Can you rent mounts?

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Hi all.


Well, I've managed to trade myself close to my current mounts limit for visual (10kg), let alone astrophotography, with my last 'lighter' scope going to a new home tomorrow.


Just wondering if there is anywhere that hires out decent mounts at a reasonable price for the 6 months or so I may need to save up to buy one? The two setups I need it for come in at 9 to 10kg, so would need something that can handle the weight otherwise it's back to just a camera & lens for now.

Any suggestions at all?

Cheers,
Mark

[leon]

That is an interesting question, not that I know of anyone, but wouldn't that be a good idea for first time people to see if they actually enjoyed the hobby before spends dollars.

Maybe a good little side business for some keen Astronomer.

Leon

[mura_gadi (Steve)]

Camera shops will hire most anything at stupid prices. I looked at hiring a Pentax eyepiece as a way of "try before you buy", but the min. is normally 6months and accounts for 40%-60% of the purchase price.

I'd try gum tree for tripods, you can get some very heavy duty tripods ex survey gear etc pretty cheap at times.

Other than that, Leon suggestion would be good if they exist, as they might not be so money grabbing as the stores I tried.

Event hire places might be an idea... you just want a tripod suitable for mounting a large speaker on etc... All you need to know is the mount thread, size in mm, thread type fine/course, male/female connection, they might have something suitable.

[Drac0 (Mark)]

I have found where you can hire small telescope setups & some scopes, but nowhere with just a decent mount, even just a HEQ5/AVX size. Really looking at something like a CEM26 or EQ6 capacity, 18-20kg.



May have to look at the possibility of making some form of barn door setup, though I've only ever seen them used with small stuff. Might be a fun project - or not. Tripod isn't an issue - got a surveyors here, plus the tripod from the current mount isn't an issue for the weight, it's only the actual mount head.

Will keep looking for something.

[JA]

Sorry Mark I'm not aware of any scope or mount rental businesses, only hosted remote telescope type facilities.

You could look for something like a used NEQ-6 which are often around the $1000 mark, sometimes less. Factored over a year that's ~$80 per month on your credit card (or?) and I'm fairly certain you'd be able to sell it for similar in 12 months at an overall little net cost over that period.

Best
JA

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Thanks JA. I really should have had the willpower to not buy another scope before the mount. Will be keeping my eye out for something like a NEQ-6, but with new mounts getting harder to acquire right now the used market is seems to be drying up.
Cheers

Originally Posted by JA

Sorry Mark I'm not aware of any scope or mount rental businesses, only hosted remote telescope type facilities.

You could look for something like a used NEQ-6 which are often around the $1000 mark, sometimes less. Factored over a year that's ~$80 per month on your credit card (or?) and I'm fairly certain you'd be able to sell it for similar in 12 months at an overall little net cost over that period.

Best
JA

[JA]

Originally Posted by Drac0

Thanks JA. I really should have had the willpower to not buy another scope before the mount. Will be keeping my eye out for something like a NEQ-6, but with new mounts getting harder to acquire right now the used market is seems to be drying up.
Cheers

Try placing a wanted ad in the classified section. You never know your luck.

Best
JA

[astroametuer (Jay)]

Try digidirect, they seem to have a rent option for Star Adventurer mount. Maybe they would do the same for the larger mounts.

https://ibb.co/JRxMCvB

Goodluck, Jay

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Managed to get my new "best" telescope setup down to about 6.5KG so should be pretty good to go on the current mount. Just have to leave the C8 in the box until I get a bigger mount.

[raymo]

An HEQ5 will handle your 9-10kg payload; they come up on our classifieds
quite often.
raymo

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Am considering that, with the belt mod.

Originally Posted by raymo

An HEQ5 will handle your 9-10kg payload; they come up on our classified quite often.

raymo

[toc (Tim)]

I guess some astronomy clubs might have gear you could borrow? Not sure if that might include mounts though.

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Never got around to joining the local club, they meet on the one night a week that I'm not available.

Originally Posted by toc

I guess some astronomy clubs might have gear you could borrow? Not sure if that might include mounts though.