Mounts for Telescopes

   A telescope's mount is sometimes more important than the telescope. Strange, but if you have a mount that's flimsy you may eventually come to that conclusion. Mounts that are not solidly made, or ones that are sloppy will eventually cause you a great deal of frustration, especially when you try to use the focuser. Although a mount may be "heavy", it's not the actual weight of it that matters. It's really about quality, what it's made of, and how well things fit together INSIDE.

   If you have a good-quality refractor (or a medium-sized Newtonian or SCT) you probably have what's called a "German Equatorial" mount – sometimes called an "E.Q." mount or GEM mount. An equatorial mount is a two-axis affair which swivels in Right Ascension and Declination. Some equatorial mounts are sturdy enough to handle the job. Others, although seemingly "heavy", are quite flimsy, and can contribute to frustrating jiggles and vibrations that make observing (or even just focusing!) all but impossible. Some mounts are poorly made with sloppy internal gears and parts which makes finding objects (and re-finding them!) very difficult.

   Aftermarket equatorial mounts are available from many manufacturers and suppliers. Most good upgrades will cost between $300 and $1,000 or more. Below are some of the best examples - in random order. Our top choices are the Vixen Sphinx SXWand the Losmandy GM-8, but the Takahashi Teegul Sky Patrol III, Meade LXD75 and Orion SkyView Pro offer a lot of bang-for-the-buck.

   Orion offers a few very worthy equatorial mounts for the amateur looking to upgrade. At the top is their Atlas Heavy-Duty Equatorial Mount. It's their entry into the 'heavyweight' category for supporting bigger loads. The Atlas is nearly identical to the Synta EQ-6. It's equipped with dual-axis drive, and sells for $1,199 — an excellent buy!

   The SkyView Pro (shown here) is less "heavy-duty" than the Sirius EQ-G and Atlas EQ-G but is more affordable at $379.95. Beefy tubular steel legs contribute to stability. Orion says this mount is "All metal". Usually that means some major parts are made of "pot-metal", which is a brittle zink alloy. If you break a pot-metal part it cannot be repaired. However,  $379.95 is a very good price for a mount of this caliber, and there are TONS of SkyViews out there! Orion offers a dual-axis drive for $119.

   The highly regarded GP mount by Vixen is available in different versions. The one pictured here is their GPD2 Equatorial Mount, available from Anacortes Telescope for $1,099. All machined steel with brass gears, and equipped with a very slick illuminated polar-axis scope with variable brightness. This superb mount is one of the smoothest performers we've ever used, and one of our top two choices. Very suitable for any agenda, including GO-TO conversions and astrophotography.

   Another excellent EQ mount from Vixen is the Sphinx SXW Mount. The Sphinx is a GoTo mount with the Vixen STARBOOK controller, available from $1,999.

   Meade offers their LXD75 mount and tripod separately from the telescope. It is beefy and sturdy enough to support medium loads, and sells for $599. With computerized dual-drive, polar alignment scope, and AutoStar controller, it's an excellent buy. 

More choices – at even higher prices

Software Bisque Paramount ME

There are of course more choices, and they can get very expensive. For instance, Software Bisque presents their Paramount ME Millennium Edition for a mere $14,500. Other choices are Takahashi's EM-500 Temma 2 Closed Loop 540x GOTO mount($12,340) and Astro-Physicscomputerized mounts which are more in the mid-range for price but still top quality. Astro-Physics900 German Equatorial ($8,450) and 1200 German Equatorial ($9,800) are extremely popular, and for good reason!

Alt-Az (Altitude-Azimuth) mounts

   Alt-Az mounts operate in two axes – Altitude (up-down) and Azimuth (left-right). Compared to equatorial mounts, Alt-Az motions are far less cumbersome. Your eyepiece always remains upright, and you don't need counterweights or slow-motion controls. Also, manual tracking and star-hopping can be more intuitive. In the Alt-Az category we present two choices – one for the budget-minded (which is motorized!), and one at the top of the scale.

   Specifically designed for small and medium refractors, TeleVue's Gibraltar Alt-Az mount "cradles" the scope at the tube's center of gravity. This "balancing act" serves to make the telescope virtually "weightless", rendering 'navigation' an effortless marvel. Bearing surfaces of brass and Teflon provide the smooth feel required for accurate movements. The ash tripod provides a very stabile support, as wood absorbs vibration and rebound-affects better than aluminum (you will notice that the better-grade telescopes and mounts come equipped with wood tripods).

   The mount-heads are predrilled for easy installation of Sky Tour Encoder Kits. Made in America. Price starts at $710 (includes ash tripod).

   The Hutech AZM-100 motorized Alt-Az mount is designed to support up to a 7 pound load and can be mounted on a standard photographic tripod-head with 3/8-16 threads. It can also be mounted on a photo tripod with 1/4-20 threads by virtue of a thread-adapter. Electric slewing in both axes allows manually-attended "tracking". Camera-standard 1/4-20 screws allow the mounting of lightweight scopes with or without rings (two screws separated by about 3-3/4" are provided). Standard cameras, camcorders, and binocular mounts can also be accommodated. The price is a genuine bargain at $229.

   We have often seen these quality mounts in use for solar viewing, lunar photography, and binocular observing, in addition to plain-vanilla "star-hopping".