refractordude Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Or can have a motor drive attached to it. The hunt for objects is great fun to me. Thus, I do not care for goto mounts. 20 to 35 pound capacity. Thanks for your advise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichM63 Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Probably the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank has the strongest Alt/Az mount. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAO Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) I'm not that familiar with driven Altaz, but the Bray Tablet Mount had a very high capacity, I saw them with C14 OTAs attached. Although not made anymore they occasionally come up second hand. I use a Tele Optic Giro II, I mount a Mirage STF 7" Maksutov Cassegrain on one side and a Televue NP101 on the other. The Giro mount sits on top of a Berlbach Tripod. With a finder, eyepieces and diagonals the total load is around 30lb. Like you I'm happy to find stuff with a chart and finder. Skywatcher AZ EQ mounts are driven, but also have Goto so probably are not what you are looking for. There was a mount I saw a few years ago called the Kokusai Kohki T-REX, not driven and fitted with DSCs, but it had a big capacity, so could take a C11 OTA. Hope this helps Edited April 30, 2018 by JAO typo correction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 I think either of my homemade mounts would handle a C11. They are really heavy mounts and over engineered so capable of heavy loads. As for professional mounts I would say The DM6, Bray Tablet and T-Rex. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAO Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 7 minutes ago, Doc said: I think either of my homemade mounts would handle a C11. They are really heavy mounts and over engineered so capable of heavy loads. As for professional mounts I would say The DM6, Bray Tablet and T-Rex. Not my thread but I must say they are two beautifully made Altaz mounts Doc, beating a lot of Pro Kit to my eye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollypenrice Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 On 4/30/2018 at 20:56, refractordude said: Or can have a motor drive attached to it. The hunt for objects is great fun to me. Thus, I do not care for goto mounts. 20 to 35 pound capacity. Thanks for your advise. Used anywhere but the poles an alt-azimuth mount needs not one but two motor drives and a computer to manage the relationship between the two in conjunction with a virtual planetarium. This being so, nobody (I don't think!) is going to make such a mount without GoTo since you need mostly the same technology to track as to go to. This does not oblige you to use the GoTo, though. You could drive the mount to the object using the handset. On most mounts (I think, but do check) you could not free the clutches in Alt Az mode, move the mount by hand and re-tighten the clutches without losing the synchronization with the sky which allows the Alt and Az drives to work together to keep the object centered. Personally I find driving a mount via motors and a handset absolutely maddening, though I like hunting with a manual mount. The drives on my equatorial Mesus use Stellarcat motors and an Argonavis handset. This setup was primarily conceived to run Dobsonians so it can be configured to control alt Az mounts. It is an absolutely outstanding system which it might be possible to fit to any alt az mount. Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orley Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 The TTS Panther has a payload of 22kg. Fully motor driven. https://trackthestars.com/ The Mammoth holds even more... Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R26 oldtimer Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 How about AZEQ6? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmeah Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 On 5/3/2018 at 12:40, orley said: The TTS Panther has a payload of 22kg. Fully motor driven. https://trackthestars.com/ The Mammoth holds even more... Tom Doc’s first homemade mount above looks just like a TTS Panther. Wonder if it performs similarly. The Panther seems like a great mount from the reading I’ve done. Derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25585 Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 On 30/04/2018 at 21:38, Doc said: I think either of my homemade mounts would handle a C11. They are really heavy mounts and over engineered so capable of heavy loads. As for professional mounts I would say The DM6, Bray Tablet and T-Rex. Awesome 150 Esprit! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25585 Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Meade 16 inch SCT and mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 7 hours ago, 25585 said: Awesome 150 Esprit! ? No a 120 Esprit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Olly’s answer is a very good one and covers the main things to consider. Can you give more detail about what you want to achieve? I would agree with the suggestion of an AZEQ6, can be used as a full goto or skewed manually using the motors, or have the clutches released and be physically pointed wherever you need. Very good mount. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25585 Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 (edited) Shame there is no AZHEQ5. A less expensive but stronger mount than an AZEQ5. Would the big Vixen APZ Alt Az which can be motorised qualify there? Edited May 11, 2018 by 25585 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25585 Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 2 hours ago, Doc said: No a 120 Esprit Looks so chunky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGazing Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Just to resurrect this. How come only SW tapped into the market for bigger driven alt-az mounts. And how come they opted for hybrids (az and eq). From what I understand, AZEQ5 is not really a good platform for imaging, and one has to start at HEQ5, wouldn't it be easier to execute a sturdy AZ only mount than a combo mount? Could it be that the market for visual taps out after certain size and has no meaningful base save for combining it with the demand for sturdy imaging mounts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ullomat Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Hi, the problem of the AZEQ5 is its bad tripod/pier combination. The rest is ok imho. But I heard there is a new version of it, but I am not sure. cs, Uli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pancho61 Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 (edited) Hello, you have forget the kokhusai koki TREX mount it can be motorize. We have one in our club with home made motorize, very powerfull ans stable mount. Maybe we have a new run in the future according to barry wait and see... https://kokusai-kohki.shop-pro.jp/?pid=87897500 Damien Edited March 17, 2019 by Pancho61 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ullomat Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Hi, I had the T-Rex, a really capable mount. There is (probably was) a motor set for the Avalon mount driving system. cs, Uli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now