Hobbies And Interests
Altazimuth Mount
An altazimuth mount allows users to guide the telescope with two motions: altitude (up and down) and altazimuth (back, forth or around). This mount works well for casual stargazers because it provides fluid motion without compensation for the earth's spin. However, enthusiasts must adjust the altazimuth mount manually, as the latitude of the object changes. Mount design is crucial for these reasons. Although telescope mounts can attach to commercial tripods, cash-strapped consumers can spare expense by building their own tripods. The key to an effective altazimuth mount lies in ease of motion and stability.
Equatorial Mount
An equatorial mount helps astronomers to track stars by compensating, or repositioning, along with the motion of the earth. The stars and planets move across the sky due to the earth's constant spin. Ideally, an equatorial mount is designed to track the motion of the stars in real time. Sky watchers use "polar alignment" to coordinate their telescope's movement using astronomical coordinates. The mount's mechanisms must be precise to ensure the accuracy of tracking. Casual sky watchers can also use an equatorial mount, but more technical knowledge helps harness its full potential.
Stable Viewing
One of the mount's primary purposes is to keep an image stable while you view it. Weak mounts cause telescopes to vibrate, either from focusing or from wind. When a star comes into view, hobbyists with weak mounts must wait out any vibrations. Not only is it annoying, but the moment of greatest clarity may be lost. Viewers who aspire to astronomical photography must also beware: Vibrations kill a picture of the sky as they do anything else. The heavier the telescope, the sturdier the mount must be. Hobbyists just use heavier materials, such as metal pipe or layers of plywood, to manufacture homemade mounts. See the References for "The Basic Mounting Types."
Comfort
Refractor mounts, including homemade ones, must be constructed for comfortable use. Lengthy periods of viewing require bending, kneeling, standing on a ladder, sitting on the ground or in a chair and leaning right or left. Stars at their zenith send viewers to their knees to look up sideways, while stars near the horizon make them stand. Your telescope mount determines how you position your body to view. Tripods are a widely used means of mounting a refractor because viewers can sit comfortably in the moment. Many amateur astronomers build mounts separately and attach them to tripods, much as we attach cameras. Well-built refractor mounts ensure many hours of comfortable and clear stargazing.