SW Evo 150 & SW AZ4 Mount

[Hertford Stargazer]

Has anyone tried the combination of a SW Evo 150 on the SW AZ4 Mount? Is it possible or am I tempting fate even thinking about it 

[John]

I've owned both but I would not use the two together. Even my ED120 is a bit much for the AZ-4 other than for short low/medium power sessions. The Evostar 150 is quite a bit longer and heavier than the ED120.

[Moonshane]

I'd say a 6" f5 newt would be a better match

[nightfisher]

I find my TAL100rs is about max load for the AZ4, it struggles a little at high power, but good out to around x120 ish so a 150 f8 would be to heavy, i would say its a no no

[Hertford Stargazer]

Hi thanks for the replies, I have used my Evo 120 on the AZ4 and it's pretty good when properly balanced but I would imagine that it's considerably lighter then the ED120 and it's much lighter then my Evo 150. It's just with the unreliable weather of late I find myself going for the quick set up time of the AZ4 rather then the 30 - 40 minutes it takes me to set up and align my EQ mount, as a result my poor Evo 150 sits unused for months at a time

Moonshane, I must admit I have been looking at 6" f5 newts for the AZ4 but I'm trying to refrain from adding to the collection   

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

I'd agree with Jules re the TAL100rs being at about the maximum limit for the AZ4.

I think that it's the length of the scope at F10,rather than it's weight that pushes things to the limit.

An F5 scope should be a piece of cake for it,however.

My experience comes from the steel legged AZ4-2 version,which I would imagine is a bit more stable than the Aluminium legged,cheaper counterpart.

[Hertford Stargazer]

Hi MAN or ASTROMAN, yes sorry I do have the steel legged model AZ4 I was forgetting about the Aluminium version. My main concern was the dovetail clamping screw which on my mount is very slack thread wise, I don't know if thats standard or if my mount is a bit dodgy.  

[FenlandPaul]

Until very recently I ran an ST150 (the f/5) on an AZ4 with aluminium legs. In my view, in all but the most ideal conditions the AZ4 was overwhelmed, although that didn't stop me having some enjoyable sessions. I imagine an EVO would be very unwieldy on an aluminium AZ4 though; can't comment on the steel.

Paul

[Alkaid]

I once tried hanging a 150 F8 newt off my AZ4. It didn't like it.

[Hertford Stargazer]

Thanks everyone for the input, I did eye the Evo 150 up yesterday and debated hanging it on the AZ4 just to test, but when I lifted the 150 up and staggered across the room to the mount common sense thankfully prevailed and I decided not to ever consider the matter again.