Sturdiest equatorial with setting circles for a 120 frac

[mikeDnight]

20 hours ago, 25585 said:

Are there any equatorial mounts sturdy enough for a 120 frac, that has RA and decli setting circles?

Old school finding and tracking just from data and an atlas - Sky Atlas and Sky Catalogue 2000.0 use.

Only the low end SW EQ2 on FLO, thoiugh I might have missed one. Sadly all Vixens seem circle-less.

The Vixen GP will carry a 120ED and larger telescope without effort, and has setting circles. It also has the ability to use manual slow motion controls as well as mother drives if desired, unlike many modern mounts! I loaned one a few years ago to my friend who at the time was using a Meade 127 triplet. That was heavier and longer than the 120ED, but the GP carried it without issue. He mounted it on a pier in his observatory and it damped down in under three seconds, proving the mount head is rock solid. Sadly he later bought a larger Meade equatorial (shown below) that bounced like a tuning fork. Big is not always best, and the Vixen GP is often overlooked because its perhaps not as modern looking as the mounts of today, but it will give any a run for their money!

Above, is my friend Phil who wasn't too happy after replacing a wonderful Vixen GP with a pile of Meade scrap iron! The Meade mount looked the part but it would have been incapable of carrying a 2" Tasco without vibrating.

Above is my Vixen GP, with setting circles that are quite useable. Don't let its compactness kid you; it can carry a 120ED with ease! ?

[mikeDnight]

15 hours ago, marcus_z said:

Losmandy GM-8?

That's a great EQ mount, and I did regularly use its setting circles when I had one permanently set up in my garden. If I had to polar align every time I went out I'd probably just star hop. It's easier!

[Paul M]

I used to dream of owning a Fullerscopes MkIIII mount. Pretty rare these days. Here is an old SGL thread I remembered:

 

[25585]

Looks from magnifying the photo on @FLO site  that the HEQ5 also has setting circles, so though it comes with electronics, it could perhaps be used manually as well. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-heq5-pro-synscan.html

Can anbody who owns one, or FLO, please confirm. Also as the same(!) tripod used for lighter mounts seems to go with it, is it possible to buy the head alone. I bought that tripod already with a Skytee2, and would use that or a pier instead. 

[John]

7 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

The Vixen GP will carry a 120ED and larger telescope without effort, and has setting circles. It also has the ability to use manual slow motion controls as well as mother drives if desired, unlike many modern mounts! I loaned one a few years ago to my friend who at the time was using a Meade 127 triplet. That was heavier and longer than the 120ED, but the GP carried it without issue. He mounted it on a pier in his observatory and it damped down in under three seconds, proving the mount head is rock solid. Sadly he later bought a larger Meade equatorial (shown below) that bounced like a tuning fork. Big is not always best, and the Vixen GP is often overlooked because its perhaps not as modern looking as the mounts of today, but it will give any a run for their money!

Above, is my friend Phil who wasn't too happy after replacing a wonderful Vixen GP with a pile of Meade scrap iron! The Meade mount looked the part but it would have been incapable of carrying a 2" Tasco without vibrating.

Above is my Vixen GP, with setting circles that are quite useable. Don't let its compactness kid you; it can carry a 120ED with ease! ?

It's odd but the white Meade mount that your friend Phil is looking grumpy about looks exactly like a white Skywatcher HEQ5

My black non-GOTO HEQ5 does a pretty good job of carrying my TMB / LZOS 130 F/9.2 triplet which is probably longer than Phils Meade but around the same weight:

 

[mikeDnight]

6 minutes ago, John said:

It's odd but the white Meade mount that your friend Phil is looking grumpy about looks exactly like a white Skywatcher HEQ5

My black non-GOTO HEQ5 does a pretty good job of carrying my TMB / LZOS 130 F/9.2 triplet which is probably longer than Phils Meade but around the same weight:

 

You may be right John! From what I remember the Meade mount had a grey/green tint to its paint work, while the mount in the pic does look white in colour. That scope on Phil's mount was a pretty hefty beast, and the mount looks bigger than the HEQ5 to me, though i cant remember Phil ever having an EQ6. Sadly Phil is no longer with us, so i cant ask him!

 

[John]

Sorry to hear that Phil is not with us any more. The mount is of no significance in comparison, of course