new project......new mount, do i need it??

[whizzbang]

Afternoon all, 

We are starting the search for a bigger family home, either in SW London or Leicestershire, and i have promised myself i will build an observatory, probably a roll off pent roof type. currently the scope is mounted on a permanent pier in the back garden covered by a scope coat. it seems to be doing ok, but would love to be able to leave the ATIK in situ between sessions, something im not going to do with the current set up.

With my current London location I image mainly due south away from the city, so have the meridian flip to contend with, while not a massive issue, it tends to make me stay up past bed time to keep an eye on it. recently i have been doing forced flip goto's starting imaging runs in the weights up position, that seems ok, but it limits targets to being quite low on the horizon, if they are too high the scope fouls the pier.

So when i go down the obs route, i fancied a new mount, and am intrigued by the M-uno fast revers single fork equatorial mount form Avalon, no more flipping 

Anyone have any experiences? reviews online are hard to come by, other than the shockers offered by Meade et al before it was given up as a bad job.

I actually have no real issue with my NEQ6, but the Avalon is shiny and red and funky, im planning to use it with my Altair Astro 102 frac.  I may even fit two mounts if i make the obys big enough, as the Avalon seems quite compact and with no long counter weight shaft to contend with.

So anyone using one as an imaging mount?

Many thanks for reading my excited and confusing ramblings

Russ

[steppenwolf]

I have reviewed the Avalon M-Uno and it was indeed a lovely mount - the build quality and attention to detail was amazing and I felt very at home with it as its drive motors and control board come straight out of the EQ6 but from there onwards it all changes with an excellent belt drive. The only observation that I would make is that you are limited in the type of instrument that you can install on it, especially when imaging as this usually greatly increases the overall length of the instrument. This mount is well suited to VERY short refractors, SCTs, MAKs and other Cassegrains.

'Shiny and red and funky'? - oh yes, and you should see it with an Officina Stellare RH200 on it  - in fact, you can:-

[whizzbang]

Thanks steve,

mmmmm lovely, I do have a RC8 that seldom gets used so thats a possibility. 

where is the balance point for the scope? presumably you could push a refractor forwards on the mounting plate and balance it with some additional weight at the focuser end, if you see what i mean.

Think i will be heading over to see Ian king at astrofest as he seems to be the UK dealer.

Russ

[ollypenrice]

Shiny red an funky does nothing for me. Red anodized ally goes pink, faded and dodgy-looking in my exprerience, but I live in a sun-infested environment. (Big hardship, let me tell you!) And anyway, I don't look at my gear, I look through it.

However, a well made, flipless belt drive mount based on proven components and available from one of the best retailers in the astro market does wonders for me.  I'd have been there were it not for the fact that an imaging colleaugue was up for creating a tandem rig and this mount won't quite carry the payload.

I have two friends, both hugely competent, using the Avalon GEM and confirming its quality regularly.

So I don't have any experience of the mount but, like most people, I trust Steve Richards and, personally, I'd have taken a punt on it from a retailer I trusted. That would be Ian King Imaging.

Olly

[whizzbang]

Shiny red an funky does nothing for me. Red anodized ally goes pink, faded and dodgy-looking in my exprerience, but I live in a sun-infested environment. (Big hardship, let me tell you!) And anyway, I don't look at my gear, I look through it.

True, but i d like to admire good design and engineering that just works, something about italians, all of the Ducatis i have owned not only looked good,  but did their jobs admirably. sometimes its nice to sit back, have a fag and admire the whole experience. there used to be nothing better than sitting in the pits in my chair with a cup of coffee and look at the bike and listen to it calming down after a spirited session. 

However, a well made, flipless belt drive mount based on proven components and available from one of the best retailers in the astro market does wonders for me.  I'd have been there were it not for the fact that an imaging colleaugue was up for creating a tandem rig and this mount won't quite carry the payload.

Thats good to hear 

Russ