Types of Mountings

From: T (tberk_at_sbcglobal.net)
Date: 10/30/04 

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 02:52:48 GMT

"Altazimuth mountings tend to be cheaper, lighter, less clumsy, and more
quickly set up than equatorial ones, mountings tend to be cheaper,
lighter, less clumsy, and more quickly set up than equatorial ones,..."

OK, I am immersed in FAQs (really, I'm doing my homework before posting,
really) and I am getting these two terms thrown on the wall but folks
are taking for granted the reader has some clue what they mean.

Can someone 'splain in one or two sentences what an:

'Altazimuth mounting' is as well as what an

Equatorial one is, as in what's the basic diff?

I had two 'regular' (Refractors, also known as dioptrics) telescopes
over the years (many moons ago) and it had two basic knobs to turn; one
for tilt 'up-n-down', the other for rotation around a vertical axis, or
'spin in a circle'.

I'm having fun with Google but some real basic, simple terms would be a
wonderful thing.

Thx in advance,
TBerk