I take an in depth look at the purchase experience, hardware, software and service you get with these two premium mounts.
First light with the Astro-Physics Mach2GTO
Project Dumbbell: First light with the Rainbow Astro RST-135E and Celestron EdgeHD 8"
Imaging the moon with a Celestron C5 Spotting Scope
First light with the Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED
A modern, portable, astrophotography setup with the Rainbow Astro RST-135
A new year, new mount, new camera, new scope.
Upgraded to the Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox V2
First light with the EdgeHD 11"
Celestron's C5 Spotting Scope: Maximize Your Grab-And-Go
Make no mistake, this is a BIG, little grab-and-go. The biggest I could fit on the iOptron Cube Pro mount. The AT60ED wasn't cutting it for planetary views. The mount has a weight limit of 8lbs, so I opted for the largest scope with the longest focal length that I could get to fit on this class of mount. That happened to be Celestron's C5 Spotting Scope. Yes, Celestron sells this as a spotting scope, but at it's heart, it's really a 5" Schmidt Cassegrain telescope with XLT Starbright anti-reflective coatings. It's focal length is 1250 at a speed of F10. It's perfect for planet and moon viewing. It's got almost 3 times the focal length of the AT60ED and it's only 6lbs. Two pounds under the weight limit of the mount. This gives me room to add a few light accessories. It pairs well with eye pieces from 32mm down to about 6mm.
Astro-Tech 6" f/9 Ritchey-Chrétien Astrograph
HUBBLE AT HOME
A recent addition to my set of telescopes. This is probably the most economically viable Ritchey-Chrétien telescope money can buy. It can be found for around $350 at most places. I bought this one used for even less. The Ritchey-Chrétien design is probably most famous for being the same optical design that's in the Hubble Telescope. This is probably the largest scope I can feasibly put on my mount for weight reasons. The AVX has a 30lb max payload capacity, and the AT6RC is around 13lbs with no other gear. So, I'm probably pushing 18-20lbs of astronomical gear with this scope. Due to the long focal length, getting the polar alignment dialed in is crucial. But once set, I'm able to get some half way decent images out of it.
These images show all the gear set up and ready for a night of imaging. Pictured here is the AVX mount, AT6RC, Orion 60mm Guide scope, ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool camera for primary imaging, ZWO ASI224MC camera for guiding, the ZWO 8 slot electronic filter wheel with LRGB and Narrowband filters, an Astrozap dew heater on the guide scope, Astrozap dew shield, and a Bahtinov mask from Grosky.
M51, Whirlpool galaxy taken on this setup later that evening.