Re: Types of Mountings

From: Ben Bradley (ben_nospam_bradley_at_mindspring.com)
Date: 10/30/04 

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 20:43:52 GMT

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 02:52:48 GMT, T <tberk@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>
>"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.

   You gotta google for the "real basic, simple terms pages." Adding
the word glossary to any term I don't know has always given me good
pages:
Altazimuth glossary (just click on I feel lucky)
Equatorial glossary Okay, the third link is the first relevant one,
but that page has a "Click here to learn more about types of
telescope mounts" link: http://www.starizona.com/basics/mounts.html
This page shows four types, but the extras appear to be just
variations on the two basic types.

>
>
>Thx in advance,
>TBerk

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