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Another AZ4 review

Tyr

By Tyr
in Member Equipment Reviews

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Tyr

Tyr

Posted
Posted

So I've had few sessions with this mount now and I'm at a point where I feel I can write a bit about it. Hopefully someone out there will find this useful.

Unboxing and Assembly

It's bigger than you expect, but not as big as the box it was delivered in. It came very well packed with mount and tripod contained in separate boxes within one big box.

There's not much to do in the way of assembly, which is fortunate as there were no instructions. I did however get a bit stuck with the panning handle until after some reasurance from other lounge members that, that was indeed the right hole to be putting it in. I realised it was supposed to screw in at an angle rather than in the same plane as the rotating dovetail clamp.

Design and build quality

Build quality seems good, and the whole mount feels like it's made to last.

I think if there was one thing I'd have liked would have been a second screw or larger clamp for securing the dovetail. Always make sure its nice and tight and you've got the OTA properly seated.

There's no slow motion controls but you probably knew that already if you've looked at this mount before. I've not found it to be a problem as movement is nice and smooth.

Stability and Range of Movement

I've no complaints here, granted my scope is very light but this mount knocks the socks off Alt-Az goto mount that came with the scope in the stability department.

I'm using a 127 Mak on this mount, which is a very compact optical tube. I have no touble at all with the vertical range of movement of the scope and can easily observe objects at the zenith.

I've been using the mount with the tripod legs unextended, which means I'm sometime sitting / kneeling on the floor to look through the telrad. I'll probably try extending the legs soon but even with them unextended stability is fine.

Ease of movement / tracking

The highest magnification I've worked with so far when using this mount has been about 200x on solar system objects like Jupiter, Mars and the moon.

Tracking in the horizontal plane is very easy, at the moment the most effective method for panning I've found is to pan with one hand on the panning handle by my right ear and the other guiding the back of the scope. My OTA is very short so I find the panning handle to be useful in this regard although others have said they don't bother using it.

Tacking vertically, again I use one hand on the end of the OTA to steady the movement and one on the panning handle. I've not got as smooth at the vertical panning yet because I've not sorted out the vertical balance of my scope. This means I have to have the vertical clutch tightened up fairly stiffly to prevent the OTA rotating backwards and in the worse case wacking the diagonal on the base of the mount, which I managed once but no damage seems to have been done.

Overall the mount moves very smoothly and I love that I can pan from one side of the sky to the other in a few seconds rather than several minutes, this has proved to be a big bonus when observing conditions are not ideal and I'm just chasing gaps in the cloud.

Portability

This mount as been described by others as lug and go and I'd probably agree with that, it's not light but thats a reasonable price for having something this stable.

Pictures

I've attached two images of my scope on the mount last night, the attractive plumbers tape on the top is because I'm not ready to stick the telrad base down properly yet.

Tyr

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post-26127-133877723706_thumb.jpg

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NGC 1502

NGC 1502

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Thanks for the review Tyr.

I'm a big fan of no hassle fast to set up mounts.

The Astro Tech alt az mount I have gets lots of use. When I bought it back in 2008, the advertising claimed a max payload of 20 lbs.

I do think that is very wishful thinking for a stable set up, but it works excellently with the scopes I use.

Hope you get lots of use out of the AZ4.

Regards, Ed.

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John

John

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Nice review Tyr :icon_salut:

I have an AZ-4 and agree with your assessment of it. To start with the mount was rather "undersold" by Skywatcher I reckon but now it seems to be getting the regonition it deserves.

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RikM

RikM

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I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the AZ4. The more I use this mount, the more I like it. With either a 150P or Skymax 127 it seems quite happy even with the legs fully extended.

My 12 year old son used my AZ4 & Skymax last night at a public observing session for Cotswold AS to show about 100 people Venus, Jupiter and the Moon. Anything that can tear him away from his Xbox must be a good bit of kit.

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A McEwan

A McEwan

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Yep, bit of a "sleeper" this mount. I bought one in preference to a Gibraltar, following the opinions I found on this forum. Tonight I've viewed Venus and am waiting for the Moon and Jupiter to come around the side of the house. Here's a pic or two of it lined up on Venus, bearing my Celestron/Vixen 90mm f14.4

Ant

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Tyr

Tyr

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Yes I love the lack of time and hassle involved in getting outside and observing now compared to aligning the goto mount.

I've been liking the pictures of long tube refractors on them as well.

Tyr

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Caldwell 14

Caldwell 14

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A good review and some sexy pictures! I have to get myself one of these :D Way to much bother to drag my dob out for a quick session after work!

They say the best scope is the one you use the most, with an AZ 4 its almost a crime not to use every night its clear and your home early enough. I can get my TAL on an AZ 4 and ready for action in well under a minute....simples :(

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Adz

Adz

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They say the best scope is the one you use the most, with an AZ 4 its almost a crime not to use every night its clear and your home early enough. I can get my TAL on an AZ 4 and ready for action in well under a minute....simples :(

Oh quit with your persuasion! I haven't been out for a session in weeks and weeks. Mostly because of weather and work, but a little because I am getting fed up of moving and setting up the dob in my garden.

My garden has 3 street lights in different corners surrounding it, so when viewing different objects I normally have to move the base, scope, seat, eyepiece case and literature. It can get a right pain!

I was thinking of getting a Skywatcher ED frac on an Az4, but maybe I should start with the Tal - I have heard it is very well corrected. Then I could invest in an 120ED if the viewing style and performance grows on me :D

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John

John

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....My garden has 3 street lights in different corners surrounding it, so when viewing different objects I normally have to move the base, scope, seat, eyepiece case and literature. It can get a right pain!....

I have very similar issues Adam, plus some tallish trees and neighbours houses. I've needed to stay mobile with all my scopes, ie: able to lift the whole lot up in one go and move it.

That's why I've stuck with alt-az mounts, no electric and a 10" scope as my max aperture. I had a 12" dob for a while but moving it around the garden was just too much hassle :D

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Adz

Adz

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I have very similar issues Adam, plus some tallish trees and neighbours houses. I've needed to stay mobile with all my scopes, ie: able to lift the whole lot up in one go and move it.

That's why I've stuck with alt-az mounts, no electric and a 10" scope as my max aperture. I had a 12" dob for a while but moving it around the garden was just too much hassle :D

Sucks doesn't it?

John you use your 120ed on a skytee don't you? Can an az4 handle one? I do use heavy eyepieces. Come to mention it, can a tal 100rs handle big eyepieces?

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Caldwell 14

Caldwell 14

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Yeah the TAL can handle large eyepieces, check out Astro babys review. I had a largish Zoom on recently and you couldn't tell the difference between that and a cheap Plossil. I have exactly the same issues, trees, street lights, other cottages near by and the worst of the lot my anoying neighbour who leaves a side window light on all night that flood lights half my garden (he leaves it on for one of his kids so I can't really say anything) That leaves a small light free patch, just where the dog goes for a poo, fantastic :)

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Adz

Adz

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Yeah the TAL can handle large eyepieces, check out Astro babys review. I had a largish Zoom on recently and you couldn't tell the difference between that and a cheap Plossil. I have exactly the same issues, trees, street lights, other cottages near by and the worst of the lot my anoying neighbour who leaves a side window light on all night that flood lights half my garden (he leaves it on for one of his kids so I can't really say anything) That leaves a small light free patch, just where the dog goes for a poo, fantastic :D

Thanks for the help. I have decided to get a tal 100rs on an az4 :) Great performer and it will also let me understand if refractors are my thing and whether to invest in a better one in the future.

I quiet word can work wonders, what is the worse that could happen? The lad could still have his light on, even if a blind or something similar was put up. Especially if you suggested partially tipping in for one perhaps? :)

Fortunately the only poo I have to deal with is hedgehog stuff. Outside around my car though is a different story...

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John

John

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Adam - the AZ-4 will handle the ED120 with large eyepieces - the 31mm Nagler is my largest / heaviest but I have to re-balance any scope that I use that one in !. It's when the magnification goes above 150x or thereabouts that you notice that the mount is more or less at it's limit. Vibration suppression pads help a bit though.

The TAL100 should be more stable on the AZ-4 though.

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