Going in new direction for Meade 8"ACF, no longer considering LS mount

[BruceHinton]

Hi all,

Maybe I should be placing this in the beginners' sub-forum, but here goes!

I just acquired the Meade 8", and have given up on spending several hundreds of dollars on restoring/replacing the LS mount, partly due to a general feeling out there it is better suited to 6".

Now I am looking at an Equatorial mount, that can be upgraded later to electronic and motorized control. I hope to find one that will mount on the flat top of the LS tripod. Modifications are certainly part of my DIY project, and of course, fabrication.

Has anyone here used a PC with dedicated control software to operate the R.A. and Declination motors? Apparently some folks are using Stellarium, (one of my fav stand alone programs for years), to control their scopes.

Before I start obtaining parts and materials, I want to be sure of the motor specs, and interface type must be decided upon.

I'm not looking for someone to write out all the answers to these "really huge" project questions.

But I will happily follow links and find necessary reference materials!!! Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

[Lady Fraktor]

The only manual EQ mount available in USA with available add on motors would be the Skywatcher EQ-5.
With the add on goto though it would be almost as expensive as buying the goto mount instead.

[Bigzmey]

Bresser EXOS2 manual EQ also has an add-on kit to convert to GoTo, but it is priced almost as high as stand alone computerized mount.

It is also getting harder to find good quality manual EQs, most of vendors dropping them in favor of computerized mounts.