Non-wobbly Alt-Az options?

[great_bear]

I have a 6"/F8 scope on an AZ4. The scope is pretty heavy (about 8Kg?)

It's too wobbly - what are my options?

- I had a Giro for a while, but didn't like having to use counterweights when I'm used to the AZ4.

I'm tempted to stick the AZ4 on a Berlebach rather than its own pipe-legs, but I'm worried the investment might not pay off

(I've been bitten before by gear not living up to expectations...)

Any ideas anyone?

[Moonshane]

What about a skytee?

Personally I am glad to didn't get on with the giro as I benefited from your sale :0)

I don't use weights with it, just another scope.

[John]

The Universal Astronomic Unistar mounts seem interesting. They get good feedback from US owners and seem to have some high capacity models without the need for counterweights. SCS Astro seem to carry them:

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/manufacturer/universal-astronomics

I looked at one of the Kokusai Kohki T-Rex mounts at an astro fair last year. Very well made and high capacity. High price too, unfortunately !   

[pete_l]

Have you tried adding a weight to the tripod.

Tie something heavy on a cord and attach the cord to the handle under the accesories rack. Make sure the weight doesn't "bottom" and hopefully the mount will become more stable.

If that fails, try a heavier weight

[great_bear]

I guess I'm going about this the wrong way...

What I really ought to be doing is to devise an experiment of some sort to discover whether tripod or the mount is the culprit...

[dobbie]

hi Jeremy try this before you pay out more dosh!!  the vibration pads cost me £3.   the weights I had and the extra m8 bolt into the spare  handle hole I had laying around , it works on my 102mm f/11  john.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Could you not turn it into a Dobson?

[TakMan]

Or how about something completely different Jeremy... depending upon financials and if you are prepared to order from the States...?

 

An all CNC machined, hand built, encoder equipped, lightweight mount that carries your scope above the centreline rather than off to one side - so no need for counterweights either, allowing the use of a lighter tripod: a Half Hitch Telescope FTX!

 

www.halfHItchtelescope.com

 

I have it's big brother and couldn't be happier.

 

You might find though that you can't reach the zenith with a long-ish scope, even with the optional TQR 'Tripod Quick Release', as your OTA might hit the tripod or mount base... but that is a small price to pay for the other conveniences...

 

Join the Yahoo group and email Charles with any queries if you are interested. I know he has only a few left from this production run though and the next one could be a year away at least and will almost certainly incur a price rise next time around

 

You could switch out the Sky Commander/Argo Navis DSCs and add a NEXUS WiFi unit to link it to a modern 'digital planetarium' if that's something you're interested in as well - Sky Safari app is superb.

 

Choices, choices hey!

 

Damian

[dobbie]

I like that damian I just cant bring myself to look up the price!!! its not good to see a grown man cry,

[dobbie]

just checked the price....

[John]

I've used my AZ-4 on a 2" CG5 tripod. It does make it a bit more stable but it's still on the marginal side with my ED120 refractor on board and your 6" F/8 tube is longer than that. I have some Meade anti-vibration pads which again bring some improvements, especially in how quickly vibrations dampen down. Each of these is a small step up but does not result in a mounting solution that is as stable as my Giro II is with the ED120.

Telescope Services do a mount head which is sort of a heavy duty version of the Tele Vue Gibraltar. Don't know if that's of interest ?:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p6384_TS-Binomount-DX---alt-az-mount-for-binoculars-up-to-100-mm-aperture.html

That would need a pretty sturdy tripod as well I reckon.

One of the best and sturdiest tripods that I've owned was a Tele Optik:

https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/Products/The_GD-1_Hardwood_Tripod.html

I wish I still had that one !

[Lowjiber]

I'm not very sophisticated, but use an ES Twilight II to hold my ES AR152 and its ST-80 finder scope.  No issues.

(I've had the AR152 on by itself without another "balance" scope.  Again, no issues.)

Clear, Dark Skies

[ottUp]

Discmount DM-6 (here on a Berlebach, holding a SV-105).  Very very sturdy, very very smooth, no counterbalancing, integrated encoders.  Occasionally come up used if you keep your eyes open and act fast.

- Richard

[great_bear]

Have you tried adding a weight to the tripod.

Tie something heavy on a cord and attach the cord to the handle under the accesories rack. Make sure the weight doesn't "bottom" and hopefully the mount will become more stable.

If that fails, try a heavier weight

I'm trying to avoid adding extra weight if at all possible.

Nonetheless, a great suggestion if I want to tell how much wobble the head itself is responsible for since adding considerably more weight to the tripod probably removes it from the equation.

[great_bear]

Could you not turn it into a Dobson?

Considered this on more than one occasion - a discussion with Moonshane once got me thinking about building my own too - but what are my other options? The Orion Optic Dobsonian base plus trunions comes in at a whopping £300, which I wouldn't mind if it were an engineering masterpiece, but seems a lot for what looks like a few bits of cut-out metal sheeting.

Especially considering that cheaper alternative at £199 would be to buy an entire Skywatcher 150P Dob and simply swap over the components from my scope...

[spaceboy]

Unless you have deep pockets my bet is your going to struggle. I use my EVO150 on an Ercole and solid concrete pier and while the Ercole does a superb job handling the EVO there is still vibration at the eyepiece. The R&P focuser on the EVO obviously doesn't help in my case but I think the weak link in the chain is the rings and dovetail bar more so than the mount.

You could always invest in ADM 'D' series dovetails and WO tube rings and maybe a Meade giant field tripod but then my guess is the AZ4 will become the weak link. I have to say I'm impressed that the AZ4 head can handle a 6" f/8 at all.

[25585]

On 29/01/2015 at 22:36, John said:

I've used my AZ-4 on a 2" CG5 tripod. It does make it a bit more stable but it's still on the marginal side with my ED120 refractor on board and your 6" F/8 tube is longer than that. I have some Meade anti-vibration pads which again bring some improvements, especially in how quickly vibrations dampen down. Each of these is a small step up but does not result in a mounting solution that is as stable as my Giro II is with the ED120.

Telescope Services do a mount head which is sort of a heavy duty version of the Tele Vue Gibraltar. Don't know if that's of interest ?:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p6384_TS-Binomount-DX---alt-az-mount-for-binoculars-up-to-100-mm-aperture.html

That would need a pretty sturdy tripod as well I reckon.

One of the best and sturdiest tripods that I've owned was a Tele Optik:

https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/Products/The_GD-1_Hardwood_Tripod.html

I wish I still had that one !

The TE mount is still made. It does look better built than a TV Gibraltar, but does not have the height of the model 5.

This mount from 365 astronomy looks very similar https://www.365astronomy.com/365Astronomy-Giant-Alt-Azimuth-Binocular-Mount-Head-ONLY.html

 

[John]

8 hours ago, 25585 said:

The TE mount is still made. It does look better built than a TV Gibraltar, but does not have the height of the model 5.

This mount from 365 astronomy looks very similar https://www.365astronomy.com/365Astronomy-Giant-Alt-Azimuth-Binocular-Mount-Head-ONLY.html

 

Since I made that post (where did 3+ years go ???) I have owned one the the TS / 365 Astronomy fork mounts and also a US made Hercules fork mount of a similar style. None of them were really convincing even with the ED120 for me. I wonder if the design is really more suitable for binoculars or really short tubed scopes