I recently purchased my first OTA in... over 10 years? For a long time my most-used rig has been an 80mm f6 triplet on a Vixen Porta atop an old Gitzo G505 tripod.
My new 92mm f6.7 triplet pushes that rig to the limit, with long damping times, so with all the new mounts out there I'm considering an upgrade---adding auto-tracking, if possible. The mount landscape has changed! Too many exciting possibilities.
I have not changed as much. I still want:
- a smooth and steady mount for manual push-to operation.
- Light weight for portability, which I think means alt-az (at least as an option).
- compatibility with a tall tripod so that I, at 6'3" tall, can view through a refractor comfortably while standing up.
- Handle smoothly and solidly a 92mm f6.7 refractor, at ~12 pounds. Though the new scope only weighs a couple of pounds more than the old 80mm f6, it's quite a bit more demanding on the mount---likely due to the length, with most of the weight out at the ends.
- I'd enjoy having tracking---accurate enough to view the planets in a narrow-field eyepiece at 200x. And maybe try some simply lunar imaging?
- Go-to might be fun, but I still enjoy finding things myself so smooth push-to operation is a must.
- A neat rig, ideally with internal battery and an absolute minimum of wires. Wire-free would be best.
To illustrate: I'd like to find an object myself using my 6x30 finder, then engage a clutch and enjoy auto-tracking. Then release the clutch again to move to my next target, and not have to re-align. With a mount I can fit to a tall, sturdy photo tripod and carry in one hand.
Should I try an AZ-GTi? It ticks most of these boxes, but with an 11 lb listed capacity I doubt it's solid enough. I don't like a mount to wiggle when I focus.
Is there any resistance in the motions on the AZ-GTi when you release the clutches and move the scope by hand? Or does it just swing freely?
Any other suggestions, out of the current offerings?