ok, I've spent weeks looking online for a goto mount. I think I've found every website there is.
The question I ask is what is the cheapest goto (GEM) WORTH buying.
ANyone?
As mentioned, for imaging you will need the best you can afford, as the mount is the work horse for this type of work, however for visual you can get something a little less robust, and have a great visual experience.
I have an celestron astromaster 130eq, it's my first scope. I find it pretty good. I also want to take photos, so I suppose I want a mount that can do both.
It will also need to look after me for a few years to come as I upgrade the scope at some stage, and add other equipment.
I wouldn't worry about DSO photos until I have a better scope.
I also don't want to upgrade my scope for a while as my wife is proud of the fact she bought it for me.
For me the most basic EQ mounts worth buying are the EQ6Pro and the CGEM.
The HEQ5Pro will do if the loads are going to be smallish.
Anything less is a headache for imaging. Both the EQ6Pro and CGEM are upgradeable via a TDM if you wanted to down the track.
Anything less and there is a good chance you will end up buying twice.
I've owned an EQ3, an EQ5, an EQ6Pro and a CGEM and had extensive use of a G11 (which I found not to really have much advantage over the EQ6 to be honest).
Of course it depends what you want to do, if you have a 60mm scope and just want to star-hop and maybe do some wide field photography then something smaller or even an astrotrac might do the job.
Otherwise though a HEQ5PRO is as low as I'd personally go.
Yes the HEQ5PRO does seem like the go. It has rave reviews and although a little expensive for me, I think its longevity would be more than worth the price.
And yes, I don't want to have to buy twice, espcially considering I will be looking to upgrade my scope one day and buy a few other bits and pieces.
To be honest, I feel like a kid at Christmas time.
The cheapest I have seen it is $1200 at Andrews Communications, however you can probably pick up a good EQ6Pro 2nd hand for that money.
Worth a thought...
