August 12, 2009
Which is a better mount for astrophotography. a fork type or a German EQ type?
Question by kiseek:
I have been at this for about a year now and I'm looking to upgrade my telescope. I currently have a go to Orion Sky View Pro mount and two tubes. A 150 mm Mak Cas and a 203 mm reflector. I recently purchased an SBIG ST 2k XCM camera and have used a Nikon D40 for images.
I have noticed that my limit before streaking is right around 25 seconds, so I often use the T&A feature to get long takes.
I am looking at a Meade LX200r RCX 12" telescope with a fork mount.
Am I going in the right direction?
My goal is to take at least 10 minute exposures without streaking.
Any advice would be helpful.
Thank you
I have been at this for about a year now and I'm looking to upgrade my telescope. I currently have a go to Orion Sky View Pro mount and two tubes. A 150 mm Mak Cas and a 203 mm reflector. I recently purchased an SBIG ST 2k XCM camera and have used a Nikon D40 for images.
I have noticed that my limit before streaking is right around 25 seconds, so I often use the T&A feature to get long takes.
I am looking at a Meade LX200r RCX 12" telescope with a fork mount.
Am I going in the right direction?
My goal is to take at least 10 minute exposures without streaking.
Any advice would be helpful.
Thank you
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3 Comments on Which is a better mount for astrophotography. a fork type or a German EQ type?
August 13, 2009
Light bearer @ 5:54 am:
both are good but for your said purpose i will recommend the fork type.;)
August 14, 2009
skymaster @ 5:15 pm:
A fork mount is ok but most use German Equatorials because these are more accurate generally. Meade telescopes are not very good at tracking. The best solution is to autoguide in any case, then the mount (whichever type) becomes secondary
August 17, 2009
Peter R @ 3:44 pm:
A fork mount used directly for astrophotography suffers from field rotation in long exposure astrophotos. If you choose the fork mount you can overcome this problem by using it in the equatorial alignment (i.e. with a wedge) so the az motor drives the telescope in RA and the alt motor drives in Dec. Any new mount will take some working in and I suggest you keep your shorter lenses and use them piggyback on the new tube initially.