Another AZ4 review

[Adz]

Good news to hear thanks John. Can't wait till mine arrives

[A McEwan]

Another sexy AZ-4 pic...

Ant

[Adz]

Tis a very good looking well colour coded set up there, nice one

Can anyone recommend a diagonal to use with the tal 100rs and 2" + 1.25" eyepieces? For possible use with a 120ED in the future?

Thanks

[Rob_UK_SE]

I think the AZ4 is possibly the most underrated mount out there.

Sure, it's a no frills job, but the head moves very smoothly and the whole thing is pretty solid. It is also relatively easy to service. I was surprised with the weight when it arrived - much heavier than I expected (in a good way)... It's certainly not the sort of thing you would want to try and stuff into a suitcase!

I am happy to trust it with a Tele Vue 102 APO refractor (pic attached).

A great review Tyr. Thanks for sharing.

Rob

[Caldwell 14]

ummm, very nice.

[John]

Lovely setup Rob

I had a TV Gibraltar before I had the AZ-4. The Gib was beautifully put together but I have to say that the AZ-4 is a better mount.

...Can anyone recommend a diagonal to use with the tal 100rs and 2" + 1.25" eyepieces? For possible use with a 120ED in the future?......

I use a Revelation Quartz Dielectric with my ED120 and a Tele Vue Everbright with my Vixen ED102SS. The Everbright costs around 3x as much as the Revelation but, optically, I can't see any difference between them.

[Adz]

Thanks for the input John, shame FLO don't stock them. I shall see how I get on with the Tal one for the time being.

[kris h]

Mine got delivered before , got it setup with my c6

very well built , had a little struggle getting the panning handle screwed inn & the dovetail i would of liked a clamp instead of the screw but looks

secure , good value for £££ & to FLO was ordered on the 13th

dew shield arrived next day & mount today

bring on clear skies .

[enigma]

Could in place of the handle use a second bolt to secure an optical tube on the AZ4?

[Donald Maxton]

I purchased an AZ4 for my Orion 90mm Mak, but haven't had an opportunity to use it yet. Question: Are the degree scales (is that the right word)? on both axes useful in actually locating celestial objects like setting circles on an equatorial mount? I suspect not, but if that's so, why are they there? All in all, it's a beautiful, solid mount in my opinion.

PS, I ordered this through Adorama in NY. They told me that Skywatcher is no longer making them with aluminum tripods.

[wrinkly]

Stellarium gives AltAz information, useful if you line up on North and make sure the mount is level.

[Caldwell 14]

Here's another one... The extension pier is highly recommended for refractor use, its a rock solid mount with an ED100 on board

[John]

What a great looking setup

[Caldwell 14]

Thanks John, I really am very pleased with it all, for me at least its perfect. I am just starting to understand the difference in quality of ED glass to achro glass, its a cleaner, sharper view that goes beyond colour removal, it would be hard to go back now.

[Adz]

Nice looking setup Caldwell I have an Ed100 on mine too, they pair up beautifully. Also proving its worth with my pst, even managed to do some imaging with it today that i should have up shortly.

[Daniel-K]

very good mount im very impressed with mine even at high mag it doesn't wobble but the extension is a must for comfortable viewing but great mounts and highly recommended

[Guest]

A bit late in this thread.But you have all convienced me to buy one.I am going to get the Skywatcher 127mm maksutov,but who knows where this new found freedom in visual observing will take me!

[Caldwell 14]

I think one would last a life time too, simple, solid and a joy to use.

[g0ibi]

I use an 8" extention on mine, with a Starwave 80ED, no problem at all!!

[AstroAdam]

Old topic I know, but I have one on the way.  Looking forward to finally having a decent grab and go mount for my refractors.  nice

[John]

Old topic I know, but I have one on the way.  Looking forward to finally having a decent grab and go mount for my refractors.  nice

Ahh - that might be mine thats on it's way to you then Adam

[dweller25]

Another thumbs up for the impressive AZ4.......

[AstroAdam]

Ahh - that might be mine thats on it's way to you then Adam

Very possibly might be John

[AstroAdam]

Well, it came through yesterday. Much more robust than I expected. Seems to be an excellent no-frills head, which is exactly what I want for grab and go. Rock solid on my heq5 tripod too

[Cosmic Geoff]

I recently got a AZ4-2 (the stainless steel version) to mount a 70mm classic long-focus refractor weighing about 5.5 Kg.

Good points: handsome mounting, and very stable even without the accessory tray in place. Easy to deploy: just store it with the legs extended and then drag it outdoors and spread the legs.

Minus points: could do with slow motions; on the other hand with this long refractor I would not be able to reach them anyway. There is some stiction on both axes, but I managed to use it with a magnification of ~x200

It also serves as a 2nd mount for my Celestron NexStar 127 SLT Mak - far more stable than the electronic mount.