Aquavit

NoH's CM20 with extension pillar, simple but well engineered alt/az mount :

I have been using my 80ED extensively on the AZT6 mounted on a lightweight Manfrotto photo tripod, sometimes with counterweight and sometimes without. Yes it was more stable and balanced with the counterweight but was very useable without, in both instances settle time was a little more than I would like but the weak link was really the tripod. Proof of this was when I acquired a Berlebach Uni tripod, moving the AZT6 to the Uni gave me a much more solid platform, virtually eliminating settle time even without the counterweight. I have a padded storage bag that takes the scope, mount and tripod that makes for a great transport/holiday option without the counterweight, but I may consider upgrading the tripod to something more stable.

20kg, they also do a 30kg version which looks just as nice!

I've been hankering after an addition to my 80ED for some time and decided on a 6"CC to give me the magnification that the little 'frac can't deliver. The first stage in the upgrade process was a more substantial tripod, the Berlebach Uni fitting the bill for that part of the jigsaw, so leaving just the mount to be deliberated over. It had to be manual Alt-Az and my two existing mounts, AZT6 and AZ Pronto, are individually featured with and without Slo-Mo. I spent some time observing with each mount carrying the 80ED to see which method of moving the scope around I preferred. I quickly came to realise that I could not only live without, but preferred the lack of Slo-Mo controls. I'd narrowed it down to the Giro Ercole and the Rowan AZ75 but with the Ercole sometimes getting less than stellar recommendations and the Rowan looking expensive, I hesitated and cast around for other ideas. Fellow SGL forumite Nicosys suggested the NoH's mount, from personal experience of owning one. It met all the criteria on paper, appeared to be very well engineered and fell somewhere between the Giro and Rowan pricewise. So I took a calculated gamble and ordered the 20Kg rated CT20 along with an extension pier and additional saddle. First impression is of a beautifully machined lump of well engineered metal, the movement is very fluid and extremely fine adjustment is possible with the tension screws. It has a very satisfying to use feel to it and I can't wait to point it at the night sky.

The couriers delivered two packages this morning here in Hungary, one from the UK and one from South Korea and, impressively, both arrived in under a week including clearing customs: A nice collection of bits from FLO, a Cheshire collimator for my 6"CC, an 8 x 50 RACI finder, a Baader Sky Surfer for my 6"CC, a Vixen dovetail bar also for the CC and an Explore Scientific 2 x focal extender in place of my inexpensive Barlow (it weighs a heck of a lot more so I'm hoping for a commensurate improvement in it's visual acuity): And from South Korea this beautifully made Alt-Az mount with extension pier and additional mounting plate, all courtesy of Noh's Mounts:

If you want something simple, light and compact I can recommend the AZT6. I mount an ED80 on mine and without a counterweight and sitting on a camera tripod makes for a very portable lightweight set-up. No slo-mo though if that bothers you.

I recently bought a pair of Vortex Diamondback HD 8 x 42 for the same mixed usage as you require. Not too big or heavy for walking around with during the day and as big as I can hold reasonably steady for nighttime observation. I chose these by trialling various options at a high street store, they weren't what I thought I wanted before I went in but they performed the best visually of all the options I tried. Cost around £200 I think. A few hours after leaving the shop with them I enjoyed a close-up view of a deer in the woods and later that night my son had his first view of the Pleiades through them from a dark site in Dorset. Just with those two experiences they had more than paid for themselves within 24 hours!

GSO 6" Classical Cassegrain arrived today: A quick trial on my AZT6 mount which is on the limit for this scope. A single 2" focus ring was enough but targeting a church steeple approx. a quarter of a mile away I couldn't get ultra sharp focus, I presume this means the scope is out of collimation? I'm awaiting a new mount which will enable a twin scope setup running this alongside my ED80.

Steve, my eyecups measure 42mm dia. how would your FOR eyecups fit, replace the existing or squeeze over? I have no idea of how to remove the existing ones either!

Yes, I have heard about that fix, that's my option of last resort.

Thanks Mick, neither of those options work for me, one is in the US and the Amazon option won't post to Hungary. I'm still working trying to track down Fujinon dealers in Europe, you would think a company of their size would have some sort of service network ........

Now it's gone cloudy my attention has been diverted to the workshop so thought I would make my own solar finder, anyone interested in doing the same can find the file here https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4905067

My first "proper" tripod arrived today, Berlebach Uni 18 with optional leg spreader and accessory tray along with the Chalon observers chair. A quick trial in the garden viewing the local church steeple and, wow, what a difference. Nothing wobbles! Somewhat overkill for my little ED80 on AZT6, but that is in the process of being remedied:

Out again this afternoon, making hay whilst the sun shines so to speak as wall to wall cloud forecast for the next week. Really nice relaxing in warmish sun as opposed to freezing my proverbials off in -4 in the dark! Swapped the mount from AZ Pronto to AZT6 to evaluate whether I prefer slo-mo or not, I think I prefer without and the AZT6 with counterweight makes light work of the 80ED, smooth and relatively vibration free even on the Manfrotto tripod. Should be even better on the inbound Uni 18: Six areas of activity easily observed with a possible seventh just visible, I found viewing at around 40x suited me and allowed around 2.5 minutes viewing before I needed to nudge the scope. Anyway, here's a rather bad phone snap of today's sunspots:

That thought had crossed my mind! It's a slippery slope🙈

A beautiful spring like afternoon here so got my 80ED set up with AstroZap Baader filter for the first time. Viewing through Hypflex 21 - 7 zoom, used the slot in the phone mount to roughly align the sun and away we went: Immediately noticed four sunspots and close inspection revealed another close to the edge and then a fainter collection of spots grouped together making six separate phenomena. A lot more than I expected! A really enjoyable hour, basking in the warmth of the object I was closely observing and knowing it was 92 million miles away was quite thrilling.

My Fujinon 7 x 50 marine bins are getting on a bit and the rubber has perished. Originally bought for boating use, I find them really nice glasses to scan the night sky with so would like to get them back in shape. I've scoured the internet but can't seem to find anything, anyone got any ideas?

That looks a very interesting and well made option, I like it. Only available direct from South Korea though, shipping, tax (27% here in Hungary) and import duties would push it in to Rowan price territory. Food for thought though, I'll do some sums ............

I thought one of the advantages of the CC was not being prone to dew?

Thanks for the suggestion Stu. I wonder how the Mini Ercole would compare with the Castor, both similar weights and payload and how they perform in comparison to my AZT6. I do like the apparent quality of those mounts compared to the Sky-Tee, so on the one hand better quality build and finish, on the other the slo-mo controls .......

A couple of years or so in to my astro journey and still very much a learner, I'm looking to expand my observing skills as well as open up new viewing opportunities. My first scope was a 102mm Mak on a barely adequate EQ mount, I learnt a lot from this and had may enjoyable sessions observing mainly lunar and planetary targets. Ultimately though I couldn't get on with the inaccurate focussing system so moved this on in exchange for a TS 80mmED 570FL refractor. I've used this on the TS Optics AZT6 mount and a camera tripod but now have a Berlebach Uni 18 inbound which will give me more options for scopes and mounts. Whilst I really enjoy using the 80ED the aperture and focal length obviously impose compromises, so my thoughts are turning towards getting another scope to complement the frac. I also rather like the idea of mounting them in parallel. I've pretty much narrowed it down to a 6" Classical Cassegrain, this will give me the aperture and much higher power I'm looking for compared to the 80ED. I could use these in an either or situation, depending on the targets for the night, or together on one mount to give differing views of the same target. Both scopes will cool down quickly and be near immune from dew, two issues that can be a problem here in Hungary. That leaves me with a dilemma over the mount, it will definitely be a manual ALT/AZ, preferably with two OTA mounting options and ideally with slo-mo. Choices seem to be at either end of the quality/price spectrum, with the Sky-Tee (or TS version) being at one end, and the Losmandy/Rowan mounts at the other. I could really do with something in between those options. Or do I stick with quality and go for something like the Berlebach Castor or Giro Ercole and sacrifice the slo-mo controls? Please chip in with thoughts and advice, any options I may have missed, or something I've maybe not thought through quite right.

I think you've made a good choice in your scope and mount combo. My first scope was the smaller 102 Mak but on a manual EQ mount which, in all honesty, I struggled to get to grips with and so ditched the EQ1 mount and fitted an AZ Pronto mount to the existing tripod which simplified things no end. As I only use the Mak for Lunar and planetary observation the manual mount with slo-mo controls is simple to use and makes for a quick set up. I get a little frustrated with the focus knob so I may try Heather's clothes peg upgrade. I agree on the "nastiness" of the supplied plastic diagonal and have deliberated over swapping it out. interestingly today I did a comparison test with the included SW diagonal alongside a Williams Optics Erecting Prism and a Lacerta Star Diagonal - both cost around the £75 mark. I used the 102 Mak and an 80ED frac for the "test" and a variety of eyepieces ranging in FL from 32mm to 9mm (see my signature). I was pointing at a chimney around 250 yards away and examining the pointing at various magnifications, weather was bright sunshine with occasional cloud. I can honestly say that the difference between the nasty plastic one and the other two was as near as imperceptible, maybe a tiny bit more light but very difficult to be sure of this. What is different though is the feel of them and that the more expensive diagonals have compression rings rather than two not so convincing screws, that alone for me is worth the upgrade. All this in preparation for some Lunar observation tonight. You will definitely need a dew shield for your Mak, I also wrapped the body in a foam "insulation jacket" .

The AZT6 is lovely, very well built with a smooth action and weighs less than 1Kg. Copes well with the ED80 without any counterweight on my Manfrotto tripod for quick sessions but adding a couple of kilos on a bar scavenged from an EQ1 mount does give it better balance, more refined motion on the azimuth and a feeling of greater stability.

Nice report. I was in your position a few months ago and took the plunge with a SkyMax 102 Mak on an EQ1 mount, the scope is great for the moon and I bought it just prior to the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction so was thrilled to witness that. I soon came to realise that the EQ mount was a lot of hassle and objects outside the Solar System were hard to find with the Mak. So I convinced myself I needed a 'Frac and bought an ED80 from TS-Optiks along with their AZT6 mount as a grab and go setup that will travel easily. I'm in Bortle 4 skies and right from first light the ED80 has wowed me, lovely high contrast views with a black velvety background that amazes with the amount of stars that are visible. I've become obsessed with Orion and keep going back to it as it's so easy to locate and is just an incredible thing to see. My favourite EP with this scope is the Explore Scientific 26mm 62º that I use to surf the sky and revel in the wonder of it. I switch to an OVL zoom lens to view objects in more detail so have most bases covered with just the two eyepieces. I'm amazed how good an 80mm refractor is and given better skies I think you will be too but, like you, I'm already planning a route to larger aperture scopes!

I have the same mount and am using it for a TS-Optiks ED80 which weighs 2.4Kg (tube only) and have it on a Mafrotto 190XPRO tripod, so very similar to your set up. I am using it happily without a counterweight as a grab and go, but I have tried it with a bar and 2.4Kg counterweight off an EQ1 and it definitely feels more stable and balanced with it in place. For grab and go I'll continue without it, for longer sessions when the weather is better I'll most likely use it with the counterweight. .