Mounts

I started with a celestron CG5 mount. The really really important thing is don’t overload the mount. If you want to use it for visual purposes there is more flexibility in how close you get to the payload capacity. My CG5 was ok with a four inch refractor and some eyepieces for visual work.

Because I was interested in capturing images, I bought a DSLR – Canon 1000d and attached it to the 4 inch scope. It took some fab pictures of the moon. The mount isn’t up to imaging, so when I tried to capture some M31 the Andromeda Galaxy, all I got was some bright blurred patches.

The other thing I would say is that Celestron were never helpful to me. I posted a straightforward enquiry on their help pages to ask how many turns of the C11 focuser knob were required to move the mirror by a certain amount ( which I needed to calibrate my focuser) and they replied it was proprietary information which they would not reveal. I dismantled the scope and measured it myself – easy but tedious. So I am now party to some proprietary information….I would not buy Celestron gear by choice…

I moved on from the CG5 to a Losmandy G11 and I had this for a few years – mounted the C11 on it and prior to that I had a six inch refractor on it (courtesy of Greg  Parker at the New Forest Observatory – thanks Greg). With the refractor I captured a really good image of NGC4565 which I was very pleased with.

I moved on from the Losmandy mount to a MESU 200 – if you can afford one of these you won’t be disappointed – high quality machining – an excellent product which will serve imagers well. You can put two C11s on it and still image successfully – I think the payload is around 100kg for imaging. Because this is a roller mount, it has no backlash – yippee.