New Skywatcher AltAz tracking mounts

The new AltAz tracking mounts from Skywatcher look interesting.

Having owned a NexStar 4 and discussed the ETX70 with friends and acquaintances I am not a big fan of full featured GoTo at that size but the simplicity of the autotracking Supa-Trak mount is appealing. It provides basic sidereal tracking without the need to do anything other than polar alignment, which shouldn't take more than a minute or so. If bought with a telescope I think it could be a nice option for a first-timer and has a Vixen-style quick release clamp so I think it might be an interesting option for small to medium grab & go scopes and astrophotography with an SLR.

Autotracking Manual: Auto-tracking.pdf

My other hobby is photography so the Acuter tracking mount is also of interest to me. It's been designed with cameras and small spotting scopes in mind and has a quick release clamp but doesn't have the clearance for reaching high angles or the zenith with scopes of any length.

See www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/produ...ss1=3&class2=306 .

Of the two I think I'd go for the Autotracking mount.

I made a small mistake above. The SupaTrak mounts now being offered by dealers supplied by Optical Vision Ltd. in the UK are a beefed-up version of the Autotracking mounts. Here's a link to a review: nightskies.net/scopetest/mounts/supatrak/supatrak.html .

SCS Astro has the mount on it's own in stock for £159 as well as the two offerings in the review at the stated prices. I'm thinking about buying this some time next year as a grab & go motorized mount because it would suit my Scopos 66 ED, PST and C5 and might be suitable for wide angle star field photography with my DSLR using prime focus lenses and perhaps even some narrower fields with the Scopos (f/l 400mm) as a telelens. Mind you, I don't expect the tracking to be steady enough for photography at extreme focal lengths - but it would be nice if it worked.

Just be careful re the telescope length and the height of the mount. You may be limited at how high the scope can point.

Exactly right. The telescopes I have it in mind for are very short and will reach zenith for visual observation and eyepiece projection. They may not do so with a camera attached at prime focus but would still have access to most of the sky.