Thanks "other John". Your suggestion has merit but I should explain the
background to my original posting.

Two or three years ago I finally, after many years, had enough money to
buy a telescope and had somewhere to observe from i.e. the back garden
of my (then) new house.

So I decided to buy the biggest and bestest telescope I could afford,
which turned out to be a Skywatcher Evostar-120 EQ-5 refractor.

Unfortunately it turned out to be too big and, more to the point, too
heavy. I couldn't site it permanently outside so I had to carry it out
each evening, and then back in again. I'm sure it did wonders for my
biceps, but it was still inconvenient.

So, I want something more portable. With my current budget I'll
probably go for a Celestron Astromaster 90AZ, but in the future I may
well be looking for something larger - but not too large! - so the TAL
OTA and Vixen Porta Mount may be ideal.

Incidentally, the Skywatcher was excellent for planetary work, but I
never saw a single galaxy or nebula with it. Never did work out why;
could have been local seeing conditions, but I did wonder if was
something to do with the coating on the optics.

Anyway, thanks to the two Johns for your suggestions.

All the best

Chris Moore

John wrote:
In message , John writes
Quornhog wrote:
Can anybody recommend an Alt-Az mount which I could use with a TAL
100RS OTA?
I already have an equatorial mount but want to use something simpler.
Any help would be appreciated.
Chris Moore

Hi Chris,

I have been using a Vixen Porta mount now for a couple of years and
I'm really pleased with it's overall performance, especially its
stability.

Regards,
John.
Surely if you fiddle with the equ. it will act as an alt/az?
Try loosening the clamps, reducing the alt. setting and swinging the
tube around.