First light for my APM TMB LZOS 130

[John]

1 hour ago, Telescope40 said:

John. A bit off topic but may I ask about the hardwood tripod.  Is it any particular make. I've been hunting around for a similar item - Fleabay etc. 

 

 

Hi John,

The tripod is one of the ones that are used on the Helios big binoculars:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-quantum-7-25x100-binoculars.html

I got mine (just the tripod) from the Astroboot website for around £110 I seem to recall. I've modified the head slightly to take the HEQ5 type mounts. Currently the spreader bars are plastic but I intend to replace them with metal ones or chains.

In the USA they are sold under the Oberwerk branding:

https://oberwerk.com/product/oberwerk-wooden-tripod/

It's a stable tripod even when the legs are extended. It's at least as stable as the EQ6 tripod that I had before it and a touch taller as well.

 

[jetstream]

You have a fantastic set up John, what great scopes. If I may ask- what mount do use on the wooden tripod? Would this mount be a direct fit for the Oberwork? I may need a sturdy mount for a little newt that is upcoming.

[John]

1 hour ago, jetstream said:

You have a fantastic set up John, what great scopes. If I may ask- what mount do use on the wooden tripod? Would this mount be a direct fit for the Oberwork? I may need a sturdy mount for a little newt that is upcoming.

Hi Gerry,

The mount in those photos is a Giro II (German made). It is not a direct fit for the tripod top though. I had a strong steel plate made which sits below the mount head and then I run an M10 bolt through it and into the bottom of the Giro II mount. The flat base of the mount sits against the flat tripod hub top and a large knurled knob, threaded for M10, is used to tension the bolt and plate holding the mount firmly onto the tripod hub.

I believe that you can get an HEQ5 / EQ5 adapter to fit the Oberwerk version of the tripod but whether that is an Oberwerk product or a 3rd parties, I don't know I'm afriad.

I'll try and get some photos of my arrangement and post them as soon as I get a chance.

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by John

[John]

Here is a photo of the underneath of the tripod hub. The large metal disk pressed against the bottom of the hub is cut from 4mm thick steel so pretty strong:

 

 

[jetstream]

Thank you very much John, I will use this as an option for the scope and explore the availability of the adapters. Your set up is a very stable platform to observe from, eagerly waiting more reports!

[John]

No problem Gerry

..... eagerly waiting for the clouds and rain to clear off

[Telescope40]

1 hour ago, John said:

 

 

Thanks John. Info gratefully received. Currently got my eye on a couple of tripods on e bay not too dissimilar - bit of renovation may be needed   LOL 

regards. John 

[Deadlake]

On 05/07/2016 at 20:19, John said:

It has a Feathertouch focuser Mark - not sure where I'd go for something better to be honest with you as it's even better than my Moonlites

The tube is the lightweight Kruppax version. Fit and finish seem excellent - "Vixen class" plus a bit I'd say. The dew shield is flocked inside. I've put a 9x50 RACI finder on it and an AP 2" diagonal but, apart from trying binoviewing, I can't see a lot of other room for improvements

 

Anyone know what the differences are between John's version and the Apo Refractor 130/1200 CNC LW II version? Both have the starlight feather touch focusers, I was thinking maybe the tube is different?

[John]

7 hours ago, Deadlake said:

Anyone know what the differences are between John's version and the Apo Refractor 130/1200 CNC LW II version? Both have the starlight feather touch focusers, I was thinking maybe the tube is different?

I've looked at the specs of the latest version of this scope and the differences that I see are:

- The tube is CNC alloy rather than Kruppax 50.

- I think the baffles in the new scopes are assembled all together as a unit and installed into the tube. On my scope the baffles are individually installed.

- The Starlight FT focuser is 3.5 inch whereas mine is 2 inch.

- The CNC LW II optical tube weighs 1.48kg more.

Having looked at a few vendor listings, I'm rather surprised at how much these are to buy new now !

 

 

 

[John]

The scope is now on the T-Rex alt-azimuth mount which really deals with the tube length and weight so much better than the Giro II that I had when I first got the scope. So I might as well post a photo or two of the current setup

 

[melsmore]

8 minutes ago, John said:

So I might as well post a photo or two of the current setup

And why not? It's always a joy to look at that combination.

[Deadlake]

9 hours ago, John said:

I've looked at the specs of the latest version of this scope and the differences that I see are:

- The tube is CNC alloy rather than Kruppax 50.

- I think the baffles in the new scopes are assembled all together as a unit and installed into the tube. On my scope the baffles are individually installed.

- The Starlight FT focuser is 3.5 inch whereas mine is 2 inch.

- The CNC LW II optical tube weighs 1.48kg more.

Having looked at a few vendor listings, I'm rather surprised at how much these are to buy new now !

 

 

 

Presuming mark 1 is 8.5 kg and mark 2 is around 10.5 kg for the f/9 flavour. That’s TOA-130 territory.

The tube is 1.48 kg more that’s around 0.5 kg unaccounted for. Has the mark 1 got steel cells to avoid pinching the glass in cold weather? Wondering where the extra weight is used?

Since mark 2 has the same length, need to over mount, hence you using the T-Rex.

With the dew shield retracted what is the length, guess around 100 cm’s.

And yes given the price approaching TOA-130 price with only one OK-4 element versus the TOA’s two fpl-53 elements. However does have starlight focused.

 

 

 

 

[John]

14 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

Presuming mark 1 is 8.5 kg and mark 2 is around 10.5 kg for the f/9 flavour. That’s TOA-130 territory.

The tube is 1.48 kg more that’s around 0.5 kg unaccounted for. Has the mark 1 got steel cells to avoid pinching the glass in cold weather? Wondering where the extra weight is used?

Since mark 2 has the same length, need to over mount, hence you using the T-Rex.

With the dew shield retracted what is the length, guess around 100 cm’s.

And yes given the price approaching TOA-130 price with only one OK-4 element versus the TOA’s two fpl-53 elements. However does have starlight focused.

 

 

 

 

The additional .5kg may well be explained by the "cage" that the baffles are mounted on before installation into the tube with the LW II.

The objective cell looks to be exactly the same comparing mine to photos of versions bought recently. It is a very sophisticated design executed with great care. Given the cost of these objectives you would expect that I think.

The T-Rex is the first mount that I have used with my 130 F/9.2 that handles the tube length and weight really well. It has been a touch under-mounted on the Giro, Skytee II, Celestron AVX, Vixen GP-DX and HEQ5 mounts that I have used previously despite these being on a Berlebach Uni 28 tripod. The T-Rex does handle 150mm F/8 doublet refractors well I believe but I'm not sure about 150mm triplets such as the TOA and LZOS because they tend to be quite a bit heavier again. A DM6 or Rowan AZ100 would also be suitable alt-azimuth mounts I think. If I was going to go back to an equatorial I would consider a Lozmandy GM11.

With the dew shield and the binoviewer tube extension retracted the overall OTA length is 103 cm (excluding a diagonal). Mine weighs 9.4kg complete with tube rings, DT bar, 9x50 RACI finder and 2 inch diagonal installed. I think the weights quoted on the websites are for a bare tube.

 

 

 

 

 

[Deadlake]

Thanks John. I was told G11 class mount, was looking at a SXP2 as can carry the payload and has belt drives. Apparently less noisy then a skywatcher mount even if it is belt modded, I don’t want to be banished to the end of the garden. 😄 the AZ100 did cross my mind, however it will be some time for the motorised version to be available, slow mo is ok, but would be nice not to have to track when observing Jupiter etc.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Deadlake