My telescope mount gave out during a Perseid meteor shower setup last August

I had everything ready in my backyard in Denver, even brought out a chair and coffee, then the motor on my old Celestron mount just started grinding and stopped tracking. Turns out the gears were stripped from years of use, and I spent the whole night manually nudging it while missing half the meteors. Anyone know a good replacement mount under $500 that won't crap out during a big event?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyattmitchell3d ago

Man, that's rough having a mount die right when everything's set up? Nothing worse than gear failing at the worst possible time. I'd be pretty frustrated too after hauling everything out and missing half the show.

oliverbailey3d ago

Oh man, tell me about it! I had a telescope mount crap out on me right as Jupiter was at opposition. Spent an hour setting up in my backyard, got everything aligned, and then the motor just died. Missed the whole thing, had to pack it all up and just stare at the sky with my eyes.