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Celestron Advanced VX mount

Rudeviewer

By Rudeviewer
in Discussions - Mounts

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  • 2 weeks later...
HighHo

HighHo

Posted
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So turns out I have been treated to some lovely skies the last 2 nights since getting my mount and scope. 1st night was very successful, the views I got from garden far exceeded my expectations DSO's such as the ring nebula looked great. Tonight (2nd night) was a little less successful I think I must have knocked my finder scope since last night I was struggling to polar align, being fairly tired I just decided to look at the moon which is the best I have seen to date for detail.

Anyway couple of questions I have following my brief experience (keep in my mind my first GEM)! Have read some conflicting info do I need to level the mount (accurately), and using ASPA how much should I worry about initial polar alignment (ie is in finder scope enough)? These questions are more for when I get to dark sites.

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PeterCPC

PeterCPC

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You should level the mount as good as you can. Same for pointing North but don't fret about it as you make adjustments to the mount when doing the ASPA. If you want to get the ASPA accurate then you must accurately align using a high power eyepiece, preferably one with an illuminated reticule. I use a 10mm illuminated reticule eyepiece.

Peter

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uhb1966

uhb1966

Posted
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Celestron advanced vx vs EQ6/Atlas Orion in AP

Hello everybody! I am having a hard time choosing between 2 mounts, the Celestron advanced VX vs EQ6/Atlas Orion.

I want to get an 8 inch f/4 newton, weight about 18 pounds, plus Caonon EOS 500 plus flattener/cc, total probably 2 pounds = 20 pound load.

The combination newton + avx shall cost about 1200 Euro, the one with the EQ6 around 1500. From a mount perspective, i get that the EQ6 is the gold standard, BUT its also 20 pounds heavier, so i am inclined to get the avx, not because of the price ( i have to save a bit anyhow) but because of the weight:

AVX + tripod + 20 pounds counterweight +20 pounds payload = 90pounds?
EQ6 + tripod + 20 pounds counterweight +20 pounds payload = 110pounds?

Note1: i will be using it from my garden (no wind at all) and from a nearby mountain top (880m, sometimes windy, but not like the UK coast)
Note2: Having read the whole thread, it seems like either way i'll need some kind of tracking system (like PHD) to get the most of either mount, right?

Any tips are welcome...

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

Posted
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Hi

Firstly, this thread is a bit biased... ;) You might like to repost in the general equipment or mount thread :)

Obviously the eq6 has a greater load capacity and you'll be at the high end for the load limit for imaging with the AVX (though they market it with up to an 11" sct). I can attest to the fact that the AVX is quite noisy when slewing at high rates... If you buy it separately (as I did) it only comes with a single counterweight. Yes, you'll need a guiding setup - guide camera with finder guider, or guide scope, or oag. Yes, you'll need a coma corrector - flatteners are for refractors... The AVX hasn't been around that long so can't say much about long-term reliability or maintainability.

Now then, why are you choosing an F4 scope? Do you have experience of collimation? I understand F4 newts can be very challenging to collimate - you might need expensive collimation tools. This is hearsay from me, so I'd recommend discussing your scope choice with other F4 users.

Hope that helps

Louise

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RogerOfHeaton

RogerOfHeaton

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Posted

Hi Folks,

I'm currently running a 254PX Skywatcher Dobsonian on an equatorial platform with Astro Devices DSCs and Nexus wifi to Sky Safari Pro. It's not a bad viewing rig but somewhere along the way, I swallowed the red pill from The Matrix and have gone hook, line and sinker into astrophotography. Stupid I know but hey, what the hell.

I use an EOS 100D and Phil Dyer Huviron ccd astrovideo camera. I have only just started to use BYEOS and use DSS. I also have Astrotortilla but have not used it yet.

Consequently, I'm going to pull the trigger before Christmas on the AVX with the 130 PDS Skywatcher (I just prefer newts over fracs, mainly bang per buck, plus f5 before the cc and a similar FOV to 80ED), a coma corrector and the CG5 polarscope. The area that I'm uncertain about is the power supply. I have one of the ex-Halfords "6 in 1" 12V DC power tanks, with 2 cigarette lighter sockets. I think it is 17Ah rather than 7Ah but strangely, the instructions are a little vague.

I've followed this thread very closely, and understand the various viewpoints. For budget purposes, I'm going to stick with this powertank, as an opening strategy.

Would be interested in your views folks on the power pack decision, plus any views on the imaging spec I'm going for. Thanks for any feedback, folks.

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

Posted
Posted

Hi Folks,

I'm currently running a 254PX Skywatcher Dobsonian on an equatorial platform with Astro Devices DSCs and Nexus wifi to Sky Safari Pro. It's not a bad viewing rig but somewhere along the way, I swallowed the red pill from The Matrix and have gone hook, line and sinker into astrophotography. Stupid I know but hey, what the hell.

I use an EOS 100D and Phil Dyer Huviron ccd astrovideo camera. I have only just started to use BYEOS and use DSS. I also have Astrotortilla but have not used it yet.

Consequently, I'm going to pull the trigger before Christmas on the AVX with the 130 PDS Skywatcher (I just prefer newts over fracs, mainly bang per buck, plus f5 before the cc and a similar FOV to 80ED), a coma corrector and the CG5 polarscope. The area that I'm uncertain about is the power supply. I have one of the ex-Halfords "6 in 1" 12V DC power tanks, with 2 cigarette lighter sockets. I think it is 17Ah rather than 7Ah but strangely, the instructions are a little vague.

I've followed this thread very closely, and understand the various viewpoints. For budget purposes, I'm going to stick with this powertank, as an opening strategy.

Would be interested in your views folks on the power pack decision, plus any views on the imaging spec I'm going for. Thanks for any feedback, folks.

Hi

I believe the 130pds is a good little imaging scope - it even has it's own thread which I'm sure you've seen :) I'd get one myself if I didn't already have the 150pds :). I have an AVX but it's been underused so far. I only have an 1100d + finder guider on it. I run StellariumScope, Stellarium, APT, PHD2 and Astrotortilla. AT is wonderful when it works but can be a bit temperamental - though that's not necessarily the software's fault! So far, I've only run my AVX from the mains but I have just bought a cheap Li-ion battery off Ebay (I've yet to unpack it). It's only 9800mAh but it might do for a couple of hours provided it can maintain 12V for that long. If it works ok I might get a second one and wire them in parallel. I'll try and give it a first test tomorrow. I've no experience of powertanks, I'm afraid, but I'm sure others will share their wisdom.

Hth

Louise

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RogerOfHeaton

RogerOfHeaton

Posted
Posted

Thanks for coming back, Louise.

I've just noticed this Baader mains 12V 5 Amp unit, which looks to have some thought behind it for scope mount mains drives. A bit more expensive perhaps but I'll be mainly in our back garden with the AVX, rather than at dark site. My budget might stretch to that, when the time comes to order.

http://www.365astronomy.com/baader-12v-5a-outdoor-telescope-switching-power-supply-p-3697.html

Looking forward to cutting my teeth on the AVX.

Thanks again, Louise.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Thanks for coming back, Louise.

I've just noticed this Baader mains 12V 5 Amp unit, which looks to have some thought behind it for scope mount mains drives. A bit more expensive perhaps but I'll be mainly in our back garden with the AVX, rather than at dark site. My budget might stretch to that, when the time comes to order.

http://www.365astronomy.com/baader-12v-5a-outdoor-telescope-switching-power-supply-p-3697.html

Looking forward to cutting my teeth on the AVX.

Thanks again, Louise.

You won't be able to plug that power unit into the VX unfortunately - it has a unique power cable attachment that screws into the mount on one end and the other has a cigarette lighter fitting.

I bought this to run the VX on mains  along with this

Of course there may be a way of adapting these things so you could use a different power pack - but out of the box you're stuck with the cigarette lighter end and the screw fitting.

As for battery power I bought two of these and they seem to provide steady power - I've not had any problems with them - life span will depend on slew frequency :-)

Hope that helps

David

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

Posted
Posted

You won't be able to plug that power unit into the VX unfortunately - it has a unique power cable attachment that screws into the mount on one end and the other has a cigarette lighter fitting.

I bought this to run the VX on mains  along with this

Of course there may be a way of adapting these things so you could use a different power pack - but out of the box you're stuck with the cigarette lighter end and the screw fitting.

As for battery power I bought two of these and they seem to provide steady power - I've not had any problems with them - life span will depend on slew frequency :-)

Hope that helps

David

Hi

Not so! There is a screw-in fitting but within that is a standard 2.1mm socket. I run mine (indoors) from a cheap 12V/5A supply from Amazon :)

Louise

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Guest

Guest

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Posted

Hi

Not so! There is a screw-in fitting but within that is a standard 2.1mm socket. I run mine (indoors) from a cheap 12V/5A supply from Amazon :)

Louise

Aha! I have to admit I didnt investigate further - excellent correction :-)

Having said that the Malpins is cheaper than the unit he mentioned and the screw fitting does offer connection security - glad Im using it :-)

David

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RogerOfHeaton

RogerOfHeaton

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Thanks for the feedback folks.Much appreciated, both.

I of course, have no experience of the AVX. I do however have a little experience on power supplies, in particular ccd video cameras. Cheap, underspecced power supplies are frequently responsible for video camera under-performance, due to inadequate consistency of power supplied, particularly with varying ambient temperature. Users generally overlook this and blame the camera quality or some environmental factor.

That's what warmed me to the Baader unit, in that the general description highlighted those aspects, which mirror my experience.

The Celestron power connection does provide some security screw feature but I have read an AVX 1 STAR review by a user, where due to their accidental tripping over the trailing cable, they tore out the housing on the AVX power connection, because of this "security" screw feature.

I appreciate your insight Louise on the fitting. Have seen various equivalent non-screw units for £19-£30.

Compared to the £900+ overall bill for the imaging rig, I'm comfortable with a £55 rip-off spend for the foreknowledge of a consistent power supply. In future years (I hope), I'll also be pushing the envelope on imaging payload weight, with bigger OTA, autoguider rig and imaging train with coma correctors, zoom eyepieces and Barlows, etc. Thanks again.

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Guest

Guest

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Posted

The Celestron power connection does provide some security screw feature but I have read an AVX 1 STAR review by a user, where due to their accidental tripping over the trailing cable, they tore out the housing on the AVX power connection, because of this "security" screw feature.

Wow - that's what I call a "catastrophic failure"! Very bad news when you trip over a cable - any cable - especially when imaging as there's so many of them.

But due to the orientation of the power connection (pointing towards the ground) I'm not sure that putting what usually is an "L" shaped connector into the mount is going to solve that problem. And due to the orientation of the connector the power cord would have a higher chance of falling out during a session - unlikely - but the screw connector is preferable to me for this reason.

David

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Blazar

Blazar

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Thanks a lot Louise! Have you taken your avx outside yet?!

Louise has not, but I do all the time. Went out to a field nearby recently (concrete had standing). The mount breakdown quite well and I still use the boxes it came in to transport it (and the scope). the tripod is the only part loose. 

Compared to the £900+ overall bill for the imaging rig, I'm comfortable with a £55 rip-off spend for the foreknowledge of a consistent power supply. In future years (I hope), I'll also be pushing the envelope on imaging payload weight, with bigger OTA, autoguider rig and imaging train with coma correctors, zoom eyepieces and Barlows, etc. Thanks again.

Roger, I  ended up building a power box, and changed from cig sockets over to XLR's. The box has a 75Ah leisure battery in it, and has individual fused sockets externally with a power isolated externally as well. its built in a chest toolbox that I can wheel around, though lifting it into the car is quite a challenge ;-) there was a thread on it somewhere

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uhb1966

uhb1966

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the feedback folks.Much appreciated, both.

I of course, have no experience of the AVX. I do however have a little experience on power supplies, in particular ccd video cameras. Cheap, underspecced power supplies are frequently responsible for video camera under-performance, due to inadequate consistency of power supplied, particularly with varying ambient temperature. Users generally overlook this and blame the camera quality or some environmental factor.

That's what warmed me to the Baader unit, in that the general description highlighted those aspects, which mirror my experience.

The Celestron power connection does provide some security screw feature but I have read an AVX 1 STAR review by a user, where due to their accidental tripping over the trailing cable, they tore out the housing on the AVX power connection, because of this "security" screw feature.

I appreciate your insight Louise on the fitting. Have seen various equivalent non-screw units for £19-£30.

Compared to the £900+ overall bill for the imaging rig, I'm comfortable with a £55 rip-off spend for the foreknowledge of a consistent power supply. In future years (I hope), I'll also be pushing the envelope on imaging payload weight, with bigger OTA, autoguider rig and imaging train with coma correctors, zoom eyepieces and Barlows, etc. Thanks again.

That is the reason why I never screw in cables >_<
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  • 2 months later...
iksobarg

iksobarg

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Posted

Hi

Not so! There is a screw-in fitting but within that is a standard 2.1mm socket. I run mine (indoors) from a cheap 12V/5A supply from Amazon :)

Louise

Hello friends. I've been following this thread for a few weeks now. I should have a starsense equipped avx by the end of the month! Woohoo!

Would you kindly link this exact part?

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Rudeviewer

Rudeviewer

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I thought I would post the other night, I polar aligned the vx mount 3 times, each time turning the mount off and starting over and re-doing it.  I was able to achieve almost 5 minute with minimal trailing, and my scope and accessories go well over the limit of the mount for AP.  I love this mount for sure, but still would love a bit more sturdiness it doesn't take much of a bump for it to move and shake.  I stay in the grass after learning that just walking away from the mount will cause it to shake during an image, therefore I stay away from the mount altogether when imaging.  The clutch levers do need to be adjust form the factory as mine were very close to hitting the motor covers as well.  The other thing I did was take my motor covers off and move the motors and gears closer together removing a bit of the backlash in the gear.  This helped a bit for sure.   

That being said, if I could afford it, I would go to the CGE PRO, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

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