Altair Sabre or SkyTee-2 For a Long Frac

[Jforson]

Hi,

I have been close to buying a Starwave 102 F11 over the past few days.   To date my observing has been with shorter focal length ED fracs which I would be hoping to pair up with the longer achro.

However I have no experience of mounting or actually using such a long scope. I had considered a 127Mak primarily because it will be easier to mount.  But I enjoy using and observing through refractors and as such keep returning to the starwave. 

I know that I can mount the f11 with my 80ed Pro on the altair Sabre mount. The downside is that it will cost more than the SkyTee-2 which also has slo-mo controls and the ability to mount two scopes. 

So my question is whether anyone has experience and therefore opinions of using either mount with a longer frac.

Thanks

J

[chiltonstar]

I use a SkyTee2 with my 102mm f13 scope. It supports it well, but an issue is that you need to buy long cables for the alt and az axes - this is not a problem with my maks as they are short tube.

Chris

[Jforson]

1 minute ago, chiltonstar said:

I use a SkyTee2 with my 102mm f13 scope. It supports it well, but an issue is that you need to buy long cables for the alt and az axes - this is not a problem with my maks as they are short tube.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Good point re the long cables. Do you think an extension tube would be needed to get enough clearance from the tripod legs plus a bit of height to make observing a bit easier? 

[nightfisher]

The skytee 2 is pretty well regarded for twin frac set up, and would handle an F11 and 80ED with ease, but its a little "industrial"

[Jforson]

3 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

The skytee 2 is pretty well regarded for twin frac set up, and would handle an F11 and 80ED with ease, but its a little "industrial"

"Industrial"  I can handle so long as it works well.

From the photos the altair Sabre certainly looks to have a nicer finish and to be fair I use their mini az mount which looks the part and works. 

But I think the slow motion option coupled with the longer focal length could could be a good mix. 

[Dave1]

I have a Altair Sabre II mount. Solid bit of engineering, very good. I used it with my 60mm F16.7 ( brass telescope, heavy for size ) and I use it with my 80mm F15, not at the same time. I would think it would be easily be able to handle an 102mm F11. I will soon be trying a 4" F15 on it. Which I'm pretty confident it will be fine with.

[Jforson]

5 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

I have a Altair Sabre II mount. Solid bit of engineering, very good. I used it with my 60mm F16.7 ( brass telescope, heavy for size ) and I use it with my 80mm F15, not at the same time. I would think it would be easily be able to handle an 102mm F11. I will soon be trying a 4" F15 on it. Which I'm pretty confident it will be fine with.

Thanks for the feedback Dave1, from a user perspective do you think it could comfortably carry both the 102mm f11 and a 80ed for twin use? 

[Dave1]

Total weight, I'd say yes. The difference in the weight between the two OTA's might be an issue and cause slight stiction. But that could be said on any AZ mount. I'd compare the weight of both mounts to see how they differ, if they are similar I wouldn't worry to much.

[Jforson]

11 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

Total weight, I'd say yes. The difference in the weight between the two OTA's might be an issue and cause slight stiction. But that could be said on any AZ mount. I'd compare the weight of both mounts to see how they differ, if they are similar I wouldn't worry to much.

Will check the weight of both OTA’s, cheers 

[Fozzie]

The mount is more than capable of holding the f11 on the side and a smaller scope on top, you may wish to balance, you'd be offsetting about 5kg for the f11, 2"diagonal, finder and so..  not sure what the weight of an ed80 is but I'd say a 2kg counter would match well..

I didn't feel the need if I'm honest and don't with the f11 hanging on the side the skytee is more than happy..

You will need the peir extension and long cables, but it is a nice set up..

HTH

Fozzie 

[Knighty2112]

I had two long frac’s on my Skytee 2 Mount with no problem, even in breezy conditions. Had a long Starwave f11, and and Celestron Omni 120mm f8.3 with no problem. The Sabre looks good, but lacks slow motion control, so push and go only. With the Skytee you have the option to do both, so slow mo control, or push to if you disengage the clutches if you balance the scope(s) correctly. However, you do need to upgrade the standard saddles on the Skytee to ADM ones or similar for more secure fitting of scopes, especially any long or heavy scopes. 

 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Knighty2112

[Jforson]

34 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

The mount is more than capable of holding the f11 on the side and a smaller scope on top, you may wish to balance, you'd be offsetting about 5kg for the f11, 2"diagonal, finder and so..  not sure what the weight of an ed80 is but I'd say a 2kg counter would match well..

I didn't feel the need if I'm honest and don't with the f11 hanging on the side the skytee is more than happy..

You will need the peir extension and long cables, but it is a nice set up..

HTH

Fozzie 

Fozzie - that looks a great setup and exactly what I am after.   

I appreciate the thread is regarding mounts, but do you use a scope bag for storing the F11?

cheers

John

[Jforson]

15 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

I had two long frac’s on my Skytee 2 Mount with no problem, even in breezy conditions. Had a long Starwave f11, and and Celestron Omni 120mm f8.3 with no problem. The Sabre looks good, but lacks slow motion control, so push and go only. With the Skytee you have the option to do both, so slow mo control, or push to if you disengage the clutches if you balance the scope(s) correctly. However, you do need to upgrade the standard saddles on the Skytee to ADM ones or similar for more secure fitting of scopes, especially any long or heavy scopes. 

 

Gus - I am leaning more to the SkyTee and that is useful heads up regarding ADM saddles.  

[jam1e1]

hi i use the SkyTee2 with pillar and apm152 scope (1200mm) and works well! think this is slightly shorter than above but may be heavier - either way cannot go wrong with this mount. Just note the payload of top loading puck is much less than side puck! (couple kgs at best, else will slip) cheers Jamie

[Knighty2112]

14 minutes ago, Jforson said:

Gus - I am leaning more to the SkyTee and that is useful heads up regarding ADM saddles.  

I did also put an extra saddle on the other end of the T bar axle, which makes it much easier to balance any scope, so if you plan on using to scopes on the mount then this might be a mod for the future too. Just requires a couple of tapped holes putting on the end cover and it works a treat. I bought a cheat tap and die set for £3 on sale in B&Q just to do the mod, so apart from the cost of the saddle to put on (£40 or so I think) it was cheap to do. I did also change the tripod on the mount for a Berlebach tripod, but the original one was sturdy anyway. As Fozzie says putting an extension on the original mount works well too. Here’s a couple of images of my Skytee 2mount, with the two ‘fracs I normally put on it. 

 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Knighty2112

[Jforson]

Guys - thanks for all the feedback, I think I will order the Starwave tomorrow.

regarding the mount I am leaning towards the SkyTee but may wait until I see the big red scope up close in person before committing. 

Cheers 

John

[Knighty2112]

3 minutes ago, Jforson said:

Guys - thanks for all the feedback, I think I will order the Starwave tomorrow.

regarding the mount I am leaning towards the SkyTee but may wait until I see the big red scope up close in person before committing. 

Cheers 

John

Excellent scope. I had one, but sold it a few months back. Miss it really, but hey ho!  

[Jforson]

16 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

Excellent scope. I had one, but sold it a few months back. Miss it really, but hey ho!  

It has been a scope that I have had an eye on for a while.  It has been a case of indecision due to over analysis, I just need to commit. The longer focal length with a wee bit more aperture should give me something a bit different from my smaller scopes.   

It is good to hear that you liked it.  I will also look into your mod to the SkyTee. 

[Fozzie]

49 minutes ago, Jforson said:

Fozzie - that looks a great setup and exactly what I am after.   

I appreciate the thread is regarding mounts, but do you use a scope bag for storing the F11?

cheers

John

I do.. I cheated though and bought a music speaker/tripod stand bag from Amazon as opposed to an astro branded one... like this..

Just make sure you get the right size...

FWIW the starwave is a great scope and very capable acromat.. mines impressed me since I bought it..

Ta

fozzie 

[Alan White]

I will be interested in which way you go J.

I keep being tempted by this or similar scopes to sit with my ED80.
I have a Skytee 2 and have just bought a Berlebach Uni 28 Tripod to sit it upon and also an Altair Sabre 2 as well.

Cannot comment as of yet as its not all arrived yet.

That 102 F11 just looks so yummy, the red is now growing on me.

[Jforson]

2 minutes ago, Alan White said:

I will be interested in which way you go J.

I keep being tempted by this or similar scopes to sit with my ED80.
I have a Skytee 2 and have just bought a Berlebach Uni 28 Tripod to sit it upon and also an Altair Sabre 2 as well.

Cannot comment as of yet as its not all arrived yet.

That 102 F11 just looks so yummy, the red is now growing on me.

Alan - I like the red, it is different.  But I also think it will compliment the 80ED.

I am keen to view the OTA in person before committing to the mount.  No matter how long I think it is, I am no doubt going to be surprised when it arrives and sits next to the 70 & 80 EDs.  

I will keep you all posted. 

John

[Alan White]

John

I looked at one at the IAS last year and it’s quite a bit longer than my ED80, but how much was quite a surprise.

Good luck with your purchases.

[Fozzie]

That's an 80mm F5 read mounted along side in my photo... so a bit longer on the ed80 but it'll give you some sense of scale..

Ta

fozzie 

[Saganite]

A bit late to join this thread but when I had a Skytee 2 I mounted a Starwave f11 and a Tal RS at the same time to make a decision about which to keep, and they were both solid on the mount, so you will have no problems, though you may have to fettle it a bit to remove excessive backlash.

The Starwave 102 f11 is a beautiful scope BTW.....

Edited March 6, 2018 by Saganite

[Dave1]

The lack of slow motion control on the Sabre mount is no disadvantage at all. The clutches on the Sabre allow for very good control on both axis, with very carful nudges its not an issue at all. Provided you have balanced properly. The Sabre can also take a number of different mounting plates saddles. 

Dave