just look wetter behind the ears. :)

[TheDecepticon]

All that extra money for a built in field flattener! :lol:

[Louwai]

I agree Digby. That's the exact reason I buy most of my gear from the US.
Even with shipping & GST it would still be cheaper to buy a CGEM from the US. I might just go that way. The warranty doesn't really worry me.

[casstony]

The insane Celestron pricing provides ample room for store A to undercut other retailers with grey imports --> other retailers complain loudly --> Australian distributor negotiates lower prices in order to compete with store A. (that's just my guess, nothing official).

Thank goodness for store A :)

[casstony]

And vents - those are top shelf holes, not just ordinary ones.

[Marke]

You cant buy directly from US either Celestron or Meade as its a protected market so no store will sell it to you. Only way is if you
have a friend that can purchase for you but shipping will be a nightmare
with all the boxes and weight.

[JethroB76]

Yes, but there are plenty of options nowadays to have such "protected" items forwarded to you from the US..sites like priceusa.com etc

[Louwai]

Yes I understand all that Mark.
Getting around the retail restrictions is no issue. And for the shipping, I operate my own import business, so that too will be a fairly simple process.

The only thing, as I mentioned in previous post, is that there will be no warranty on the mount. But that's a risk I'm willing to take.

[dulwich.hill]

Hi Bryan,

I am in the almost exactly the same position as you. I have an EQ5 (non-motorised) mount and I am looking to upgrade to an EQ6Pro or Celestron CGEM. It was Mark on this thread that originally suggested I go straight to the CGEM.

The lowest price I have found is $1359 from opticsplanet.com. Fortunately I have a mail forwarding for my business in Texas. So I am shipping it to Texas, where it will be redirected to me.

Allowing for international shipping (I found the individual box weights), insurance and GST, the total Aussie Dollar cost is going to be under $2100 I think a $700 saving is worth the extra effort. At same time I'll buy some nice televue radian eyepieces as they are also about 30% cheaper than local.

Cheers

James

[casstony]

Give a local dealer a call to see if they have an update on the coming Celestron price cuts - there might be less than $700 difference after the new pricing is released.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

A Vixen Sphinx / SXD could be woth a look. The "Starbook" controller seems to be a 'love-it-or-hate-it" thing, but I believe they're pretty reliable and track well. Not sure of the $$ though. More than an EQ6 but probably less than a CGEM.