Altazimuth Mount is a two-axis mount for supporting and rotating instruments such as solar panels, telescopes, cameras, radio antennas or heliostatic mirrors. Its structure helps an instrument to aim easily with steady viewing in an object. Altazimuth mount is designed with two perpendicular axis, a vertical axis and a horizontal axis. Altazimuth mount allows the user to move his instrument in different motions.
There are several types of Altazimuth mounts. Like for example, altazimuth mounts are generally used in telescopes for stargazing, which is primarily used by astronomers. Amateurs would only require less sophisticated prototypes of altazimuth mounts available in the market.
The basic type is called the Dobsonian combined with Newtonian telescope. It is made from materials found in hardware stores, such as plywood, plastic plumbing parts with nylon or Teflon and Formica. This type of construction is a none-machined instrument that does not require complicated materials.
Another usage for Altazimuth mount is for bigger and more complicated research telescopes. The materials are more complex and computer controlled mechanisms. It is rather expensive to build this kind of altazimuth mount, since it is used by professional astronomers. Better viewing and more appropriate data can be acquired with the help of advanced features with this kind of altazimuth mount. Technically advanced telescopes and altazimuth mount makes it easier and quicker to use for astronomical research and studies.