Mount Comparison

Benchmark comparison of Celestron CI700 mount and Astro-Physics AP1200GTO

I found it enormously difficult to get good results from the CI700 mount. I never could get the mount to track consistently. The main problem I experienced was the RA clutch simply slipped too much. No matter how tight the drive clutch, the RA clutch slipped. I tightened the four Allen screws on the faceplate and that made it a little tighter, but when the clutch was released, it then remained too tight. It was as if the clutch knobs had virtually no effect on the RA clutch tension. I could never get good consistent results with the mount. The M57 Image to the left at the top was the best image I ever took using the CI700. Bottom line: It just would not track well with my load. The one at the bottom is the FIRST image I took using the new AP1200GTO mount. The camera and focal length were the same in both cases. The AP1200GTO made a huge difference in image quality.

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