You know what I'm comparing it to the older CGE mount not the newer CGEM which is significantly different so disregard the comparison. However the Atlas is a good mount and I like mine so I can endorse it. When it first came out there was nothing with it's weight capacity at anywhere near it's price. There are other options now and taking a second look at the CGEM I think it's a good option. It's good to have choices like this, either way I think you'll be fine. The weight capacities on the two seem similar, however I notice Orion tends to under rate their mounts whereas Celestron tends to over rate their mounts. For Astrophotography my Atlas does pretty well up to about 30-35 pounds, for visual you can go up to 50 and I've heard of people doing Astro-photography with a modified Atlas with a payload of 65 pounds so it can do it. The Atlas has a brisk after-market for parts, up-grades, mods and accessories which is something to consider as well. Bob -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Steve FISHER Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 12:45 PM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Atlas or CGEM? Bob: I'm not sure I understand your post. The CGEM is for sale and in stock at OPT for $1,395.00 and it includes free shipping. The Orion Atlas is available from Orion and is $1,399.00 and they charge a "boatload" of shipping. Are you comparing a used Atlas to a new CGEM? Are you thinking of a CGE-Pro at $5,000.00 new? I'm just not sure what you mean by ""you are paying twice as much to get a mount that is just a little better". Steve
From: Rob.Taylor@digis.net To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 11:05:33 -0600 Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Atlas or CGEM?
I have an Atlas and I've been very pleased with the tracking as long as you don't over load it. If you do a drift align and level it properly it holds a target quite well. That said a CGEM is probably a bit better and beefier, if you can afford the CGEM I'd go for that but you are paying twice as much to get a mount that is just a little better. However, guided there's not much difference between the two. The Atlas guides extremely well and is pretty good un-guided. With some of the new software out there right now you can get excellent results even if your mount is drifting a bit. It's also easy to improve the already good Atlas with lots of experience out there.
Bob
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