10 micron GM1000 HPS mount - anybody got one?

[Martin-Devon]

See these links: http://www.10micron.de/download/hps-mont-poster-e.pdf and http://www.10micron.eu/english/news.htm

This is the new mount recently launched by 10 micron. It complements their GM2000 HPS mount which retails around the £10K mark - some lucky folks on this forum have posted images with the GM2000 and they are staggeringly good. You'll see 20 minute unguided subs!

Anyhow the GM1000 from 10 micron has a smaller load capacity (25kg) and retails just over £5K. It's only recently been launched, yet I cannot find any reviews anywhere on it's performance. I was just wondering if anybody on this forum has ordered/received the GM1000 and/or if anybody can give any feedback on it's initial performance. If it tracks with the accuracy of its bigger sibling though (the GM2000) it will be a mighty good mount. Interestingly it has no facility either to take a polarscope - instead the polar alignment is done with the software they provide and they claim it is extremely accurate.

Any feedback/experience with this GM1000 mount would be appreciated - thanks

[buzz]

I'm intrigued too. Ian King is evaluating one soon and I'll wait to hear from him.

I think I read somewhere that it does not have a provision for a polar scope, as its software makes up for it using several star fixes; quite a leap of faith! There was a thread on Cloudy nights forum on another 10 microns mount, which got quite heated with a bunch of beta testers having issues with guiding and others that said it was fantastic - which seemed like an external system issue at the end of the day.

regards

Chris

[Erwin Kats]

I have also heard about this mount its unguided capability.

But the unguided pictures i saw were all with a 600mm focal length telescope, in astronomy terms, that is just a bug in the sky.

At the germn ATT astronomy show, i also heard that turning on the HPS tracking all night will not be good for the mount.( just speculation, i can not confirm this )

I think the price is still skyhigh for this sort of mount.

[vdb]

The discussion on cln 10 micron was the non HPS version I think ... which indeed seems to have issues.

Now with the high res encoders all those issues are gone as in fact it is a closed loop regulated system.

Normally even with high res encoders you cannot take unguided images for longer then 10 minutes due to refraction ...

but they solved that by including refraction model in software. I think Olly had a guest showing up with a brand new one,

but it had a faulty connection ... if I remember correctly it is solved now and there should be some feedback on this mount on the forum somewhere ...

Yves.

[NickK]

I have also heard about this mount its unguided capability.

But the unguided pictures i saw were all with a 600mm focal length telescope, in astronomy terms, that is just a bug in the sky.

At the germn ATT astronomy show, i also heard that turning on the HPS tracking all night will not be good for the mount.( just speculation, i can not confirm this )

I think the price is still skyhigh for this sort of mount.

Why would operating as a tracking mount be bad for it? It's sole purpose is to turn and track. There were issues with the original mounts according to the web pages around..

@vdb - refraction also means you'd need some dec alignment too unless the object is tracking in a path perpendicular to the sphere of the planet (i.e. tracking perfectly through zenith). So this means the vector differences will have dec component too rather than just using RA tracking.

[Erwin Kats]

Why would operating as a tracking mount be bad for it? It's sole purpose is to turn and track. There were issues with the original mounts according to the web pages around..

@vdb - refraction also means you'd need some dec alignment too unless the object is tracking in a path perpendicular to the sphere of the planet (i.e. tracking perfectly through zenith). So this means the vector differences will have dec component too rather than just using RA tracking.

Like i sayed, (speculation).

hps is a function you can enable, during 20 degrees a second slewing it might be overheated. This is what was told at the att 10 micron and baader booth.

I know baader and 10 micron have a good relation but i do not beleive baader.

But as i sayed, i can not confirm this, i stay at my asa mount for sure.

The persons that want to work with a mount like the 10 micron and plate solving, need to calculate money for additional software like pinpoint astrometry etc.

I think a good review with a long focal length telescope should give a good answer about the capibility of this mount.

[vdb]

The refraction model they use tracks also in dec!

[ollypenrice]

I'm afraid the one that came here was the victim of a damaged external cable (fortunately not one of mine!!!). I don't know much about what happened to it afterwards. Irwin, I presume the ASA software has a Dec correction model built in? And you are now happy with the mount?

Will you be calling in this year? You'd be most welcome.

Olly

[4lefts]

interesting thread martin - is this what you're looking at to replace your cgem? crazy money by my standards, but they do look nice...

stephen from the nlo

[Martin-Devon]

Hi Steve, yes I'm looking to upgrade my entire imaging set-up, with a view to gear that will last the distance. Having gotten into imaging just over a year ago I knew that I would be able to decide after a year whether this was the right or wrong direction for me - and despite the Rubbish weather placing the usual limitations, I've decided to commit now with a long-term view towards the imaging side. There's still plenty more for me to learn & get my teeth into.

Although the new 10 micron GM1000 HPS mount look appealing - the lack of any review or feedback from an existing user anywhere that I can find does place reservations in my mind. At the moment, since I need a portable set-up, my attention is now moving to the Astro-Physics Mach-1 mount which is much more proven. Getting hold of a Mach-1 in the UK is not straightforward though as I'm finding - not a single UK distributor so it has to be from either Germany or USA.

In terms of the price - well, you get what you pay for really. The CGEM has done an excellent job for me and I've been pleased with the images so far, but I do want to try & move up a level now. Since this is the only real committed hobby I have, and time is precious, although it's still a stretch financially I'm OK with it!

[Erwin Kats]

I'm afraid the one that came here was the victim of a damaged external cable (fortunately not one of mine!!!). I don't know much about what happened to it afterwards. Irwin, I presume the ASA software has a Dec correction model built in? And you are now happy with the mount?

Will you be calling in this year? You'd be most welcome.

Olly

Olly the ddm is working perfect now, and yes after making a pointingfile it will correct the mount its dec and ra axis through the software.( around 1200 seconds without autoguiding )

I have no planning to go to south france soon, my interest now is setting up a remote observatory.

On topic, a friend of my has his gm2000 hps for 1 month know, maybe he wants to post some experiences.

[perfrej]

I have the GM2000HPS that Olly saw go to pieces from a severe cable short. They changed the box and now it is fine. It's a good mount. I am currently investigating the 1000 model as a balcony mount. If it is good enough I'll get one when I relocate my 2000 to Southern Europe. I may have a chance to look at one soon and will report my findings.

/per