Equatorial Mount Recommendation

[bigfish]

Hello everyone,
I need a new mount! I have been plagued with a faulty mount from the start of this hobby.
I have an Orion GoTo Skyview Pro, It's terrible and I'm done.

I have a couple of questions for the pros. Right now I have a 8"x 1000mm telescope with Balows and camera, totaling about 23ish pounds.
1. If i get a mount that is rated for 30 pounds can I put a really light scope (5lb) or maybe just a camera and len on it and get good results?
2. Do all good quality mount hand controllers have a polar alignment feather?
3. Is there any reason I shouldn't buy just the mount head? The tripod I have is pretty solid.
Any Recommendations? Under $600 would be nice.
Thanks

[Lady Fraktor]

Hello Bigfish,

1. Keep the weight of all equipment going on the mount between 50-60% and you will have no issues with overloading the mount.
2. If the mount is a goto the it has to have a alignment routine. I am not sure what you would use the feather for
3. Not all mounts have the same size attachment point as the tripod mounting plate. Some mounts have different attachments available but these are usually more high end mounts.
You could try making your own out of hardwood though.

Offhand I cannot think of any goto mount for $600USD or less

[yobbo89]

an 8'' newt is a heading towards hefty weight , these lower end mounts are typicaly restricted to short exposures for medium size newts or more so for lighter refractors .

we have to look at numbers as lady fraktor has mentioned, your current mount is rated for 20lbs or 9kg in metric, your current 8'' scope is 16lbs (7.5kg)
fine for visual and some light imaging but your mount is at it's limits , a 4kg to 5 kg scope is more suited.

most mount manufacturers list the maxium load which is typicaly aimed for visual use and not for the perfect pixel tracking that is required for astrophotography , there is some form of diminishing linear scale when adding weight onto a mount ,typicaly going pass 50-60% load will results in worst tracking with the more weight that goes on, more weight = more flexure,more load,more friction ectt.

to really utilize that scope of 7.5kg , not including any weight of the camera added yet, you'll need to bite the bullet and invest in a quality upgrade and typicly there is a bit of a price gap between mounts with different supportive loads and functions/quality.

something like a eq5 ,celestron avx,eq6 is in your load bracket, and they range from $1500-$2600 aus ...

you might want to see what's going on in the second hand market if any other options is out of the budget or consider a scope downsize ..

[bigfish]

Thank you.
The eq5 ,celestron avx,eq6 is a pretty sweet mount. I think I'll get that one.
After my experience with my last mount I am hesitant to buy a used one. I'll just bite the bullet.

[SkyHiker]

Did you use that 8" scope on your Skyview Pro? If yes, not knowing why your mount is not working, that could be the reason why it isn't. Try going to a lighter scope before upgrading. The mount upgrade that you are looking for is probably in the $2500 range, for a 23 lbs. scope. An AVX might work but 8" is already borderline for it.

[Bigzmey]

As other saying your are likely overloading the mount with 8" telescope. Try a smaller scope. Have your purchased the mount and scope as a package? Unfortunately, it is quite common for vendors to pair mounts with scopes that are too heavy for them to run smoothly.

[notFritzArgelander]

As other saying your are likely overloading the mount with 8" telescope. Try a smaller scope. Have your purchased the mount and scope as a package? Unfortunately, it is quite common for vendors to pair mounts with scopes that are too heavy for them to run smoothly.

Agreed. I wouldn't want to put an 8" f5 scope with cameras et al on a 30lb rated mount unless visual use only! For that much weight and photography I'd much rather go to a 40 lb rated or higher....

[bigfish]

Did you use that 8" scope on your Skyview Pro? If yes, not knowing why your mount is not working, that could be the reason why it isn't. Try going to a lighter scope before upgrading. The mount upgrade that you are looking for is probably in the $2500 range, for a 23 lbs. scope. An AVX might work but 8" is already borderline for it.

You are probably right about overloading the mount. However the mount never worked right even without the scope on it. In fact the motors don't even work properly when they are sitting on a table.
I bought the whole set up Scope and mount together from Orion. I am sending the GoTo components back under warranty.

[yobbo89]

yeah the grears are stuffed on the left one ..

[KathyNS]

2. Do all good quality mount hand controllers have a polar alignment feather?

I think most modern hand controllers have some form of electronically assisted polar alignment feature. Older mounts relied on a polar scope or drift alignment for polar alignment, and did not include polar alignment as a feature on the controller. There is nothing wrong with the older style, and the quality of the polar alignment can be just as good if you are careful to do it right.

All goto mounts, old or new, have a goto alignment process in the controller. This is a separate function from polar alignment.

[bigfish]

yeah the grears are stuffed on the left one ..

This is the weirdest problem. The gears are is great shape with no wear at all. When you turn it by hand it is smooth as silk. Both motors work great for a while then all of a sudden this grinding happens.
I'm done with it, sending it back to Orion, hopefully they can fix it. In the meantime I will get a Sky Watcher pro.

[yobbo89]

maybe i'm mistaken, have you tried running the motors with the gears off ? also it should be easy to pull the motors apart, might be the bearings

[Voyageur]

maybe i'm mistaken, have you tried running the motors with the gears off ? also it should be easy to pull the motors apart, might be the bearings

Just a thought: if you take them apart, will that void the warranty?

[SkyHiker]

That test setup is not convincing. Since the motors move, the cog wheels must randomly be hitting the table surface then they bump against each other. Any of that can cause weird noises. It looks like you set it up in the worst possible way just to get it to show this behavior. How does it behave with a better test setup? Does the entire motor still move when you run it alone with enough cog wheel clearance? I can't imagine how a motor can turn around a vertical axis if its rotor rotates around a horizontal axis unless those cog wheels are hitting the table.

[Lady Fraktor]

A 200mm newtonian can be a bit of a struggle for a EQ-5 sized mount, putting it on a EQ-4 mount is a bit much for the mount/ motors.

[yobbo89]

maybe i'm mistaken, have you tried running the motors with the gears off ? also it should be easy to pull the motors apart, might be the bearings

Just a thought: if you take them apart, will that void the warranty?

if it hasn't got any void stickers then it aint no problem

yes probably best if op sent the item back for warranty

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