Cheapest mount suitable for automating observatory
Hi,
I'm in the process of slowly automating my observatory. Unfortunately my wedge mounted CPC925 (which is my favourite telescope ever - and I've had too many to count) is unsuitable for this as it requires input on the keypad whenever it starts up. CPWI seems also not to be suitable also - though I'm not certain about this as I have not extensively tried it out. Whatever I decide I'll be keeping this scope, even if only for visual use as optics are first rate and it gives great rms figures when guiding.
I've thought about using my HEQ5 and a small newt - powering on and using eqmod to resume from a parking position seems feasible. I guess any of the Skywatcher mounts would do this?
Are there any other options under 4K that would be suitable for automating using Voyager? Although my obs is in my backyard, I need my beauty sleep, and I'd like to image without having to wake up buggered after every clear night. Or, is automated imaging out of my price range?
I remounted my CPC925 on the Orion version of the AZEQ6. For AP use I would go with the EQ6-R instead. I used that combination with Voyager with pretty decent results, but you need to remember to park it on each session end so it starts from a known position, if you were going to automate it with as little manual intervention as possible.
I recently bought an Ioptron CEM70G which has the advantage of being able to seek it's own home position so in the event of a power outage or just forgetting to park it to a known position you can just tell it to find the home position. That is a sync event so the pointing is known after that and off you go again.
It really depends if you need a mount that can find it's position after loosing power? Eg Automated or autonomous. If the latter then the cheapest mount you are probably looking at a mount like an MYT. The new AP Mach2GTO with absolute encoders ought to be amazing. The 10Micron mounts are also reputedly very good. But, none of these are cheap!
If you can handle a bit of a process to park in the right spot, and perhaps keep the mount powered up then an EQ6 is a good choice.
The CEM70 and 70G (And I believe a number other of the Ioptron mounts) can seek their own home position, one of the better features of the mount IMO. You can engage the gear switches with the scope pointed anywhere you want then hit find home and 20 seconds later it is ready to go.
Better still, at least with my short refractor it is physically impossible to crash my scope or camera, the physical limits of the mount stop it first.
If you are happy with your scope, then why not leave it switched on and in a non tracking state?
Any Skywatcher mount that takes the SynScan USB Adapter will do the trick. I had been using EQmod on my EQ8 to get past the issue until the adapter was released and it performs flawlessly in my remote (back yard) setup.
However, I haven't tried to automated the set up with sysnscan, but do believe it's possible.
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm going to see if just slewing to a predetermined position and turning tracking off will work. Since the obs is in my backyard, loss of power is not a big deal. If this is not enough I will have a look at the CGX. It seems to be the only mount in my price bracket that has home sensors. If that isn't satisfactory, I'll look at en eq6r and eqmod.
Cheers
Gary
