Once your telescope choice is decided and you understand the range of telescope prices, there are some important decisions to make around ensuring you have the rest of the equipment necessary to use and enjoy it to its full. As with any hobby, there are some essentials and an awful lot of unnecessary items which may be nice to have or expensive and useless – or most likely somewhere in between.
Telescope Mount and Telescope Tripod
Telescope mounts are used to support the mass of the telescope and to allow for it to be accurately directed towards the body the viewer wants to see. Some telescopes come with a mount but many, including those from major manufacturers. There are many types with the majority being created to allow for the easy tracking of stars as the Earth rotates.
The first of the two common types of mount is the altazimuth mount or altitude-azimuth mount is easily understood and tracks up and down and side to side. This sounds logical but makes it hard to track bodies moving in the sky by hand and until the recent development of digital, motorised tracking systems made in unsuitable for use for astrophotography and for extended viewing.
The second type is the equatorial mount, which has a north-south axis tilted to be parallel to the Earth’s polar axis making it easy to swing east-west and vice versa. The equatorial mount makes it much easier to track celestial bodies at the expense of cost and mechanical and configuration complexity.
A telescope tripod is essential for creating a stable platform for viewing. Thin, lightweight and flimsy tripods will cause the image to bounce around at the slightest touch by the viewer or even the wind and can ruin the enjoyment. Look for a heavy, robust and solidly constructed tripod for best results and ensure it is on stable ground when viewing. A sizeable portion of the overall budget should be set aside for the tripod and mount as they can render an expensive scope useless if connected to a wobbly, under-engineered tripod or mount.
It is common for the mount and tripod to be bundled together. These are often from the large manufactures and can include motorised “goto” controllers to point a properly aligned telescope at objects from a celestial database held on board or via a computer. Examples include the Celestron CG-4 German Equatorial Mount and Tripod providing a solid platform and manual tracking at around $400 through to high-end items such as the Orion Atlas EQ-G Computerized GoTo Telescope Mount at $1400. The beginner scopes often come with a lightweight tripod and the next step up is catered for by items such as the Celestron Heavy-Duty Altazimuth Tripod at around $130.
Once you understand the full budget you will need covering the telescope, mount and tripod and any other accessories you need or desire, we will look at where to buy a telescope in todays Internet connected age.
Previous: Telescope Prices
Next: Where To Buy A Telescope
