Telescope Mounts

Purchasing a telescope mount or tripod is often overlooked, especially when you purchase a telescope bundled with a mount. However, the importance of a good telescope mount should not be underestimated. There are different kinds of mounts to choose from. To learn more about mounts, see our telescope guides section. Also remember that if you purchase a motorized telescope mount, you may want to invest in a portable power supply.

Altazimuth Mounts and Tripods

Altazimuth mounts are simple in design. They hold a telescope parallel to the ground and allow the pivot the telescope left to right, and up or down. In essence, they have two axis, horizontal and vertical. Unlike equatorial mounts, they have no polar alignment capability which means they cannot by in synch with the earth’s axis. This means that these mounts must constantly be adjusted on both axis (horizontal and vertical) in order to stay on a target. There are motorized Altazimuth mounts and the computer takes care of these adjustments for you. For the non motorized versions, they require a bit more work. The simple design makes the more affordable however.

Vixen Porta II Altazimuth Mount

Orion SkyView AZ Telescope Mount

Orion VersaGo II HD Altazimuth Mount

Equatorial Mounts and Tripods

Equatorial mounts are more complex in design. They require an initial setup for a polar alignment, which is a process that synchronizes the mount with the earth’s rotational axis. The advantage of this synchronization is that you only have to adjust one axis to stay on target, as opposed to the two axis adjustments required to operate altazimuth mounts. Since motorized mounts only need to work on one axis, they use a single motor which make them a better option for GoTo applications.

Orion SkyView Pro Equatorial Telescope Mount

Orion AstroView Equatorial Telescope Mount

Orion EQ-2 Equatorial Telescope Mount

GoTo Mounts and Tripods

These are computer controlled motorized mounts and they include both Equatorial and Altazimuth mounts designs. These are suitable for astrophotography and long term exposure shots.