Anyone know what mount this is?

[paulastro]

I've just bought this altaz mount from a friend, and wandered if anyone else had one, has seen one before, or knows who made it and is it a commercial or home-made mount?

It's a very robust mount, for scale the telescope tube is a Tal 4inch refractor. The round bit on the axis is 3.5 inches across. When moved in any direction the 'floppies' stay in the same relative postition to the tube assembly.

It is extremely stable, and when the locking levers are engaged it really is solid and can't be moved. It is possible to engage some pressure on the levers, still move the mount by hand and use the slow motions without having to tighten the levers fully. It appears to be able to take a tube assembly quite a bit more substantial than the Tal, a previous owner told me it would take a Tak FS128 which is no mean feat. The last owner I can trace it to bought it from Stockport Telescope and Binoculars shop some years ago second hand.

I thought it might be originally for some type of leveling instrument, particularly since the tripod is similiar to a surveyors tripod - big substantial spikes on the legs with foot holds to stick in the ground. Having used it I know doubt this, as it can point to the zenith which would seem unecessary for such an instrument.

Can anyone out there shed any light on it?