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Considering Going All Manual!

Damo636

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rwilkey

rwilkey

Posted
Posted

Should be OK in my view, give the nice lads at FLO a ring and I am sure they will advise. I bought the Vixen Porta II after asking the lads and dead pleased though probably not good for f/11. f/11, gosh that's long, how long is the f/length? Mine is 900mm giving f/9, the AZ4 is very sturdy I have been advised, just preferred the easier set up of the Vixen.

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John

John

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Posted

I use my ED120 on my AZ-4 for quick sessions. It's shorter than your scope but a bit heavier. I'd say it's OK up to 150x or so. Above that and I really need my Giro-style mount. It might have to be a "suck it and see" excercise for you. You may find sitting more comfortable - the eyepiece gets quite low when viewing objects high overhead.

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Adz

Adz

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Was this anything to do with me? :)

I plan to put a frac on an alt az mount one day. I have had experience of taking too long to set up eq mounts over and over. A 'grab and go' setup should at least be as quick and easy as a 200p to get on with. Which is a simply pick up and plonk down deal.

I guess a 4" frac with a shorter focal length would be good for an az4. Perhaps an ED 100?

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John

John

Posted
Posted
I guess a 4" frac with a shorter focal length would be good for an az4. Perhaps an ED 100?

I was using my Vixen 102mm ED F/6.5 refractor on my AZ-4 last night and it was very solid at 180x :)

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MjrTom

MjrTom

Posted
Posted

I only ever go manual.

My Vixen is also a long scope at f/10.

It was supplied with a AZ4 style mount which was just about upto the job but my Giro III works a lot better.

Looking at stuff near the zenith can turn into sitting on the floor at times :)

Need to get a more stable tripod so I can raise it up a bit...

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John

John

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Kelling is a long way for me Adam but I will be at SGL7 in late March :)

I have one of the 16" pillar extensions that I can use with either the AZ-4 or my Giro-type mount. That adds both weight and height - with the CG5 2" steel tripod at full extension and the 16" pillar, the mount head is at around 6 1/2 feet. Here is that setup with my ED120 on board. The eyepiece height in this pic is at around 5 feet. It's a really solid setup that weighs around 20kg all up - not really grab and go but certainly portable:

post-12764-133877702108_thumb.jpg

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John

John

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I counterweight mine when I use my 10" newtonian on that mount. The ED120 really does not need any counterweighting. What is not shown in the photo is that the tripod legs and tips are well apart - the centre of gravity of the scope / mount is well inside them and there is no tendency to topple, at least there isn't on my flat garden.

You can get the pillar extension at dealers who stock Orion (USA) stuff as it's branded by them. For some reason Skywatcher only do a shorter EQ6 pillar extension which won't fit the EQ5 / CG5 / HEQ5 heads.

The Widescreen Centre does them for £89.00:

Pillar Extension for EQ5/HEQ5 mount - Telescopes UK: Telescopes & Telescope Accessories in your only London shop

I got mine used - most of the cost was the delivery - they are heavy !

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