mikeDnight

Hi John, Yes I've owned the Porta 'll as well as the original Porta mount, but personally I found both prone to excessive vibration. I remember the damping time of my Porta ll was around seven seconds, which at high power, I found very distracting. My scope at the time was a TV NP101, which was not a light weight scope. May be the DC would have been better suited!

Paulastro called round today and brought his Tak DL to see how the AZ5 coped with the extra weight and length. The AZ5 carried the DL well, with a damping time of around three seconds. There did seem to be a little more vibration when the scope was looking at the zenith than at any other angle, though in the field this will likely prove to be insignificant, as we tend not to repeatedly hit the tube while looking through the eyepiece. With the increased length of the DL, it was difficult to comfortably reach the azimuth slow motion control. The flexi extension control would prove to be of no advantage, as it is neither flexible or aimed in the right direction. A longer, more flexible control would be needed. Being critical, I would say the weak spot (point of flexure) is where the mount arm connects to the azimuth body. This would limit the size of usable scope with this mount. Then there's the azimuth control knob, which would be more easily accessible if it were pointing back towards the observer using a frac or Cass design. Is the AZ5 worth the money? Most certainly! Is it worth replacing your AZ4 for an AZ5? Not unless you would benefit from using slow motion controls when using high power lunar and planetary observing etc. Does it look pretty? Yes! ?

Your Tak with binoviewer and a high Spring Moon will blow your mind Piero. Jupiter, Venus and Mars are amazing!

Hi Piero, I prefer the AZ5 as it moves very smoothly in push pull mode with no friction to overcome. The AZ4 was also smooth, but after standing still for a few minutes there was always some static friction to overcome. It was only slight but when using high power it could mean over shooting the target. With the scope balanced and the worm grub screws tightened enough to avoid backlash, the AZ5 moves smoothly using the slow motion controls. It's also possible to tighten the locking nuts enough to engage the slow motions, while allowing the observer to gently push the scope in both axes easily. In use last night, my friend and I tapped the scopes at low and high power, and were amazed that the mounts regained stability in under three seconds. "ONE-TWO-TH....!" (This may differ with increasing length or weight of telescope) ?

Sadly the Sky 90 doesn't belong to me Alan. It belongs to a friend, who after calling round to look at my AZ5 a couple of days ago, decided to buy one for his 90mm Tak.

A few more pics for you guys.

I wouldn't like to guess about what scopes will fit well with the AZ5, but I have attached some comparison pics so that you may be able to decide if its a possible contender. I agree with you about the lightweight tripod and would much prefer a more sturdy one. Holding the AZ4 for the pic made me aware that it felt noticeably heavier than the AZ5, though for my purposes at least, the AZ5 is just as sturdy in use.

Hi John, Yes, the arm is adjustable. I've attached a pic of the instructions.

After twiddling the worm grub screws and viewing distant objects at high power, I'm very happy to say the vibration I experienced last night is no longer evident. ? It seems the mount is just assembled but not finely tuned in China. The mount comes with all the tools necessary for making such adjustments, so there's no need to frett if you find a little back lash or vibration. For less than £150 for a altaz head with slow motions its a steal and a nice match for the light weight 100mm F7.4.

Hi Rick, I've attached a pic of the locking nuts for you. Tension/friction can be increased by adjusting the locking nuts and the mount can still be moved by hand, when fully locked though the slow motions need to be used to move the scope. When the locking nuts are loose, the mount holds the balanced scope securely in position.

I had opportunity to observe for a short time with the AZ5 last night. During the day the mount worked well, while on the night sky it appeared I'd slightly over tightened the worm grub screws which caused a little vibration when using the slow motion drives. I eased the grub screws off a little this morning, so I'll see if this improves performance on the next clear night. If this hasn't cured the problem I'll take a look at the worms themselves to see if they are a bit dry.

Hi Gavin, The clamp does look like its detachable, but I couldn't say for sure if the adm would fit it.

Hi Alan, I didn't compare the respective weights of the mount heads but I didn't notice the AZ5 being any heavier than the AZ4, so I'd imagine they are very similar weight wise.

As each time I attempt to order astronomical items over the internet, I seem to do something wrong and the bank blocks my card. I decided to contact Rother Valley Optics as they have a telephone. To my delight the gentleman I spoke to had a very pleasant telephone manner, which seems to be increasingly rare these days, as the customer just seems to be an annoyance to some vendors. There was no problem with placing my order over the phone and the item I ordered arrived exactly at the predicted time. If like me, you mess up using your card while fighting against stupidly stressful security obstacles put in place by vendors, then phone Rother Valley Optics for some old fashioned over the counter/telephone customer service. 10/10

Just a point that might be of interest Dave, which I didn't mention earlier. The old AZ4 was a smooth mount but it suffered from a seemingly insurmountable problem, that of static friction. Once in motion the AZ4 glided but if left for a short time it took a little effort to start it moving, which at high power often meant over shooting the target. The AZ5 appears to have overcome the static friction problem and moves immediately with a gentle touch.

Hi Dave, Yes I just bought the head thinking that's all I'd need. The tripod is a more heavy duty version of the Vixen tripod than some I've seen, and is taller with a wider spread than those available from SkyWatcher. When I bought it, it was advertised as a HAL tripod, though it doesn't look like the modern HAL. I suppose it is heavy duty so I'll go along with the claim, though I don't know if Vixen did make some early HALs this way? I think the Vixen ED103s will benefit from the slow motion controls as its capable of critical high power observing. I may be tempted by the half pier in the future but I'm going to wait for John's report on the set-up first. I think id be inclined to stick with a better tripod than the flimsy looking tripod advertised.

My new AZ5 arrived this afternoon, so here is a preliminary report. The AZ5 altazimuth head arrived securely packaged and looks a beautiful bit of kit straight out of the box. There were a couple of problems to overcome before I could fit the head to my Vixen tripod. There is no hole underneath the AZ5 head to accommodate the azimuth peg protruding from the tripod top, so my cure for that part of the problem was to cut the useless peg off using a Jr hacksaw. Problem solved! The next issue to overcome was to exchange the Vixen securing bolt for a 3/8" bolt plus a few spacing washers. This added a further £1.02 to the over all cost. Once attached to the Vixen tripod the AZ5 head appeared to be equally as solid as the AZ4, which I always found to be a sturdy mount for a scope like mine. After attaching the telescope and fitting an eyepiece the AZ5 head damped out at three seconds, which is the same as the AZ4. The slow motions can be operated using the short knobs or longer flexi controls, both supplied. My scope is short, so i prefer the short knobs which are easily reached while looking through the eyepiece. At first there was some backlash on the azimuth control, so by gently tightening the grub screw on both the azimuth and altitude worms, I was able to adjust the slow motion controls to my own liking and getting rid of any back lash. There is a locking nut on both axes which when tightened allows the use of the slow motion controls, but when released the AZ5 moves in both axes with a buttery smooth motion at the touch of a finger. So far I am very pleased with my purchase. The next step is to wait for a clear night to get a true feel for this little beauty. Then, if my friend paulastro can be coaxed into it, I'll try his DL on the AZ5 to see if the extra length of tube makes any noticeable difference.

Sounds fare to me! ?

Just the head John! I thought about the half pier and tripod but I already have a heavy duty aluminium tripod that I use with the AZ4, so I'll be using that.

Well I've had my eye on the AZ5 mount since I first saw it in last year's SkyWatcher calender. When Piero told me they were now on sale I was a bit disappointed, as the time of wonder was over and it was now time to make a decision. Did I want to spend my money on a new AZ mount when my AZ4 already does a splendid job of carrying my FC100DC solidly enough It arrives on Tuesday!

I suspect that the AZ5 will be a nice match for the FC100DC at F7.4. It's just a shame the flexi drive is poorly situated on the azimuth axis, but its not an insurmountable problem.

Fitting the MEF-3 to my DC was very easy and greatly improved the ease of maintaining critical focus. Focus adjustment can be made with the lightest touch of a finger tip, which pays dividends when observing the planet's in less than perfect conditions. I'm not sure I'd like to return to the standard focuser on the F7.4.

This is the back end of my DC with its extension tubes. True Technology included the 2" adapter in my order without charge, though normally it would not be included with the DC unless ordered separately.

That's interesting James. I thought the DF came with various extension tubes just like the DC does. It seems from your post that the DF doesnt have the Tak extension tubes, is that correct?

I can't really add much to what Paul says above, except that if you decide to use a 2" diagonal, you might consider getting one with a low profile 2" to 1.25" adapter giving more in-focus. As regards the Tak micro focuser, it is a very nice piece of kit but its expensive. The Baader prism with helical focuser is cheaper to buy but is superb both in quality and as a precision micro focuser.