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Mount for LS60


Robny

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I've come to terms and I've convinced the wife that I need a new mount for my Lunt, at the moment I am using a Manfrotto Triman 028B Tripod with a heavy duty video head.  While suitable for viewing it is really limiting me with my imaging attempts.  I dont have a lot of money to spend on one (pushing my look with other hobbies, Archery and 3d Printing - also expensive)

Im looking at MAXIMUM £300, less if possible.  I want to keep it portable, easy to setup (quick) but do the job, I was looking at the Skywatcher Star Adventurer primarily but I am wondering what other alternatives might be out there that will save me some money and still improve my imaging runs.  I started looking at ALT/AZ mounts, so my questions are:

Star Adventurer, will this be capable of tracking the sun with an LS60 and QHY5-II camera (THIS WILL BE ITS ONLY JOB AS I HAVE A DOB THAT I USE AT NIGHT) so not bothered about guiding, but of course tracking.

EQ3-2 Manual Control

Vixen Porta mount

SkyTee 2

The above mounts are manual, is it reasonable to track the sun manually and get good results?

Would field rotation play a part if Alt/Az, how limited would I be before they take affect?

Is manual tracking feasible or should I go to Auto Tracking?

Any other options I have missed, that are tried and tested with the LS60, it must come under budget and be ready to go out of the box, cannot start adding extras at cost.  Please help me get this right, otherwise 'she will kill me :)

Joking on that last part of course....I hope :) 

Thanks as always 

Rob

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Thanks for the replies, it seems the EQ3-2 has a payload capacity of 5kg and is the same price, based on that alone due to the portability of the adventurer in inclined to go for that. Just wondering if it has been used with an LS60 as it is a lump.

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I would say that the Lunt 60 is too much for the Star Adventurer.  Ive got the Lunt 60, pressure tuned and its a heavy, dense little beastie. The Star Adventurer is just not made for that type of load and even if it caries it, it will drive you nuts wobbling about the place.

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I will stick my LS60 on the SW S Adventurer today to see how it copes. I've been meaning to try it anyway.

Dave

Thanks Dave, I appreciate it, really hope it works out [emoji16]
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+ one for the EQ3-2 with the enhanced motor drive. This has a solar setting, so will keep the view pretty stable. As Zakalwe says, this scope is pretty heavy for its size, so don't underestimate the need for a stable platform..

Good luck.

Gordon.

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This is my LS50 on a Vixen Porta II with SW Adventurer, It tracks fine and I can keep the image well centered for upto 10 mins and longer, I don't know the weight difference between the LS50 and LS60 though. Adrianpost-19496-0-68693300-1436010089_thumb.j

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Had a try and it works OK, the tripod isn't really up to it but otherwise it tracks in Solar mode OK, mounted it on a SW dovetail and some 90mm SW rings for more stability so needed extra counter weight, Lieca zoom is a bit heavy as well.

Been tracking Sun for over an hour. pretty good as I only aimed the mount North with a compass.

This is with the single stack, will try it with the front etalon to see if it can handle the extra weight and try imaging later, camera is working on the Quark ATM.

Dave

post-21198-0-50128800-1436011035_thumb.p

post-21198-0-01027500-1436011041_thumb.p

post-21198-0-52877700-1436011044_thumb.p

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I mount my Lunt PS60 on a Nexstar 6/8SE and after some teething issues* I find it to be very satisfactory. Yesterday morning it was tracking the sun for over an hour with the sun remaining near the centre of the eyepiece. Currently I only do visual but at some stage I'd like to use a camera, and I take the view (someone correct me if I am wrong!) that as exposure times will be very short the image rotation characteristic of the Alt-Az mount will not be important. I chose this mount over an equatorial mount because it is easy to set up (simply level the tripod and align to the sun) and because I have no view of the Pole star (OK, not visible during the day!). It may be a little over your budget though. There are of course a number of other Alt-Az options that others may prefer and could comment on. Here's a photo of my 'scope mounted on the Nexstar; originally I used an L-bracket dovetail, seen here, to mount the 'scope.

post-40604-0-50469600-1436012907.jpg

* My first issue was that the tracking seemed dreadful in the elevation plane. I now realise that the 'scope needs to be mounted with the fork on the left, and not the right as shown in the photo. Having corrected that mistake, I'm very pleased with the results. Unfortunately this does mean that the 'scope has to be operated upside down, but of course that doesn't really matter as far as results are concerned. I'm still checking out this arrangement.

The second issue was that I wanted to mount the 'scope with a dovetail mounted directly on the mounting ring, but the cheeks of the mount head cover fouled the OTA and I couldn't get the 'scope close enough. I got around that by making a spacer plate to sit between the mounting ring and dovetail so that the OTA would sit further away from head cover. Note however that there is not much leeway with regards to balance, as the focus knob prevents the assembly from being slid further in. Rotating the 'scope as in Dave's pictures above may get around that. That may be an issue when you start adding the weight of a camera on the end; can't comment on that I'm afraid.

Hope that helps.

Ian

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This is my LS50 on a Vixen Porta II with SW Adventurer, It tracks fine and I can keep the image well centered for upto 10 mins and longer, I don't know the weight difference between the LS50 and LS60 though. Adrianattachicon.gifIMG_4595.jpg

Thanks for this, there is 800g difference between the two, so not enough to make a huge difference I would have thought.

Had a try and it works OK, the tripod isn't really up to it but otherwise it tracks in Solar mode OK, mounted it on a SW dovetail and some 90mm SW rings for more stability so needed extra counter weight, Lieca zoom is a bit heavy as well.

Been tracking Sun for over an hour. pretty good as I only aimed the mount North with a compass.

This is with the single stack, will try it with the front etalon to see if it can handle the extra weight and try imaging later, camera is working on the Quark ATM.

Dave

attachicon.gifSWSA-LS60-1.png

attachicon.gifSWSA-LS60-2.png

attachicon.gifSWSA-LS60-3.png

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This is my LS50 on a Vixen Porta II with SW Adventurer, It tracks fine and I can keep the image well centered for upto 10 mins and longer, I don't know the weight difference between the LS50 and LS60 though. Adrianattachicon.gifIMG_4595.jpg

Thanks for posting this, it sounds very encouraging g
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Had a try and it works OK, the tripod isn't really up to it but otherwise it tracks in Solar mode OK, mounted it on a SW dovetail and some 90mm SW rings for more stability so needed extra counter weight, Lieca zoom is a bit heavy as well.

Been tracking Sun for over an hour. pretty good as I only aimed the mount North with a compass.

This is with the single stack, will try it with the front etalon to see if it can handle the extra weight and try imaging later, camera is working on the Quark ATM.

Dave

attachicon.gifSWSA-LS60-1.png

attachicon.gifSWSA-LS60-2.png

attachicon.gifSWSA-LS60-3.png

Thanks for taking the time Dave

It sounds like it might the way to go, look forward to hear how it goes with your double stack. Out of interest, what tripod do you have under it?

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I mount my Lunt PS60 on a Nexstar 6/8SE and after some teething issues* I find it to be very satisfactory. Yesterday morning it was tracking the sun for over an hour with the sun remaining near the centre of the eyepiece. Currently I only do visual but at some stage I'd like to use a camera, and I take the view (someone correct me if I am wrong!) that as exposure times will be very short the image rotation characteristic of the Alt-Az mount will not be important. I chose this mount over an equatorial mount because it is easy to set up (simply level the tripod and align to the sun) and because I have no view of the Pole star (OK, not visible during the day!). It may be a little over your budget though. There are of course a number of other Alt-Az options that others may prefer and could comment on. Here's a photo of my 'scope mounted on the Nexstar; originally I used an L-bracket dovetail, seen here, to mount the 'scope.

attachicon.gif_DSF0350-Lunt 60 PT.jpg

* My first issue was that the tracking seemed dreadful in the elevation plane. I now realise that the 'scope needs to be mounted with the fork on the left, and not the right as shown in the photo. Having corrected that mistake, I'm very pleased with the results. Unfortunately this does mean that the 'scope has to be operated upside down, but of course that doesn't really matter as far as results are concerned. I'm still checking out this arrangement.

The second issue was that I wanted to mount the 'scope with a dovetail mounted directly on the mounting ring, but the cheeks of the mount head cover fouled the OTA and I couldn't get the 'scope close enough. I got around that by making a spacer plate to sit between the mounting ring and dovetail so that the OTA would sit further away from head cover. Note however that there is not much leeway with regards to balance, as the focus knob prevents the assembly from being slid further in. Rotating the 'scope as in Dave's pictures above may get around that. That may be an issue when you start adding the weight of a camera on the end; can't comment on that I'm afraid.

Hope that helps.

Ian

Thanks for all this info, but I think it is a little out of my budget and I think I have also decided that EQ is the way to go for me.
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Just unmounted it and weighed it and it's 5.2 kilos, that's with the front etalon which is a bit of a lump, Moonlight focuser, heavier than the standard one, motor focuser and heavy  Lieca zoom.

Forgot the dovetail and rings, you can fit it directly using the clamshell.

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Just unmounted it and weighed it and it's 5.2 kilos, that's with the front etalon which is a bit of a lump, Moonlight focuser, heavier than the standard one, motor focuser and heavy Lieca zoom.

Forgot the dovetail and rings, you can fit it directly using the clamshell.

Great, I haven't weighed my Lunt but but Lunt says it ways 4kg. I have the pressure tuned one single stack with standard focuser. I'll also be using only a QHY5- II Mono. So it sounds like I should be golden given my tripod has what it takes...it should.

Thank you so much once again for doing all of this, I really do appreciate it.

Rob

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