M-Uno

[torsinadoc]

I am likely going to upgrade from the AVX to the M Uno. From what I can tell, most everyone appears pleased with the Avalon line of mounts. It appears most of the posters use the linear model and only sporadic reviews of the M Uno.  I will be using the AT65 EDQ/QSI for imaging.  I am intrigued by the M Uno single fork and lack of meridian flip.  What I want is the ability to set up quickly, PA, image and SLEEP without having to wake up at meridian to verify everything work.  I will use sequence generator pro and PHD2.5.  There is concern for wind sensitivity but I built a wind shade and will be building an observatory in 2016.  Any concerns with using the M Uno in dome (I cant think of any)?Any suggestions or concerns regarding the mount?  

[Elio]

Hi Torsinadoc,

I'm using M-1 mount from 2013 with all my available ota 180mm (LeicaApoTelyt), 450mm (Taka baby fsq) and 1600mm (RC8" f8) using the Eos 60D CentralDS with its 4,3 micron pixels, and I do not use pc on the field but a Lacerta MGenII on a 50mm finderscope adapted, moving/centering the scope with an Android tablet in bluetooth. I always use to sync on 1 star few degrees nearby the subject; rarely I need plate solving and pc for centering too faint object the dslr can't preview fine.  Polar allignment is made in 1 minute using the polar finder and the related app. No problem about guiding during these year: 1 month ago we put the M-Uno Mount inside our (Mauro Ghiri and Me) new personal remote observatory named to Avogadro, take a look here  www.avogadro-observatory.com

No meridian flip feature is a lovely solution with these mounts, and with SGP-PHD2 all works fine at 0.87 arcsec/pixel for imaging and half  for OAG.

As you can see in the pic, only one problem we met (rarely) in these few months...the clouds 

cheers,

Elio

[torsinadoc]

Thanks. I cant wait to no longer do flip.

[ollypenrice]

If this mount would carry my scope (it won't, it's a TEC140) I'd have it in a shot. Instead I have a Linear Fast Reverse. I like it.  The slightly elastic drive doesn't look all that convincing when you play with it in daylight. When you take a picture with it, it looks remarkably convincing. (Well, I'm happy.)

Olly

[cfpendock]

If this mount would carry my scope (it won't, it's a TEC140) 

But the quoted weight of the TEC140 with finder and dovetail is less than 10kg.  The M-Uno is supposed to carry up to 20kg.  I don't understand why it won't carry a TEC140 with filter wheel and camera and still be well within limits.  Or is it to do with the scope design?

Chris

[torsinadoc]

I suspect that you would have to perform a flip to use the TEC140.  I have prepared myself to expect some elasticity.  I will not obsess about it. I am really intrigued by the Avalon line of products. They appear to be very innovative with their design and drive train. Their remote observatory is interesting. Heck they have developed automatic polar align feature for the observatory.  

[Jarno_c]

 The M-Uno is supposed to carry up to 20kg.  I don't understand why it won't carry a TEC140 with filter wheel and camera and still be well within limits.  Or is it to do with the scope design?

Chris

Yes, the M-Uno is intended for use with short OTA's like SCT's and Maksutov-Cassegrains. Longer OTA's place a much higher load on a mount since moment of inertia increases with the square of the length. My Losmandy G-11 should be able to carry 30kg yet my 10kg Mak-Newt gives it quite a workout as soon as there's a slight breeze.

Jarno