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Hmm, I wonder... (150PDS on Astrotrac!)

Dodge

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Dodge

Dodge

Posted
Posted

Just for kicks, I thought I'd try this:

IMG_3328.JPG

That's a 150PDS on there!  The AT drives it without breaking a sweat, it could do with a smidge more counterweight, especially once I hang a DSLR on there, but a 130PDS just might be perfect....

Am I mad?!

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Scott

Scott

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Not many probably know this, but this complete AstroTrac setup has the same Load Capacity as the Advanced VX and HEQ5 Pro (15kg for visual).

Tho you would ofcourse need some extra counterweight when putting a 10kg OTA on it. That speaks for itself. :)

the th3010 head only has a 10kg capacity hasn't it?

and it does of course cost 2 or 3 times as much as the heq5 :)

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Scott

Scott

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The Complete "Travel" package the OP has (Mount + head + pier), has an advertised load capacity of 15kg.

Yeah, I saw that...It really doesn't make sense to me though as the same head also advertised on flo is only rated at 10 kg...not sure how a pier can "beef up" the head. surely a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link?

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GuillermoBarrancos

GuillermoBarrancos

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The head is designed to take a 10kg unbalanced load i.e. a camera and heavy lens on a ball head joint, the extra capacity is due to the counterweight system.

Alan

This. You don't get the counterweight system when buying just the head. Hence the lower advertised load capacity.

Still very impressive it can handle up to 10kg unbalanced tho.

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GuillermoBarrancos

GuillermoBarrancos

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yes you do

attachicon.gifathead.JPG

Hmm... then you would expect an advertised 15kg load capacity.

EDIT: Here on TS is the official description of the TT320XAG set and there it says 15kg load capacity.

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p2425_AstroTrac-TT320XAG---new-version-with-ST-4-port---mobile-astrophotography-platform.html

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Scott

Scott

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Hmm... then you would expect an advertised 15kg load capacity.

EDIT: Here on TS is the official description of the TT320XAG set and there it says 15kg load capacity.

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p2425_AstroTrac-TT320XAG---new-version-with-ST-4-port---mobile-astrophotography-platform.html

Yeah, I know the astrotrac is rated at 15kg, but the head (TH3010) is only rated at 10 kg

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Scott

Scott

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It really doesn't matter really as I caan't imagine there'd be too many people hanging 15kg off their astrotrac. I love mine already and I've only had it a few weeks. the most I'll put on it though is my 60mm apo...anything bigger and I'll use the neq6. At the end of the day, numbers don't really matter, it's results that count and if you get results with 50kg on it then I'm not going to say it's wrong to do so :)

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GuillermoBarrancos

GuillermoBarrancos

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It really doesn't matter really as I caan't imagine there'd be too many people hanging 15kg off their astrotrac. I love mine already and I've only had it a few weeks. the most I'll put on it though is my 60mm apo...anything bigger and I'll use the neq6. At the end of the day, numbers don't really matter, it's results that count and if you get results with 50kg on it then I'm not going to say it's wrong to do so :)

Absolutely! Love the design of the AstroTrac tho. It's as portable as it gets. Tho the upcoming Skywatcher offering will throw some competition in the mix.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7007_Skywatcher-Star-Adventurer-travel-mount---astro-imaging-made-easy-.html

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Dodge

Dodge

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Absolutely! Love the design of the AstroTrac tho. It's as portable as it gets. Tho the upcoming Skywatcher offering will throw some competition in the mix.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7007_Skywatcher-Star-Adventurer-travel-mount---astro-imaging-made-easy-.html

That could be very interesting for camera + lens pics.  I'd love to know it's capacity, but I'm guessing it'll be stealing sales of the Vixen Polarie and the iOptron Sky Tracker at that price.

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Alien 13

Alien 13

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Absolutely! Love the design of the AstroTrac tho. It's as portable as it gets. Tho the upcoming Skywatcher offering will throw some competition in the mix.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7007_Skywatcher-Star-Adventurer-travel-mount---astro-imaging-made-easy-.html

Me too having the load effectively at the center of the bearing gives it a large capacity for a small overall weight and not many mounts can do 15min subs unguided.

Alan

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Alien 13

Alien 13

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That could be very interesting for camera + lens pics.  I'd love to know it's capacity, but I'm guessing it'll be stealing sales of the Vixen Polarie and the iOptron Sky Tracker at that price.

I think ive seen pics with a scope so its head to head with the astrotrac.

Alan

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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Looks fine to me except for when the wind picks up. On a calm night it should be okay but I wouldn't expect very long unguided subs, 60 seconds should be achievable, a bit more at a push.

My lens and camera combination balances just right with the large and small counterweights at their furthest, which weigh about the same as your OTA on its own.

Be careful if ordering another counterweight, I did and it didn't fit on the bar properly (by fractions of a mm), they wanted me to send my existing counterweight bar and counterweights to match them all up...

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Dodge

Dodge

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To be honest, I wasn't really that serious about it - but I am tempted to order up and try the smaller 130PDS.  Still might be a bit of a challenge unguided, but I could drift align.

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Scott

Scott

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Absolutely! Love the design of the AstroTrac tho. It's as portable as it gets. Tho the upcoming Skywatcher offering will throw some competition in the mix.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7007_Skywatcher-Star-Adventurer-travel-mount---astro-imaging-made-easy-.html

I've seen pics with a frac mounted on the sw but to be honest, the 5kg max load is a bit off putting although it does come in way under the astrotrac...I'm not swapping though :)

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