SkyWatcher SynScan AZ GOTO vs Meade DS2000 GOTO AZ

[Wolfie]

Hi there!

I consider myself as a beginner in astronomy even if I have practiced it for quite some time but on an erratic mode because of my job. Now I'm retired I thought I could spend more time, forgetting... astronomy is a lesson of modesty when you understand you depend more on the weather than the time you can afford, at least where I live = France.
I'm happy at least to have a second hand C9 + EQ6 on my terrace which is still way much more than what I can manage as a beginner... but I'm learning to control the beast!
I also have a 80 ED refractor. Here is my first experience:
Let's give up with the urban legend saying large diameters are useless in poor condition like me: some light pollution, some distortion because of turbulence from heat from the buildings. That is, in those condition you see better with a small refractor than with a big reflector.
That's not true. Apart from the magnifying capabilities, I have much much better contrast with the large diameter and I can still observe deep sky objects I can't with my “small” refractor because of the limiting surrounding factors. This is clearly first a matter of quantity of light you get, no matter the quality.
Let's put the urban legend in an other way: considering the exponential price with the diameter, the quality/price ratio drops drastically if you observe in poor (urban) condition. This being said, cheap second-hand large diameters are still a bargain.

That was for my -long- introduction (as I'm asked to introduce myself here, not my fault lol!)

Now my question:
As suggested by my title, I'm looking for a light weight portable AZ GOTO mount. To go with my 80 ED or alternatively with a compact MAK. The idea is to have a portable set (mount, OPA , accessories I can really carry here and there including in public transportation)
I have read many useful info and tips and tricks on the SynScan here (why I found this forum) especially from Joe, aka Sxinias.
But I would like more pros and cons between the Skywatcher and the Meade mount.
First thing, it must be light. Closer to 5 kg than 10 kg. I have read the Syncan is 5...or 8 depending on the source. Where is the truth?

As to compare them:
What about the stability and weight capacity of the tripod?
The quality of the GOTO? Accuracy, ease of alignment (I'm quite concern if you are only offered stars out of reach for you and I love the capability and flexibility of the high-level EQ6), the library of objects of course etc..

Please, consider I'm not asking which is the best, as it depends on one's needs and priorities but asking about criteria I can chose on.

Thanks in advance!

Wolfie.

[AustinPSD]

Welcome to the forum Wolfie. I'm not an alt-az mount person, but I'm fairly certain someone will be along soon to provide comment...

[Wolfie]

Welcome to the forum Wolfie. I'm not an alt-az mount person, but I'm fairly certain someone will be along soon to provide comment...

Thank you for you welcome Austin. Actually I do hope some feed back from "Joe" as he has both mounts!

[sxinias]

Hi Wolfie, Welcome to the astronomy forum.


I have and use both mounts, the DS2000 with AutoStar 497 and the SkyWatcher SynScan AZ. The best possible world would be to merge the two together but ……. Both mounts have good and bad points. Neither have a quality tripod, the Meade tripod is steady but fragile and the Skywatcher is rugged but shaky.

If for some reason I had to get rid of one of them, I’d get rid of the DS2000 and keep the Skywatcher. Reality isn’t so black and white. I’m pressed for time at the moment and will get back to you with “Why I would keep the SkyWatcher over the DS2000.”

Two versions of the DS2000 mount exist; one with the Autostar 494 hand controller and one with the AutoStar 497 Hand controller. The Autostar 497 is similar to the SkyWatcher hand controller in capabilities; the AutoStar 494 hand controller is a truncated version of the 497 and has far fewer features and capabilities.

[Wolfie]

Thx for this first quick answer. Can't wait for details. Please confirm about respective weights.

W

[sxinias]

Meade DS2000 Azimuth GOTO Mount and Tripod versus SkyWatcher SynScan Azimuth GOTO Mount and Tripod

Note: The SkyWatcher Mount in this comparison is the mount SkyWatcher sells in Europe and most of the rest of the world, not the Azimuth GOTO mount that SkyWatcher sells in the USA as the LightChariot which is essentially a Celestron SLT mount and hand controller.

The Meade DS2000 mount in this comparison is the version that has an AutoStar 497 Hand Controller, not the stripped down AutoStar 494 Hand Controller (other than the hand controller and firmware, the two variants of the DS2000 mount are essentially identical).

For these comparisons, the Meade DS2000 is carrying a 1.8 kg, 102 mm Meade 2045LX3 SCT with a focal length of 1000 mm and the SkyWatcher is carrying a 4.5, kg 150 mm Celestron C6S SCT with a focal length of 1500 mm.

1. Weight of the two mounts is essentially the same with the DS2000 the lighter of the two. The SkyWatcher SynScan Azimuth GOTO mount, tripod, and hand controller is 4.7 kg without batteries and telescope. The Meade DS2000 Azimuth GOTO mount, tripod, “L” bracket, and hand controller is 4.3 kg without batteries and telescope. In addition to the telescopes, other items are eyepieces for both scopes and for the C6S a telrad finder. Both mounts carry their respective loads with no apparent strain. I suspect that either mount can carry additional weigh, however, this is not true for their tripods.

2. Tripods:
a. The SkyWatcher uses a tripod that looks just like the Celestron CG2 tripod. The SkyWatcher tripod is not in the same class as the mount. Tripod deflection is typically the reason why operators can not get accurate gotos. Fortunately, its performance can be greatly improved through some simple interventions.
b. The Meade DS2000 uses a lightweight aluminum tripod that is surprisingly steady considering its construction. The tripod is fragile and easily damaged. One failure mentioned on internet forms concerns the tripod’s extension leg clamps unexpectedly failing and sending everything crashing down to the ground. …. not good for telescopes.
c. The SkyWatcher tripod has a greater leg spread (larger foot print on the ground), thus, from a ‘tip over” stability aspect is more stable than the DS2000 tripod. The DS2000 tripod legs are more rigid and have less vibration characteristics than the SkyWatcher tripod. Moderate winds induce significant vibration in the SkyWatcher tripod.


3. Ease of alignment: Neither of the two mounts are particularly difficult to align. Which one is easier? This just depends….. The DS2000 mount is easier to align if the operator has no knowledge of the stars or how to identify stars. The SkyWatcher mount is easier to align if the operator knows some of the brighter stars or knows how to identify stars. The SkyWatcher is more sensitive to accurately centering stars during an alignment than the DS2000. Spending time to accurately center alignment stars seems to have little effect improving goto accuracy with the DS2000 mount but provides a significant improvement for the SkyWatcher mount. The Skywatcher mount is not position sensitive upon power up. The telescope tube can point in any direction … all that is required is that the vertical axis of the tripod be orthogonal to the earth. Upon power up, the telescope on a DS2000 mount must point toward true north, the telescope tube must be level with the ground, and the vertical axis of the tripod orthogonal to the earth (super accurate positioning is not required). The choice of alignment stars is limited for both mounts.

4. GOTO accuracy: The SkyWatcher AZ GOTO mount is significantly more accurate in its gotos than the Meade DS2000. With the SkyWatcher AZ mount, I often do gotos with a 12.4 mm eyepiece. With a 25 mm eyepiece the target object is generally within the center quarter of the eyepiece. With the DS2000 mount objects frequently appear in on the edge of the field of view with a 25mm eyepiece and often are not in the field of view at all. The DS2000 has a spiral search pattern that generally rapidly finds a missed object. The SkyWatcher does not have this feature but does not need it.

5. Tracking: Both mounts can track an object for hours. The SkyWatcher, to the eyeball but not to a camera, appears to hold an object rock steady in the fov. The Meade DS2000 seems to track in a jumpy sort of fashion. The Meade makes a significant irritating noise when tracking while the SkyWatcher is silent. Both mount make noise when slewing with the DS2000 the much louder of the two.

6. Telescope attachment. The SkyWatcher uses a generic Vixen dovetail system for attaching telescopes …. sweet and simple. The DS2000 uses a clamshell or “L” bracket. that must be custom fitted to both the telescope and to the mount ….. generally you must construct your own bracket.

7. As far as comparing the features of each mount …. go to the SkyWatcher and Meade web sites and down load the manuals.

8. Other. The SkyWatcher SynScan Azimuth GOTO mount appears better constructed than the Meade DS2000 Azimuth GOTO mount. The SkyWatcher has metal gears while the Meade uses nylon. Both my mounts have approximately the same number of operating hours. The SkyWatcher looks and operates as solid as it did the first time I used it. The Meade DS2000 is showing its age… goto accuracies have decreased. Recently the azimuth gear started slipping which terminated its usefulness as a goto mounts. Fortunately, I was able to repair the problem and now it is functioning again. If you go read the various forums, complaints about DS2000 mount problems and performance far out number that made of SkyWatcher and Celestron combined.

If I could only keep one mount I would keep the SkyWatcher mount. Why? My perception is that the SkyWatcher mount is better made, more accurate, more reliable, and more durable. It can carry a heavier load and its use of a vixen dove tail mount makes attaching telescopes to it a relatively simple task. It also has a larger object data base. The SkyWatcher SynScan Azimuth GOTO mount is more expensive than the DS2000 and well worth the extra money.

Hope this helps you.

[Wolfie]

What to say? Such an amount of valuable tips so one can make his mind. This added to the very useful hints about improving the SkyWatcher mount you have provided in this forum. Thanks again.
I guess many others like me are (were, will be) interested about the comparison of those two light GOTO mounts.
I was suggested to start to post here (in the beginner forum) as a new member but I imagine it could be interresting to move (or copy) this thread in the appropriate forums like the one on "SkyWatcher". Just a

[Wolfie]

Thank you so much for all those valuable hints. I imagine I am (was, will be) not the only one to wonder about the choice between those two light-weight GOTO mount.
I was suggested to post in this beginner forum as a new member but I wonder if this thread could be moved to the appropriate forums like the one on SkyWatcher where we can find more information on your tricks to improve the SkyWatcher mount.

Thanks again

Wolfie.

[nemesl]

Dear "Beginners",

I have enjoyed this thread, especially as I am a newcomer both to your community and to a Synta SynScan AZ mounted SkyWatcher 130/650 scope. I have started a new thread elswheres but let me ask you this place also about a problem. I have not yet started looking at the heavens using my new scope but tested in inside our flat. I for example tried to see the backlash of the mount, so I followed the advices to slew the mount and watch how it moves the scope. When I do this using the hand control arrows I can easily change the speed of slewing. When however I select an object and ask the scope to view it, it always moves (slews) with the maximum speed and never stops, so I have to ESC to avoid problems. I guess this is because I have not yet aligned the scope to any star so the mount does not have a reference point. I would however expect that the RATE button should be able to slow down the slewing movements. But it does not do that. Why? Any suggestions from you?

Best wishes to all: nemesl (also a retiree I am afraid...)

[sxinias]

Thank you so much for all those valuable hints. I imagine I am (was, will be) not the only one to wonder about the choice between those two light-weight GOTO mount.
I was suggested to post in this beginner forum as a new member but I wonder if this thread could be moved to the appropriate forums like the one on SkyWatcher where we can find more information on your tricks to improve the SkyWatcher mount.

Thanks again

Wolfie.

Wolfie,

I recall from your first posting that you had some comments concerning urban viewing. If you do live in a light polluted area take a few minutes to read the following interview between one minute telescope and Rod Mollise. It is well worth the 5 or 10 minutes you will take:

Urban Observer’s Survival Guide, Part I | One-Minute Astronomer

Urban Observer’s Survival Guide, Part II | One-Minute Astronomer

Urban Observer’s Survival Guide, Part III | One-Minute Astronomer
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