Inexpensive mount for 5Kg scope

[Heath]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a refractor which ways 4.3kg, but with bits and bobs will probably way around 5kg. Could anyone advise what kind of mount for grab and go would be suitable and perhaps inexpensive for this type of set up?

Many thanks Heath

[dannat]

maybe the az4/5 mount - if you check bintel site the alt/az with the extension shown should be able to handle this mount
if you want to do photography down the track you would need something like an eq5 at a minimum

[Astroman]

I was going to suggest maybe a camera tripod, which can handle the weight, but depending on the size of the refractor, this could cause problems, I see Andrews and Bintel sell a wide rand of Alt/Az mounts which would be suitable. Such as the SkyTee, from Skywatcher, handles 10kg all up and allows to mount two refractors only $299... or from Bintel, the Bintel Skyview mount for same price.. Have a look under Mounts on Bintels website http://www.bintelshop.com.au Sure there would be something there that would be ideal.

[Heath]

Thanks Andrew and Daniel,

the scope is the WO Zenithstar 105 triplet which I bought off this forum. I will be looking to do photography down the track but would like to get to using the scope for viewing first. Any recommendations for connecting to mount I.e dovetail and ects? I have the WO rings already

Cheers Heath

[Sylvain]

do the rings have a dovetail attached?
if yes, it most likely is of vixen type and you should be able to mount it directly on a mount like the "SkyView Alt Az Mount" (look it up on the bintel site).
If not, then you'll have to buy a dovetail and maybe a couple of bolts to attach it to the rings if you don't have these already.
This type of mount is great for visual grab & go, not at all for photo, but you'll get there later on.

[Heath]

Thanks Sylvain,

I am actually looking at the Bintel SkyView Alt Az Mount which is exceptional value at $299. I don't actually have a dovetail so will need to get a compatible one for the mount. So should a Vixen dovetail fit the Alt Az Mount? I know these come in different sizes/lengths.
Cheers Heath

[Sylvain]

That should fit, just ring bintel or look online for this mount to make sure.
Regarding the length, you should chose it so as to fit your scope.

[casstony]

Heath, you might need to go with the $379 version of the Skyview mount since the cheaper one may not be tall enough for your refractor.

[Heath]

thanks for the advice,

I will look into it.

regards Heath

[brian nordstrom]

Andrews Communations have the GSO heavy duty alt az ( A sky view ) for$ 249 at the moment ,I have one under my ED80 and its a match made in heaven .perfect! nice and sturdy and the dual slo. mo. controls are a breeze to use. If your scope is a longer focal length ,say 900/ 1000 mm a 150mm tall hight tower is avaliable for $30 or there abouts.
If you are after an EQ mount any EQ3 to EQ5 mount will do .
Brian.

[rally]

Heath,

If you want the mount for visual use - get anything you like - it really won't matter greatly so long as it can handle the payload and you take care setting it up.

But . . . if you want it for astrophotography as you say then you really need to consider this more carefully.

Standard rule of thumb is spend at least half your budget on the mount - if not more.

By the time you add all the neccessary stuff to your scope (and much depends on what type and level of astrophotography you want to aspire to or be involved with) you will need a bigger mount, a more stable mount and most likely (highly recommended) an equatorial mount.
Planetary and lunar photography is much less forgiving, since you are stacking and aligning multiple short exposures, but DSOs and other long exposure imaging are very demanding on mount stability - you will find it very difficult to get high or even good quality astroimages with a low budget mount.

So the two concepts "a budget visual mount" and "a good astroimaging mount" are virtually mutually exclusive concepts !
Unless you are very lucky in the second hand market.

My recommendation would be an EQ6 at the minimum.
Otherwise you will find yourself upgrading at the expense of 1. your pocket and 2. a lot of lost opportunity and fighting to get good results from something that cannot be achieved.

An Alt/Az mount will give field rotation and two levels of gear errors ! Generally these are built much lighter and have much less accuracy.

Maybe go along to a few star parties and see what people are doing with what mounts and see what they are achieveing and if that is the sort of result you would be happy with, and also decide on what area of astrophotography interests you.

Cheers

Rally

[Heath]

Thanks for the advice Rally and Brian. Since the weekend has been dreadful, I've been having a go at building a viewing mount for the backyard. Very interesting, frustrating but hopefully rewarding project. I will go a budget mount for on the go but realise I will need to save for a good mount for the photography side. I saved for and bought the Canon 5D Mark II so have a very capable full frame camera now. The scope I bought off IIS and I believe this will also be a very good imaging scope. I cant really compromise this now by buying an under performing mount. Still have plenty of kit to buy to do imaging as well (Guide scope, guiding camera, filters etc) so will be a work in progress. Will have to be satisfied with viewing for the meantime and shooting the milky way from the tripod.

[dannat]

heath if your scope only weighs 5kg you could get away with a good fluid head - while in the US i bought one rated for 8kg, at the moment bhphotovideo.com have them for 99.95 - a great price - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/336011-REG/Davis_Sanford_FM18.html not a manfrotto but 80% the quality -has the counter balance tensioning spring to manage a heavy load - i ahve had big 25x100 binos on it at 5kg & handled them withnout slipage