[NathanK25 (Nathan)]

This is a topic I kicked off under the Beginners Equipment forum, but given where its gone I thought it might be worth throwing it out to the wider Equipment Discussions brains trust...

Having become a victim of the axiom that the best telescope is the one you use, I've decided to try and sell my much loved Celestron Advanced Series CG-SGT and AP equipment, with the intention of using the proceeds to downsize to something more portable and simpler to set-up. My original thought had been to transfer entirely to something along the lines of a Celestron NexStar Evolution 6. I like the internal battery (not carrying around a power pack), the alt-az mount (no heavy counter-weights and less mount assembly) and integrated carry handle. However, on the Beginners forum I received the interesting suggesting of keeping my C8 OTA (aperture addiction, anyone?) and sell the rest to fund a new mount, perhaps a Celestron Evo mount (there seem to be a limited number of outlets in the US and UK who do sell them separately).

I'd be really interested to hear any advice on compatible single fork alt-az mounts for a C8 or any experience with the Evo mount in particular.

Many thanks.