AZ4 or EQ3-2 for TAL 100RS?

[Planetesimal]

I'm planning a radical revision of my observing set-up... The most significant change will be the 150PL on tripod to be replaced with a 250PX dob-mounted system (darn aperture-fever). I've no intention of replacing the TAL (as if!), so I can either carry on using my EQ3-2, or potentially move to AZ-4 with extension pillar combo, increased stability being the motivation. I'm going to need the extension pillar in either case to avoid frac-induced zenith contortions...

My question is:

Would an AZ-4 be a more stable mount for the TAL than an EQ3-2? Thanks!

[nightfisher]

Yes, i think the AZ4 will be a lot better, i used to have the eq3 many years ago, i use my tal on AZ4 and find it very stable, i dont use a pillar with it, never had a real need for it

[Planetesimal]

Thanks nightfisher! Maybe I'll try the AZ4 for a while without a pillar and see how I get on.

[brantuk]

I agree - the AZ4 is far more stable than the EQ3-2. It has solid 1.75" tripod legs like the EQ5 tripods. Plus I don't need a pillar for my 100RS on it either. 

[Qualia]

Another +1 for the AZ 4.

I use the AZ 4 steel leg for purely visual work and with the 4.5kg, 4" f/10 Tal 100rs, plus a large 9x50 finder, often a Telrad and various sized EPs, and I find it works absolutely fine, even at 200x. Perhaps one does need a little practice getting the balance and tension just right to one's own 'strength of tug' disposition, that is, when moving the two axis (horizontal and vertical) so that the planets or DSOs don't leap out of view. I generally move the OTA itself with my hand applying pressure on the tube rather than relying upon the panning arm which for some reason I just don't get along with.

I have found that there is a tiny little wobble in the image if I knock the tripod or OTA or there are strong gusts of wind and because of this slight wobble, I think it would be far better to get the steel legged version rather than the aluminium one - it's going to be a whole lot more stable and the weight difference isn't really that significant.

What the AZ4 excels at is its ease of set up, its weight, its ability to simply pan the sky, locate an object and observe it. There's a break in the clouds, you've got a few minutes, and rather than playing around with your EQ system, putting on the weight, balancing the scope, for example, the AZ4 is rapidly set up and you're observing in minutes. I think I use mine almost everyday be it for the Sun, the Moon or to give myself a different image of Jupiter as opposed to that of the 10".

I feel it is an outstanding portable, rugged and solid mount and because it can take quite a bit of weight, you've also given yourself room to use other telescopes on it.

AZ4 Manual

[Caldwell14]

AXe by a country mile. I highly recommend an extension pier when your wallet has had time to recover.

[Caldwell14]

That should be AZ 4

[brantuk]

Lol I did wonder what an "AXe" was till I noticed the "X" and "Z" keys and "4" and "e" keys are adjacent on the keyboard.

[Planetesimal]

Thanks for all the great detailed info! I've gone and bought a new AZ4 (with the steel legs) from FLO, which arrived this morning (impressive service given the time of year!). 

I haven't had a chance to use it yet given the state of the sky this evening, but I did set it up with the TAL on board to check everything is in place and working properly - thanks for the link to the manual by the way Qualia, that was really useful as there was no manual in the box... 

So far so good - I'm really pleased that the steel legs look like they mean business (having been used to the EQ3-2's aluminium square-style legs). The only potential issues I've spotted so far are:

- it seems like the design of the mount has an inherent level of backlash built in to the azimuth movement, as the pin on the tripod that locks into the mount is smaller than the slot it goes into, which means when you start to pan there's a bit of a slip - it would be good to know if this is definitely something that is inherent or if there's anything I can do to firm this up...?

- thumb screw (nearest the objective) attaching the tube rings to the dovetail plate blocks the alt from reaching zero degrees (but it gets to about 10 degrees which will be fine in almost all cases!). 

- when loosened up, the vertical axis balance tends to tip towards the EP end with the Telrad, 9x50 RACI and BST plus diagonal attached, even with the scope pushed as far as possible forward along the tube rings, but I don't think this will really be an issue when all tightened up.

All in all, I'm excited to try it out under the stars (although it will be wrapped up and shoved under the tree until the Big Ho Ho Ho! ).