NEW Sky-Watcher AZ5 Deluxe Alt-Azimuth Mount

[FLO]

The much anticipated Sky-Watcher AZ5 Deluxe Alt-Azimuth Mount has arrived 

Cast aluminium construction and helical worm gear drive (96 teeth in both Alt & AZ axes).

Designed to carry small telescopes up to 5kg (manufacturer's spec'). 

Available with/without aluminium tripod. 

 

[FLO]

Another photo  

 

[Chris]

Very artistic design, it's certainly a good looking mount.

[davyludo]

Yay!!!! 

Out of interest - do you know if the head will mount to the existing steel legged tripod for the AZ4? 

Thanks, 
Davy

[SteveNickolls]

Aww, just when I didn't want to spend any more of the children's piggy bank money they bring this out... :-)

No, only joking-a fine looking piece of kit you could place on a pillar for using a Star Adventurer.

Cheers,

Steve

[FLO]

2 hours ago, davyludo said:

Yay!!!! 

Out of interest - do you know if the head will mount to the existing steel legged tripod for the AZ4? 

It doesn't. The AZ4 uses the same tripod as the EQ5/HEQ5 but the new AZ5 fits on any tripod with a regular 3/8" photo-thread. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[John]

Looks very nice

I'm a big fan of alt-azimuth mounts and portability. The total weight of this one (including the tripod) seems to be 4.9 kg. With my Tak 100 F/9 weighing around 3.8kg the combined weight would be pretty light for a 4" refractor setup - around the same as just the optical tube of my ED120

I wonder if the AZ5 will handle the tube length of an F/9 100mm refractor ?

[FLO]

29 minutes ago, John said:

I wonder if the AZ5 will handle the tube length of an F/9 100mm refractor ?

Probably, we'll know more when we receive our first delivery. 

The eyepiece would be positioned quite low down so a comfy chair will help  

[Cjg]

Be interesting to see a side by side comparison against the Vixen Porta Mount. Also just noticed the "bundle" deal with the 150PS reflector; you'd be getting a capable 5" reflector for just £60, bargain!

[nightfisher]

58 minutes ago, John said:

Looks very nice

I'm a big fan of alt-azimuth mounts and portability. The total weight of this one (including the tripod) seems to be 4.9 kg. With my Tak 100 F/9 weighing around 3.8kg the combined weight would be pretty light for a 4" refractor setup - around the same as just the optical tube of my ED120

I wonder if the AZ5 will handle the tube length of an F/9 100mm refractor ?

There is a good way to find out, get the debit card out and be one of the first to try this nice looking mount 

[Mark at Beaufort]

That looks a very good alt/az head for sitting on an existing lightwight tripod for travel. My travel grab and go is a Skywatcher Heritage 130P so this could be an ideal match.

[serbiadarksky]

8 hours ago, FLO said:

The much anticipated Sky-Watcher AZ5 Deluxe Alt-Azimuth Mount has arrived 

Cast aluminium construction and helical worm gear drive (96 teeth in both Alt & AZ axes).

Designed to carry small telescopes up to 5kg (manufacturer's spec'). 

Available with/without aluminium tripod. 

 

How long can it track? want to attach a dslr with small lenses only

 

[John]

2 minutes ago, serbiadarksky said:

How long can it track?

 

As long as you can turn the tracking controls for

It's not a motorised mount and is alt-azimuth rather than equatorial. Aimed much more at the visual observer rather than the imager I would say.

 

[Alan White]

Very nice looking mount indeed, the light is tripod concerns me though.

As said, who's going first and reporting back?

[Rick_It]

I love the design! I have a lot of questions

First, what's the differences between the two (AZ5 and Pronto)?

Is it really possible to use them without the micrometric knob (smooth movements?) Do they have an adjustable friction which can be continuosly tightned up to locking the scope, like Altair Sabre, Giro Ercole ecc...?

Do they use roller bearing? Which type of friction (teflon?)? The lightest one is priced very competitively, seems perfect for a 66-70-72 APO if the movements are smooth. Do you agree? Maybe you (FLO) can make up a nice package with AZ Pronto + lightweight APO + maybe a medium quality amici prism. The heaviest one costs more or less as other AZ mounts, but it is lighter, looks better built and has a lower payload (5kg against 7-8kg. A trade-off, as usual). It seems perfect coupled with a 80ED.

Good job skywatcher and good job FLO, you are the first in the world I think to have them!

[FLO]

Rick_It, we will soon compare the AZ-Pronto and AZ5 side-by-side, we will then be better able to answer your questions. 

Regarding the other mounts you mention, please consider they are all considerably more expensive than the AZ5 discussed here. 

Regarding bundles, Sky-Watcher currently offer three  

 

Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS AZ5 Deluxe

 

Sky-Watcher StarTravel-102 AZ5 Deluxe

 

Sky-Watcher SkyMax-127 AZ5 Deluxe

[Rick_It]

Thanks FLO! Any info about which type of bearing do they use (roller bearing?).

Moreover, looking at the picture the smallest has definitely frictions, but I'm not able to see them in the AZ5.

Well, I guess we should wait for you to have both of them and write the comparison. Looking forward for it.

[John]

51 minutes ago, FLO said:

Rick_It, we will soon compare the AZ-Pronto and AZ5 side-by-side, we will then be better able to answer your questions....

 

I've sent you a PM on the AZ5 Steve

[davyludo]

24 minutes ago, John said:

I've sent you a PM on the AZ5 Steve

Guess who's getting an AZ5 

[FLO]

1 hour ago, John said:

I've sent you a PM on the AZ5 Steve

 

35 minutes ago, davyludo said:

Guess who's getting an AZ5 

Thank-you John, we will look forward to hearing your thoughts  

[FLO]

John has kindly agreed to review both the Skywatcher AZ5 and AZ Pronto Alt-Az mounts for SGL  

The AZ Pronto will likely be too small for his 100mm f9 refractor (so too might the AZ5?) but as he will be assessing one it would be a shame for him to not have the other for comparison. 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well John's knowledge on Alt/Az mounts is second to none so we will get a very honest and comprehensive review of this new mount. I certainly looked at the new Pronto mount and because of the dovetail clamp position I don't think it will be suitable for the Heritage 130P. However, the new AZ5 has a different position for the dovetail clamp making it ideal for many small Fracs, Newts and a Mak/Cass.

The question is do I wait for John's review or just pull the trigger now.

[John]

Thanks Steve / FLO

I'll be delighted to give these mounts a good work out and report back to the forum on how they fare

[happy-kat]

That's looks a worthy upgrade to the AZ3 and looks good with the ST102. Can't see from the photos where you can adjust how tight both axis are so you can tweak to get a balanced mount that works with a nudge or using the twidle sticks.

[AdeKing]

I'll be interested to see how comfortable the Azimuth slo-mo control is to use, as to my eyes it looks a long way to reach around.

I've used an Astro-Tech Voyager for a while now and find that the azimuth control gets in the way of the OTA as it points directly towards the observer.

The Vixen Porta II arrangement with the control on the diagonal has always struck me as being a good idea.

I notice that the new AZ Pronto seems to have the azimuth control set on the diagonal (45 degrees) like the Porta II but the AZ5 has it set at 90 degrees and it looks like it might be a stretch for the left hand.

I'll be following this thread with interest and am looking forward to John's reviews.

Ade