Skywatcher GTi mount

[Derek1973]

Do any of you guys think this would be suitable for me using a altair astro 80 edr frac with 60mm right angled  finderscope and Canon dslr or am I pushing it? I would upgrade the tripod. 

Thanks

[Ags]

I don't see the need for the weight of a 60mm finderscope on a goto mount? Particularly when it is carrying a widefield telescope?

[Derek1973]

That's a point a 50mm would probably suffice. 

[Derek1973]

After checking the scope weighs in at 2.6kg 1kg finderscope and Canon dslr is 530g plus if I allow another 500g for the flattener/reducer that totals just over 4.6kg so in theory this mount with the upgraded tripod should be up to the job. 

 

[Ags]

I would think an AZ GTi might be OK for long-exposure photography with camera lenses; not sure about the focal length of an 80mm APO and being that close to the 5 kg load limit? I'm sure it would be fine for visual use, many people use similar scopes.

[stelaras1]

Any results with this mount in EQ mode?

Has anyone test it yet?

 

Thanks guys

[George Gearless]

22 hours ago, stelaras1 said:

Any results with this mount in EQ mode?

Has anyone test it yet?

 

Thanks guys

The weather forecast looks promising for the weekend (at least for saturday). So I am hoping to be able to give my 5 cents after that.

I'll be testing with camera only as well as with a Mak127.

Keeping my fingers crossed ?.

[George Gearless]

Ok, I've had the chance to give it a spin.

First off: Skywatcher has made the firmware upgrade so that not only does it operate in EQ mode, but it changes the 'side' of the mount you need to put your telescope. They call it "right arm" mounting. For someone like me, with a fixed dovetail installation, it places the finder at the bottom because I have to install the telescope 'the wrong way round'. This puts my red-dot finder in a very awkward position. I don't know who would benefit from this "right arm" mounting. But it certainly isn't users with a Skywatcher fixed dovetail telescope. If your telescope is mounted in rings that you can rotate the telescope within, then you're fine.

I am not proficient in the realm of polar alignment. But I've read enough and watched enough about it to feel confident to make the attempt. Needless to say, without a polar alignment scope this is a bit tricky and warrants some McGyver thinking :). So, I cannibalized a crosshair finder scope from my very first telescope and fitted it with some clamps on the baseplate of the EQ wedge. And so I managed a pretty close approximation to a complete polar alignment. I used the polar alignment finder in the Skywatcher app. to find the correct orientation. I then installed the AZ mount in its brackets (with the scope and counterweight) and set the scope to track. It seemed to track quite nicely.

I ran into problems when I started to 2-star align the telescope. When it started to slew towards the first star, it took the 'long way round', and would have hit the mount/tripod had I not stopped it. I tried flipping things around and reposition the telescope. But no matter my efforts, it always ran into the mount when I tried to go to stars with high elevation. Because time was running out, I decided to dismantle the EQ wedge and revert back to AZ mode so I could get some viewing in. Clears skies is a rarity at my location, and I had to make the most of it. So I simply gave up with the EQ. For now. 

I did not have the proper screws to mount my camera directly onto the mount. So I'm afraid I can't give any feedback on that.

I am painfully aware that I am a novice. Particularly with the EQ setup. So this setback does not encourage me to throw the EQ wedge in the bin just yet. It just goes to show that this is not a 'plug and play' device that will somehow make you a professional if you weren't already.

I don't know if there are some aftermarket polar scopes out there that will work for this mount. If so, I am unaware of them. 

I'll revisit this thread once I've figured out where I went wrong in causing the telescope to bump into the mount/tripod.