I’m making a major upgrade.
In December 2019 I bought a Celestron RASA 11 photographic telescope. It has been a great experience and a lovely instrument. I found the tips by Dylan O’Donnell accurate.
I knew it may struggle on my trusty Celestron CGE11 mount, and that proved to be the case, though it managed some impressive tracking. A key to improve tracking was more attention to my polar alignment. The main issue was the wind, which the mount just can’t cope with.
So I decided to purchase an iOptron 120 mount, with high stiffness shafts to reduce wind disturbance. It’s a modern design that’s more suitable for astrophotography.
I miss the ability to easily enjoy visual observations, or share with visitors, so I will have a new 100 mm refractor piggy backed onto the RASA. That’s where the new high load capacity mount will help.
I still have my trusty 10” reflector from 30 years ago for simple, visual observations, and it’s easy to take away.
Finally my original C11 SCT is still fine for imaging in greater resolution or visual use. It will work on the original mount, or my AZ-GT mount (yet to be tested).