Skytee II users, tips please.

[emadmoussa]

Having failed to sort out my giro mount issues and after a lot of hassle, I finally managed to at least get a refund from Explore Scientific. And for the money, since I sitll need a giro mount, I'm thinking about investing in a Sky-watcher Skytee II. 

I'd appreciate any tips on pros and cons, what to expect, maximum load capacity.

Thanks,

Imad

[stevepeverall]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with ES.

I've had a Skytee II for about a year now and had a problem with 'play' in the vertical direction. I initially fixed it with help from SGL by removing a manifold and tightening a couple of grub screws. The problem came back which I alleviated with some washers on the vertical slo-mo control doing the same job. No problems since then.

There have been a few other posts on SGL regarding the build quality and problems involving the Skytee II. It might just be a case of a few bad apples though.

Regarding weight capacity it is stated as being able to cope with a 2x15kg payload, though I'm not 100% sure whether that includes counterweights.

My 110mm frac set up weighs about 8-9kg all in and this works fine on the side mount of the Skytee counterbalanced with 3.4Kg. The motion with the slow-mo is very smooth both laterally and vertically. The same set up on the top mount is a different kettle of fish, counterbalanced with 5kg the motion becomes jerky with some clutch slippage when the scope is pointed towards the zenith.

I've read on on this forum that the largest scope this mount can reasonably take is perhaps a C9.25 and could not reasonably cope with the weight of a your C11. With my experience of a lighter scope I would agree with this.

Despite all of this I'm happy with my set-up now and I especially like the slo-mo controls (the stalks are an extra accessory). If I were buying again though I might be tempted to stump up the extra cash and go for a Tele-optic Ercole or something like that.

[emadmoussa]

Thanks for the info. How about the maximum height with tripod legs fully extended? It's for refractors for me as well.

[stevepeverall]

I went for a Berlebach Uni-18 tripod which extends to 1.2m (47") to the top of the tripod, 1.44m to the top of the mount. I don't know about the metal tube tripod.

[emadmoussa]

I guess, the cheaper option is the get the pier extension, assuming of course it's an EQ5 one. I still have the tripod from Explore Scientific since they still have my pier extension, but I don't think the ES tripod does fit the Skytee.