Neil P

Hi, I actually had a non encoder one but was unsure about adding encoders to it, so I am moving it on and bought another one with the encoders direct from APM.

It is not too bad, it is 17kg, no rings needed which lowers weight, the dovetail is attached through the tube to internal ‘half rings’ fixings.

Yes it is the APM AZMaxload (I think is it’s full title), I have the one with encoders, I am a Nexus DSC fan so mostly just use all/az push to for all my scopes now. I actually put a Rowan saddle on it so I could attach the Rowan handle, there was not a ‘native’ option for the APM mount strangely.

I have my FC100DF on a Uni18 and AZ75 and it is perfect, I leave the tripod fully down but have one of the Rowan extensions on it so it is very sold and no vibrations, I observe sitting on a BB chair and find this a great height for me. I used to have it on a Vixen APZ and Hal Tripod and that was very stable as well and the Hal is very light if you leave everything setup for G’n’G.

I don’t think I have seen any of these on here, my light bucket Frac, a Tecnosky Goliath 210/1200. Only used for the Deep-Sky, though with a Baader minus violet filter the CA is not that bad.

I have all three, but the 2.6 is the least used of them, it very rarely gets put in. Mostly I use the 1.25 and then change my eyepieces. I have the Mark Vs and it is a bit of a pain to have to disconnect from the diagonal each time or change the GPC. Also can be a bit scary in the dark to be fiddling about with the connector. I have had a disaster where I dropped my binoviewers while disconnecting and had to send them away to get collimated, so whatever GPC I start with I generally keep in all night. I know the 1.25 works in most of my scopes, so it gets used most. I have to use the 1.7 for one of my scopes to get focus.

I don’t have the FC100 DZ but I do have the DF version and I use a hard case I got from Telescope Service. It fits it pretty nicely.

That looks a great option, but I don’t see them available on any uk retailer’s list, I think FLO used to stock it but it is not on their list of ADM products that I can see now, Did you get it direct from ADM?

That is a pretty neat power pack solution, I have been wondering how best to hold the power pack myself.

It is the Uni28 with the heq5 top, I have the AZ100 on a planet.

Thanks Stu, I never even tried that, I have the riser for my AZ100 so I will that for the AZ75.

Hi, I have had the AZ75 for a little while now and love it, so light and portable and the Nexus dscs are very accurate and easy to use. I don’t miss the slo mos at all and find it easy to nudge with the handle. I have it on a Uni tripod and one thing I was wondering is if anyone knows if Rowan intend to bring out risers for it in the same way they did for the AZ100? I would like to lift it up a bit more from the Tripod.

I have the APZ and it is a good mount and the slo-mo controls are smooth but I think the length of the 150 might be a bit.

I had never measured it before but had a go this morning, looks to be 58mm.

Hi, I suppose it might also depend on what you want to observe with them. I pretty much exclusively use binoviewers now. For planetary and lunar viewing I just use Televue Plossls which are very sharp but for deeper sky I mostly use the Panoptics (19s and 24s) which work very well will the Binoviewers, Naglers up to about 16mm also work well. IPD is the big thing with binoviewers, my IPD is pretty narrow so rules out most wide barrel eyepieces. I have a friend who swears by the Baader Mark IV zooms for his binoviewers but I could not use them.