Manual Mount Telescopes

Sub Categories

Manual Altazimuth Mount Telescopes

Manual Equatorial Mount Telescopes

The main functions of the mount are:

pointing the telescope at celestial objects,
keeping the telescope steady so that objects can be viewed without vibrations,
adjusting the telescope for the movement of the object caused by the Earth’s rotation.

This category features telescopes on mounts without a computer or motor drive. To point the telescope to a selected object in the sky, the user needs to push it by hand. Some mounts even have slow-motion controllers installed – special rods or cables. Slow-motion controllers are used to make precise adjustments to keep the observed object in the center of our eyepiece.

There are two different manual mounts available on the market:

Manual Mount Telescopes

Altazimuth and equatorial manual mount (Available from: http://www.oasi.org.uk/Telescopes/CFTOB/Mounts.gif. [accessed 29 Oct, 2019])

Compared to an equatorial mount, an altazimuth has a very uncomplicated design and is easy to use. It is also cheaper than an equatorial mount, but tracking celestial objects is much harder.

An equatorial mount compensates for the Earth’s rotation — the movement of the telescope is continuous, which is excellent for smooth tracking.