Can anyone recommend a good Alt-Az mount for an Evostar 120 refractor?

[John P]

I'm in the process of buying the above refractor, but need to get a mount for it. I've looked at EQ5 mounts, but to be honest as this will only be used for visual observing in my VERY light polluted back garden, and may have to be moved around a few times each session, they seem too much trouble.

So, can anyone recommend a good Alt-Az mount that will give me steady views?

[NGC404]

The celestron heavy duty alt az should do the job if you are on a budget of less than £100

Comes with slow motion controls aswell

[John]

Sorry to disagree with the previous post but I own a Skywatcher ED120 Pro and I'm afraid he Celestron Heavy Duty Alt-Azimuth (which I've owned in the past as well) would be overwhelmed by it, in my opinion. The optical tube weighs 15lb and is a reasonably long.

For short sessions at low to medium power I use mine on a Skywatcher AZ4 with the steel tubed legs and for a rock solid mount I use a Giro-type alt-az made by a small UK engineering company mounted on a 2" diameter CG5 tripod and a 16" extension:

[John P]

I have looked at the Skywatcher AZ4, the only thing that I can't get my head around is that the OTA would need to be side mounted. Now I know I'm a bit thick, and this is my first 'proper' telescope, so where would the finderscope go?

[John]

I have looked at the Skywatcher AZ4, the only thing that I can't get my head around is that the OTA would need to be side mounted. Now I know I'm a bit thick, and this is my first 'proper' telescope, so where would the finderscope go?

The tube can be rotated to any position in the tube rings so you can have it just like I have in the photo - the AZ-4 mount connects to the the scope in the same way. My focuser is not a standard one but it's set up in the same way as the original on my scope.

If you go for an AZ-4 I'd recommend a set of anti-vibration pads as well. The ED120 is capable of going above 200x in good seeing conditions but the AZ-4 vibrates a bit too much as standard to make that usable. The pads will help a bit with this.

A really solid alternative if you have the budget would be the Skywatcher Skytee II which has a greater load capacity than the AZ-4.

[Moonshane]

not sure if you know this John but how would the AZ4 compare with say a Giro Mini? I think the latter would have a better load capacity and be more stable?

I am like to mount either head on my home made (albeit with legs shortened a little) hardwood tripod. I would use it with my 90mm f5.5 (with rings and a 2" diagonal/occasionally 2" eyepieces). With everything and even my heaviest eyepiece this would be a load of 4.5kg.

[John]

I've not used a Giro Mini Shane so I can't compare with that. My AZ-4 is very steady with my Vixen ED102mm F/6.5 OTA which weighs around 8 llbs and acceptable up to medium powers with the ED120 which weighs around twice as much and is around 18" longer. Your 90mm F/5.5 might well be just fine on the AZ-4 - it sounds around the same weight / length as the WO Megrez 90 that I owned for a while - I had that on an AZ-3 !

I have to add though that the AZ-4 on the steel tripod is moving away from "grab and go" a bit as it's quite a heavy combo. The Giro Mini on a suitable tripod may well be lighter and just as steady.

From what I know of the Giro engineering I reckon the Mini will probably exceed it's load capacity recommendations - the stuff is extremely well made !.

[Moonshane]

cheers John

You've made my mind up (it was already pretty made up to be honest) toward the Giro.

Sorry for threadnapping but it's all kinda relevant I suppose.

[John P]

Thanks to everyone for contributing, I really appreciate it

John, I would love the Skytee, but at the moment I can barely afford the AZ4. I didn't plan on getting a 'scope this big yet, but I've been offered one second-hand and the thought of all that aperture is just too tempting! Now I know the AZ4 can handle it and there'll be no problems with the finder, I think FLO will be getting an order soon...

[John]

Thanks to everyone for contributing, I really appreciate it

John, I would love the Skytee, but at the moment I can barely afford the AZ4. I didn't plan on getting a 'scope this big yet, but I've been offered one second-hand and the thought of all that aperture is just too tempting! Now I know the AZ4 can handle it and there'll be no problems with the finder, I think FLO will be getting an order soon...

OK but please note that the ED120 is technically right on the the recommended max load for the AZ-4 with the steel tubed tripod. It's useable but there are compromises as I've mentioned in my posts above. Just don't want you to be dissapointed

[John P]

OK but please note that the ED120 is technically right on the the recommended max load for the AZ-4 with the steel tubed tripod. It's useable but there are compromises as I've mentioned in my posts above. Just don't want you to be dissapointed

Mmmm, you've got me thinking again now John...

It would be a shame to have all that aperture and not be able to exploit it fully. OK, here's another silly question: If I get an EQ5 instead, how easy are they to set up? Bearing in mind my technical skills are virtually zero (no exaggeration! Hence the interest initially in an Alt Az mount), is polar alignment difficult, and do you have to keep adjusting the counterweights while observing?

[captaincaveman]

I had a similar predicament, i was looking at the evostar 120's and i wanted an alt az also, just for star hopping, i really struggled to find the right mount, The most stable i could find(in my price range) was an eq5 mount, then when i saw a pic of the two together, the size was too much for me to move around if i wanted to go to occasional darker skys

I looked at the startravel 120's but still had similar problems, though im told the az4 is great for this

I ended up changing my mind to a 5" mak(skymax 127) for portability with the possibility of the 120 on something larger in the future:D

[John]

For visual use an EQ5 is pretty easy to use - you just point the polar axis to the north and you are set to go. You might even be able to use it in alt-az mode as you can with the Vixen Super-Polaris:

Astromart Reviews - The Super Polaris Mount in Alt-Az Configuration

I just prefer alt-az observing but I do have an alt-az that's capable of handling quite heavy tubes (the one in the picture) which is what I use the ED120 on for serious observing.

[John P]

Decisions, decisions...

Going off on a tangent now, but I think I'm correct in assuming a Skywatcher Startravel is more suited to DSO's. If this is so, I might think of getting the AZ4 for now, then at a later date upgrading to something like a SkyTee for the Evostar, and use the AZ4 for a Startravel 102 or 120.

That's assuming I don't win the lottery this weekend

[captaincaveman]

Decisions, decisions...

Going off on a tangent now, but I think I'm correct in assuming a Skywatcher Startravel is more suited to DSO's. If this is so, I might think of getting the AZ4 for now, then at a later date upgrading to something like a SkyTee for the Evostar, and use the AZ4 for a Startravel 102 or 120.

That's assuming I don't win the lottery this weekend

I seriously had months on which way to turn with this problem, it took me ages to work out the scope finally got that sorted, then i got thrown the curve ball with the mounts and had to head scratch some more

I thought that getting a 120mm refractor on a simple stable az mount would have been the easiest setup to find out there

Then finally went down a totally different route:D

[Moonshane]

I did just what John suggested with my Vixen GP and it works really well.

I am pretty sure it works with the clones (CG5 etc).