ASGT mount

[Harpspitfire]

sorry for the new thread, but this more or less a different topic- one of the reasons im considering the 6" SCT with the mount included, is id replace my original ASGT mount with the new one- from my understanding its a better 'firmware' mount and the originals arent completely upgradable- am i correct im assuming this?- thx- john

[casstony]

Hi John, I looked through your previous posts and it looks like you have a c9.25 on an ASGT mount and the small refractor. If you're serious about ccd, why not avoid buying the new mediocre mount and ota and put the money towards a higher quality mount. You could keep an eye out for a Tak, Losmandy, Vixen etc on Astromart. Once you have the good mount and your technique is good with the refactor, load up the c9.25.

Qualification: I am very inexperienced at taking astrophotos, but experienced enough to know that it's a pain in the rear if you can't any one of a number of parameters to come together and it all starts with the mount.

Tony

[Harpspitfire]

well i am tony, but truthfully im completely computer stupid- tell you how bad it is, when i 1st got the ASGT it sat for months!!- i used my CG5- when my wife asked what the problem was, i said 'nothing'- i was scared to use it!!- so im limited to DSLR, 3 year learning on registax for me- etc etc- LOL, guess you figured out my problem is 'trailing' so i figured a smaller f/l OTA is better for me along with a 'better mount'- i read great reviews on the GM8 and CGE- along with many issues that needed taken care of- i dont think i could do this myself- as far as the ASGT is concerned, ill be honest with you- i tried guidedog, guidemaster, K3CCD, astrosnap. PDH,-all guiding programs- and i cant get '1' to work for me or even figure them out- for all purposes, i agree a better mount is the to go, but from a stupidity standpoint, i just be in the place i am now--trailing stars!- LOL

[casstony]

It's somehow comforting to know that I'm not the only computer stupid person around :) A bit sad for us both though. You've pretty much plumbed the depths of my knowledge on the subject in my earlier post, but one last thing I have to add is that a well polar aligned, high quality mount will partly compensate for the lack of computer skills.

I've decided to take a different approach to these problems. I'm buying a Dob with no damn computer so I can just scan along the milky way and see what I run into.

I imagine you're aware of the Celestron Advanced Series yahoo group? Lots of info and help there. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Celestron_AS/

Tony