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I'd highly recommend the Atlas. I've used an Atlas for 3 years now and am very satisfied with it's performance. I shot images up to 2000mm. I mostly use it in the 800mm range. Look at my images at the link in my tagline.

-Bill

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I have an older Atlas with about 40" of periodic error (peak to peak). It works fine for me imaging at 800mm, but I doubt that autoguiding could completely tame those swings at longer focal lengths.

The Atlas mount has continually improved over time; it may be worth buying a new one (or at least a new used one, if that makes sense). The newer ones seem to have better PE characteristics than the old ones, in the 15-25" range. The smaller the PE, the less work your guider has to do.

Please understand that I'm not insinuating anything about the mount you're looking at, I don't know anything about it or how old it is. I got my Atlas used from a club member for a very good price knowing everything I needed to know about it and I have no regrets. It's been SO much better than my LXD75.

Once I build my observatory, I plan to move up to a high-end mount. Until then, the Atlas is doing everything I need it to do. Just know that the newer ones are typically better than the older ones.

Also, as far as I know, the newer Atlas and CGEM mounts are almost equivalent in terms of mechanical characteristics, PE, etc. The Atlas uses stepper motors; the CGEM servos. Functionally it makes no difference other than that the Atlas may be a little quieter. The main advantages of the Atlas is that it is very reliable and that it can be controlled using the EQMOD suite, which is excellent. (I don't even have a hand controller for my mount, I use EQMOD exclusively). The advantages of the CGEM are that is has better software, including the excellent All-Star Polar Alignment technique. It also has the capability of accepting permanent PEC. The Atlas can also use PEC, and with EQMOD, PEC is well-integrated with autoguiding (so they don't fight), but the Atlas worm gear is not indexed so its quite easy for the PEC curve to become unsynchronized. The CGEM accepts Losmandy dovetails, so you'd need to replace the dovetail that will accompany your SN6 to use it with the CGEM, but this is a worthy upgrade anyway that will minimize flexure and provide a very rigid and secure attachment.

Whew! That's a lot to digest. I do think you will be well-served to consider the Atlas / CGEM caliber mounts rather than the CG5 / LXD75. The lesser mounts will probably be able to handle the weight of your imaging setup, but they tend to have substantially more PE and, more importantly, a certain "roughness" or stickiness in the tracking that can be hard to guide out.

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