John

24 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

What’s happened to your avatar John?

Fixed that

4 minutes ago, johninderby said:

So for widefield scopes used for DSOs then the AZ75 but for big long efractors being used for planetary then the AZ100. Makes sense to me. 🙂

Expensive though, for many ?

If you have slow motion controls then you can choose not to use them when you don't need / want them. If they are not fitted then you don't have that option.

I guess you can't blame folks for hoping for as many options as possible for their £550 even if the reality is that you can't get the level of engineering precision that Rowan provide AND all the bells and whistles for that price ?

In this corner of the dining room lurk my three larger aperture scopes - the 300mm F/5.3 dobsonian, 200mm F/6 newtonian (which is new to me) and the 130mm F/9.2 triplet refractor. The latter has it's focuser and dew shield retracted so it's length is deceptive.

Wish the clouds would go away so that I can use them more

Quite a size difference between the 300mm and the 200mm isn't there ?

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Just revisiting the whole slow motion debate, it’s interesting how preferences change over time @John. Reading back over previous posts, you have very much been an advocate of manual Dobs and alt Az mounts in the past, and their ability to track at high powers, whilst being fairly ambivalent about slow motion controls. I’m guessing that since the T-Rex you are now more of a convert?

It’s also interesting how this debate seems to be ALL about high power planetary observing when there is so much more to astronomy than that. A lot of DSO observing is done at lower powers, and having a lightweight mount which is easy to get to dark sites is definitely a benefit. The encoders (for those that want them) will make for very enjoyable and easy object finding.

That said, I do hope we can move beyond the slo mo/no slo mo debate which has been well covered, and focus on what the mount actually is, rather than what it is not.

To be honest Stu, I don't have hard and fast preferences on many things astro-wise. As long as I can get out and observe I'll make the best of whatever is available 

On 17/10/2021 at 13:01, HiveIndustries said:

... I'm finding breaking down the structure to move 5 feet because I have 5 degrees of exposure of my target in between trees really subtracts from the usability, so much so that I'll be tinkering some kind of chassis and wheel system for it.....

 

That was exactly the same experience that I had with my Meade Lightbridge 12 inch. In the end I decided to downsize to a 10 inch newtonian on an alt-azimuth mount and then later upsized again when a lighter weight UK made 12 inch optical tube came my way, for which I had a nice dobsonian mount built.

There is no doubt that the chinese made 12 inch dobsonians are good value but they are just the wrong side of the weight limit in my view, unless you get / make some sort of trolley system for them.

30 minutes ago, Stu said:

Fair enough John, we are all different so make choices accordingly. With the Planet and AZ100, I can lift it together but choose not to as that feels like sooner or later I would either have an accident or strain my back, so I get where you are coming from. I always separate these two to carry them, refitting is very quick.

I can carry the T-Rex on the GMT-128 tripod outside (with both hands !) in one piece relatively easily. I have a 20cm pier extension as well but I've not tried adding that yet. The GMT-128 (EQ6 equivalent) is tall enough, most of the time.

With the TMB/LZOS 130 F/9.2 on board I can move the whole shebang short and level distances around my garden / patio, taking some care.

19 minutes ago, Stu said:

Ditto! Mine is much better than it used to be but still not the strongest.

Last night the AZ75 with pillar and Uni-28 was an easy lift (one hand). The whole rig including Tak with finder, diagonal and eyepiece could easily be lifted and repositioned around the garden. I had to do this to get sight of the Moon past my tree! With a more optimised (lighter) pillar it would be even better.

You must be fitter than I am Stu. I don't find the UNI 28 on it's own a safe or easy one armed lift I'm afraid.

32 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

I have a back that can get pulled/strained easily. Also like two trips out, mount + tripod and then scope for ease of use.... 

Very much the same as myself on both counts

3 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks Alan. Yes, unless as you say we have a time machine, all we can do is test what we have now.....

....... I’m not here to sell the mount to anyone, just try to represent it for what it is. Let’s not forget it’s still a prototype.

Excellent points Stu

Reminds me of some of the stuff that I've tried out on behalf of the forum in the past. You can only call it as you see it.

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

You have done the Horsehead with one of your Refraactors? Wow, thats quite something in my mind @John

Not yet Alan, but under a really dark sky, and when fully dark adapted, who knows what might be possible ?

@mikeDnight has done it with his 100mm I seem to recall.

9 minutes ago, Alan White said:

But then it would not be the 'Lighter Mount' as it would have the worms, additional controls etc. It would then be a 25mm smaller AZ100.




 

Unless another manufacturer made it ?

Rowan make superb mounts and I can see where they have gone with the AZ75.

Another manufacturer might be able to provide something with slow motion controls, similar build (not exactly the same, but still very good), similar weight and at a similar price.

Then we consumers will have even more choice

Great report !

Congratulations on Triton and Mimas. I've seen the former reasonably often now but not, so far, the latter.

The next step from Triton (for me) was Titania and Oberon at Uranus - a touch fainter than Triton. In principle a couple more Uranian moons might be visible so more possibilities there as well

1 minute ago, rl said:

...Looks like the age-old debate is about to real its ugly head again...!

I'll try and resist that !

Mind you, given that this newt cost about as much as the finder on my TMB/LZOS ............

I picked up a pre-owned 200mm F/6 newtonian today to bridge the gap between my 130mm refractor and my 300mm dobsonian as a lighter alternative to the dob for society observing sessions etc.

I was expecting a tidy decade old scope with Orion Optics decent basic optics and was very pleasantly surprised to find this in the envelope that came with the scope:

The scope and optics are immaculate - I'd swear that the scope has never been used.

Superb

IMHO any illumination, red or otherwise, is unwelcome when trying for really faint targets eg: the Horsehead.

Just a quick bump: anyone else had any luck seeing these white ovals in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter ?

I've noticed them showing quite frequently in images of the planet, mostly when the GRS is on the other side.

I've not had a session with good enough seeing since this thread to pick them out again.

This image from @neil phillips shows them nicely:

I use one of the Baader T2 Zeiss prism diagonals with my F/9 Tak 100mm. As John says above, it can be configured in a number of different ways by swapping T2 bits. I;ve used mine as a 2 inch as well as a 1.25 inch diagonal. I'm a big fan of this Baader click-lock 1.25 fitting just now which seems to work so well with a wide range of eyepiece barrel designs:

I've also owned a couple of the Tele Vue Everbright 1.25" diagonals which I used in faster refractors. They are expensive but very high quality and excellent performers for a mirror diagonal IMHO.

43 minutes ago, Alan White said:

....Something I think our thoughts diverge on @John, but diverging thoughts are good.

 

 

 

I don't think we diverge that much Alan - I've spent much of my observing over the years "nudging" dob mounts or using Giro type mounts so slow motion controls are not essential IMHO. They are nice to have in a number of circumstances but if the motion of the mount is smooth (and becomes familiar) I can and have certainly managed just fine without on many occasions 

Where I do seem to diverge from many is on push-to functionality which just does not interest me. But the AZ75 has the potential for that for those who would like it 

56 minutes ago, Alan White said:

...With Slow motion, the AZ75 would be in the same group and then the cost of the additional components would price the AZ75 very close to the AZ100.
After all, there would be only a small saving in material cost and slightly shorter machining time in the 25mm size differences of the overall mounts.

 

 

I'm not at all surprised by that.

But ........ it still leaves a niche for a quality mid-range alt-az mount that DOES have slow motion controls.

Congratulations on your ED102 refractor

I've owned my Vixen ED102SS F/6.5 refractor for over 14 years now (longer than any of my other scopes) and it's given me hours of observing pleasure

Powerful enough to deliver some really interesting views but still pretty portable.

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

It’s M10 John, which will take a 3/8” too.

Thanks Stu

1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Yes that is the info I require. I have the AZ5 metal tripod which is 3/8th thread same as a standard photo tripod. If it fits I fancy this new mount but don't want to purchase another tripod.

The tripod I have in mind if I went for it is the Berlebach Uni 28 with an EQ5/HEQ5 hub. Sounds like this is a possible option from Rowan (M10 bolt fitting).

What fitting is the centre threaded hole in the base of the AZ75 Stu ?

(apologies if you have already mentioned this)