equatorial or altzimuth mount?

[Jan Masu]

I am about to buy a telescope but unsure which mount to select.
What are the good points and bad points of each types?

[CarlJoseph (Carl)]

Hi Jan,

Welcome to the forums. A lot depends on what you want to do with it. What sort of things are you interested in? Observing mostly? Photography?

In brief ...
Alt/Az mount

• Moves vertically and horizontally (altitude/azimuth)
• Can be motorised to go to an object in the sky
• Straight forward to use and very easy to come to grips with

Equatorial mount

• Moves the same way the stars do (i.e. rotates)
• Can be motorised to go to and follow and object in the sky
• Needed for longer exposure photography
• Bit more complicated to come to grips with
• More expensive

Cheers,
Af.

[Marke (Mark)]

You forgot to mention biggest selling point for EQ imho you can easily swap or change scopes with the one mount.