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Mesu 200? Avalon? EQ-8? I really can't decide.....

steve2310

By steve2310
in Discussions - Mounts

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steve2310

steve2310

Posted
Posted

Hey all

Well, after some serious saving of pennies, and with the possibility of obtaining a small loan (with the wife's permission) it looks like I am going to finally upgrade to what I hope will be some serious, long lasting kit.  At the moment, I am primarily concentrating on find a repalcement for my NEQ6 Pro. 

The change of mount has to be one that will serve me well over the next well, 10 years or so?

After much googling and trawling through various astro forums I keep coming back to the MESU 200, EQ8 and Avalon.  Yes, the EQ8 looks interesting and does look like a BIG step up from the NEQ6, but the issues with regard to backlash are off putting.  The Avalon Fast Linear Reverse also looks very appealing and considering my current scopes (BABY Q and AA GSO RC 8") it may do an excellent job.  I know Sara SWAG72 has one and she seems extremely pleased with hers and of course it is cheaper than the MESU.  (The Avalon load capacity is limiting though and I am hoping to buy an 11-14" scope at some point in the near future.)

However, despite all this I keep coming back to the MESU. Several imagers, including Olly P and Steve (S@N) seem to be very much in love with this mount and for me, these guys know what they are talking about.  The MESU it seems, despite it's 'looks' is a superb mount, and one that would be a huge leap forward for me.

Despite being very close to pulling the trigger on the MESU I have so far refrained from doing so due to my lack of permanent observatory. At present, when the skies finally clear, I setup the NEQ6 in the back garden, spending a good amount of time drift aligning and getting the polar alignment as accurate and as close as possible.  Once achieved, I will leave the mount setup in the garden for up to a few months, obviously covering the mount with a good cover that I bought from green witch.  Can I do this with the MESU??

It's open design leaves me concerned that leaving it under a cover may not be enough protection for it?  Does it have enough protection to it's internal workings?  Not having seen the mount close up it is difficult for me to know?

I will not have this opportunity to upgrade the mount for a years so it needs to right. 

Any thoughts or advice would be really gratefully received.

Thanks,

Steve

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steppenwolf

steppenwolf

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Well, I'm biased of course but the Mesu 200 is certainly a big step up from the NEQ6 and a truly fantastic mount. Its open design is limited to the electronics control unit and the motors, the mechanicals are fully enclosed as a necessity to ensure that the friction drive cannot be contaminated.

Can I suggest that you contact Lucas Mesu for his comments on keeping it under a shroud - he is very approachable.

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steve2310

steve2310

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Thanks Steve (steppenwolf) for your advice and thoughts - I was hoping you might see this thread.  I suppose it's the electronics control unit that is my main concern in terms of it's vulnerability.  I will contact Mr Mesu as you say, and see if he feels that the mount under a cover is viable. 

To the other Steve (Brown Dwarf) are you having the same concerns about a Mesu under cover?  Surely the mount is too heavy to be dismantled and moved after every session? 

The mesu is my mount of choice but if this is not possible what are the decent alternatives?

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swag72

swag72

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When I replaced my mount last year I was in a similar boat to you with regards choice. The clincher for me was that the Avalon was very similar to what I already had and could be controlled with EQMOD. Rightly or wrongly I wanted something that would be as easy as possible for me to swap to. It's lonely out here when things go wrong.

Is there enough of an increase in weight capacity and accuracy from the NEQ6 you already have? I would probably suggest not.

What suited me would probably not suit others. I absolutely did not want a handset and neither did I want to have to learn a complete new way of working / controlling / using the mount - I think the Mesu would definitely have involved that as would the 10Micron that I was looking at.

Did I make the right choice? For me, yes I did. If I'd only had more confidence to learn new stuff and some local support then in all honesty I would have chosen something else.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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The Mesu, on the mechanical side, garners consistent praise. The Sitech control for it is not proving so universally popular with users, notably at long focal lengths. Some are happy, some not. I bought the 'primitive' Argo Navis version second hand after using it for two years and, as ever, I switch it on and take pictures. I'm entirely delighted with it. If there is a cloud over the Mesu it's the Sitech part. We have one of each here and the old one is the reliable one but can't be robotized. Exactly what the Sitech issues are I don't know. I don't use this one myself.

For smaller payloads the Avalon is a good bet and then there's the 10 Micron, but that may be out of budget. Neither the Avalon nor the smallest 10 Micron could carry our twin Tak 106 payload (and the possibility of adding a third.)

Olly

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steve2310

steve2310

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Many thanks Olly and Sara.

Sara:  I can understand completely the need to continue working in a way that is familiar and feels easy.  Us astro types have so much to learn that to adapt to a new system can be quite daunting and draining. Thanks for your honest opinion.

Olly: Thanks for sharing your experience with the Mesu, albeit the first version of the mount.  I will check online re: the Sitech problems that have been encountered but I'm hoping these can be overcome.  I have looked at the 10 Micron but it is pushing my budget......I also want to update my filters to Astrodons (more $$$). 

I took Steve's (steppenwolf) advice and sent an email to Mesu this evening expecting the company to reply once back in the office later this week.  Well, half an hour after sending my query I was surprised to receive a reply from Mr Mesu. 

If anybody else is interested with regard to covering the mount Mr Mesu states:

Hello Steve,

 

Thanks for your e-mail.

There is a Mesu-Mount user who uses his mount the way you describe since 2008 without problems.

He covers the mount with a blanket  and a plastic cover.

He told me that the blanket was to prevent condensation on the cold metal.

The mount's drive units are closed and very well sealed.

Let me know if you have further question please.

 

Regards,

Lucas Mesu

What a great guy.

Well, the Mesu 200 is now the more likely purchase. Gulp....

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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I seriously looked at the Mesu, but for me, I couldn't justify the cost of it especially given my limited imaging time. I also had a niggling worry about the longevity of the friction drive. To me, the slightest spec of dirt between the rollers would be likely to cause a problem. I notice that the earlier Mesu mounts even had a fan in the sealed drive case to specifically keep a positive pressure in the case to stop dirt and dust from getting inside. I have no evidence for or against this (other than noticing how quickly that friction-driven Crayford focuser bearings get gunked up...seemingly from nowhere)...just a niggling thought given the relative newness of the mount type. There's no doubting the results that Olly gets with it though.

EQMOD was a big requirement for me. I really didn't relish the idea of learning another piece of software.

I looked at the Avalon, but I wanted a mount to carry a C11. I've seen reports of the Avalon belt drive "bouncing" with heavy loads or in wind. The belt drive has spring-loaded pulleys so there is the ability of the mount to bounce slightly. Again, though, the proof of the pudding is in the eating....Sara has produced some amazing images with her Avalon and a C9.25.

In the end I opted for the EQ8, and although the weathers been terrible since I got it, it has amazed me everytime that I have used it. I have only shot a few hours of DSO imaging with it, but it just worked, disappearing into the background like all good equipment should do. EQMOD required no changes from my old EQ6, and apart from a niggle with the Celestron/Synta driver having to be reinstalled when I changed the EQDIR lead type, there were absolutely no issues with the swap-over. I've dual mounted my C11 and Equinox 80 on a side-by-side and the mount shrugs them off like it's got nothing on it. Its not particularly sensitive to balance ad it guides beautifully.

I've mainly used it for planetary imaging so far, which to be fair, isn't the best test for a mount, but I have been really impressed with the accuracy of the pointing. I image at just over 7 metres of focal length and can easily slew from Jupiter to a star (to collimate) and then back again. Jupiter will be back on a DMK-sized sensor.

I'm very, very happy with the EQ8. It's a bit of a steal at £2.5K, to be honest.

Whichever mount you end up with I am sure that you will be delighted. Isn't it a great time to be in this hobby when there's so many excellent choices out there! Long may it last! :icon_salut: :icon_salut: :icon_salut:

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steve2310

steve2310

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Zakalwe:  Thanks for your input and for describing your positive experiences thus far with the EQ8.  I have to say your post did sway me back to looking very seriously at this mount (I also came across your ICEINSPACE post), where again, you spoke very highly of it.  Of course, the saving of £2500-3000 would also make a HUGE difference to me but I need to ensure that my next mount is pretty much future proof.  So again, the pendulum sways back to the Mesu. 

Decisions, decisions.....

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Zakalwe

Zakalwe

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Zakalwe:  Thanks for your input and for describing your positive experiences thus far with the EQ8.  I have to say your post did sway me back to looking very seriously at this mount (I also came across your ICEINSPACE post), where again, you spoke very highly of it. 

Ice in Space? That wasn't me Steve.

Whichever one you choose I am sure that you will be delighted with.

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steppenwolf

steppenwolf

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If there is a cloud over the Mesu it's the Sitech part. We have one of each here and the old one is the reliable one but can't be robotized. Exactly what the Sitech issues are I don't know. I don't use this one myself.

I haven't especially looked for threads around the World to see how people are getting on with their Mesu/Sitech mounts so I honestly can't comment on whether people are having issues with the Sitech controller or not but I suggest that you take a good look for yourself. What I can tell you about the Sitech controller is that with a tiny exception that I will elaborate on in a moment, it has been absolutely reliable and as far as my observatory installation is concerned, it has been an 'install and forget' mount because it has never let me down  - I fire up the PC from my iPhone, walk out and unlock the dome, turn on the cameras and mount, open the aperture, remove the dust cap(s) from the telescope(s), fire up MaxIm DL and Cartes du Ciel, select a bright star near the object I want to image from C du C and click on 'slew', centre the star on the sensor (it is always close to centre anywhere in the sky) using the dumb hand controller, sync and focus on the star, slew to the chosen object in the sure and certain knowledge that it will be centred in the FOV, choose a guide star and start guiding and finally start my imaging run. Faultless every time!!!

Anyone notice that 'tiny exception' creeping in there? For some reason MaxIm DL and the Mesu mount will not reliably centre a chosen star automatically following a movement calibration and I have tried both with and without the dual encoders enabled, hence the manual adjustment with the hand controller. I could, of course make this adjustment under PC control by using the mouse but I reckon it's quicker to just grab the hand controller and do it. I will get to the bottom of this and it does seem to be more of an issue with my dual mount in place but as this is the biggest problem I have found, I am pretty happy to say the least!

More complex procedures like, for example, a 36 position automatic sky model are just magic to watch - to see the Sitech controller and software calculate the best choice of location for each point allowing for my horizon map, slewing to each and doing a plate solve then moving on to the next is beautiful to watch. It must be funny watching me pushing that dome around to get the aperture in the right place for each one but I like to bring a little comedy to the proceedings! I refresh this map every couple of months

Is there any thing I don't like about the Mesu/Sitech/software? Well, yes there is  - with apologies to our American cousins, many of whom are personal friends, I don't really like the slang in some of the dialogue boxes like 'are you sure you wanna do that?' but that's only because I take myself far too seriously :eek:

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Gedan

Gedan

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Really helpful thread, I'm in a similar situation/dilemma regarding choice of mount....one thing I did hear is that Avalon should have a 30-35kg payload mount being released later in the year.

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Helen

Helen

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I currently have a Mesu sat in my living room  :grin:  but I have a few things I must do this week before I can start to play with it  :rolleyes:  and I need to get my pier plate adapted to fit.   I'll post up my experiences so you can get a feel for how easy it is to set up.

Helen

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  • 3 weeks later...
pubquiz

pubquiz

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I have had my Mesu 200 since last May and love it

Apart from the initial problem with some of the motor/encoders fitted to 1 batch of which mine was one  (which was sorted efficiently by Lucas himself in person) it has performed faultlessly.

i have the SiTech and I too have had no problems so not sure what the supposed probs are.. the folk on the SiTech forum are also very friendly and helpful..

I love the way it is all controlled from my PC in the adjascent warm room.

I had an Argo Navis on my previous G11 mount and although very good I much prefer control with my PC but each to his own.

I also set it up to use Stelarium Scope which it does brilliantly...just click on where you want it to go on Stelarium click ctrl 1 and off it goes ...gotos are spot on after just 1 offset init ...It is well polar aligned permanently....again a personal choice but I much prefer the look and feel of Stalarium to Cartes to Ceil.

I am so far pleased with the Mesu 200

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  • 1 year later...
Ken82

Ken82

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Old thread but id like to discuss this a little bit as im in a similar position. Yea the mesu appears to be a class mount! I will also be looking at changing mounts this summer and i was looking at either , eq8, mesu, celestron pro or paramount. Im using a cpc deluxe with an 11" edge at the moment and have a fsq85 piggyback (so i can image with either) but im limited in that id like to buy a large apo but obviously id need a separate mount. My initial thinking was to sell the cpc and buy a pro mount with the same scope so then i could remove it when necessary. But what is the general feeling about the celestron pro? the pro mount and 11" edge are much cheaper when purchased together which was my thinking. 

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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27 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Having had a Mesu for over three years, in commercial use, without it having dropped a sub to gudiing error, I'm bound to have a point of view...

Olly

Indeed.  Almost certain I'm going to get one too.

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