Alan White

Hans, it was more helping with the final edevlopment and a few tweaks only a user can find. So I am most pleased with how it has turned out. I always believed that a simple push to but well engineered mount had its place and this mount does not dissapoint.

Hello Hans, I am sure you will love it. And please do post pictures showing your new pride and joy.

I have adapted the way of fittig my Nexus DSC shelf to the AZ75 I have been trialling. It will be same way fitted, once I own the mount. So no ballhead, just a screw straight into the tapped hole on the mount and it holds it nice and flat. This works for me and is again simple, I like simple. The mount will no longer fitted or tied to a pier again and will be mounted on a tripod, A Skywatcher 1.75" for now, but a wooden one lies in the future.

OK so no one picked up an AZ75 owners thread! So to announce, I as of next week will own an AZ75 mount. I had trialled other mounts since my testing and to be honest the AZ75 is the right mount for me. So perhaps this can continue as an owners thread?

I have gone back to my roots even more. Dobson mounted 10" newtonian OOUK Alt Az manual AZ75 on tripod for all else. Various other scopes.

I have tried the ball, which annoyed me and got in the way and now I have bolted it straight to the mount. Mount is an AZ75. Goes nice and flat, Nexus lifts off ok and gets out of the way. See my AZ75 thread for more images....

I think if you ask @FLO, they might be able to source this for you?

Binoculars are my most used astro item Rob, for much the reasons you mention. My concern with a mount is that they then become an issue for not using them. Binoculars make a sky enjoyable for me when I am busy, distracted or just too done to set up kit. A quick 10 minutes with the Binos and I am refreshed again.

I was awaiting the imaging to happen Francis, Any pictures of the VX12 on the EQ platform?

Excellent first light and demonstrates the step up to a much larger mirror. I am sure that the 16 will show some real gems in the right condition.

Sadly the Khazi is a joke name, but I too sometimes wish it was as named and could be used after coffee, tea or water intake.

What way are you mounting yours? Are you screwing it directly to the mount or using the ball socket?

I hear what you say Mike, but 10" works for me, it fits across my little cars back seat. And I have already bought a used 10" OOUK tube already 1/8 wave optics etc. And I may go bigger one day, you never know, but this will do for now and my light polution levels

Yet another update.... After much thought and pain, I have concluded that my pier was a mistake the first time, a mistake repeated again. I have no imaging aspirations, visual observe and need to be mobile for club days, when I want to see planets etc. So pier removed and will go up for sale. I will replace the pier with a Dob mount for my 10" OOUK and an AZ75 on a Uni tripod for other smaller scopes. Another circular journey that has ended up with a replacement 10" yet to dob mount and a mobile refractor etc. Funny old world. I will however add a Dob House / shed to store the dob and tripods etc alongside the pad for ease of access and temperature stabilty of the reflectors. Funny in that it took my dropped ED103 to bring my thoghts into focus as my scope went out of focus!

Interesting posting Vlaiv, thank you. I love Lunar observing and planetary when I can see them from home. Lunar observing I often leave the observing area light on and the outside lights on as well, I perceived this as having no down side, rather than an improvement. Perhaps your explanation now clarifies the reason for this, so thank you.

Thank goodness I am not alone in that thought, always thought it was just one of my random thoughts…. clearly not 😀

Looks very well thought through, with the covers it will look super. I really like to see the Astro ingenuity in play, amazing what folks come up with.

I think magazines are going the way of popular books, into history. Folks access this via the web and apps, it’s not right as you cannot sniff a download like a book…..

80mm finder Mike, nice I had to chuckle as for a long time I had an 80mm as my only telescope!

I had a similar thought myself, then thought 'of course he does'! That was moments before I had Tak thoughts - only one Tak owner thinks the scope is 'Pretty'

How about a Rowan AZ75, very smooth and very adjustable.

This thread has truly set me thinking hard and I do have to say regardless of the thought of who cares, we use them in the darkness…. but do we? I Solar observe and also equipment observe too, so the kit does need to have a certain look. That look for me is about simplicity and easy use, but I am a visual observer. A classic look: A newer classic look. And last but not least a true classic:

Looks great, all the nicer for all the 'normal' days have thrown at you.

I thought they had done rather well with the varied cameras. When you consider they are not specialist space cameras as well, just adapted or housed for space use. Amazing and no need for a trip to Kodak as we had in the 60's and 70's ane even 80's.

I have to say, the weather is often grim when I am available and able to observe. Somehow though each 4am when I take my bathroom trip (I am over 50) the sky always looks great, So a quick half awake glance is often had from the hall or bedroom window. But indeed it was always clear in my youth, just walked ouside and conditions were perfect..... or were they? Somehow, I do believe we look back with slightly tinted spectacles.