AE Luton Type B mount

[dark star]

So I took delivery of my Astronomical Equipment equatorial mount.

I am really pleased with the mount on first impression.

I like old fashioned well built things!

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions about the mount.

I have another question for anybody who knows these mounts

The power supply for the RA drive is from the mains. I have a circuit breaker already for safety.

On my Tal 1M mount there is a transformer to change 240v to 12v, there is no transformer with this mount. The drive seems to work fine, I tried it out inside. As I know nothing about electricity I am puzzled by there being no transformer. Is it inside the motor or mount?

Wow is the mount heavy! The equatorial head is about 30 KG, the pier around 25 kg.

It is manageable, with difficulty. I really will have to take up weight lifting!

I am planning to buy a sack truck for getting the equatorial head around 20 meters from the shed to where I observe. I can carry the pier more easily. I can manage to put the head on the pier, although it is quite an effort!

I plan to set it up at weekends and keep it in the shed during the week.

I really like the mount, it has proper sized setting circles and will carry my 10KG reflector with ease. It looks nothing like modern mounts. I will post some pictures at the weekend.

Hopefully I will get to try the mount out this weekend.

David

[Peter Drew]

As far as I can remember, the motor was a genuine 240v mains unit.

[dark star]

Is this any more dangerous than a power supply using a transformer to reduce the voltage to 12v, as I will be using a circuit breaker?

David

[Peter Drew]

If the motor is 240v mains, it will not run from a 12v input. The motor should be suitably earthed. I'm no electronics expert but someone on SGL should be able to advise.

[dark star]

Thanks a lot. I have posted a question about safe use of the mount.

David