Skytee II V's AYO II

[moriniboy]

Love mine in bino mode.

[25585]

46 minutes ago, John said:

Thats not the place on the Skytee II to put anything other than a light, short scope in my experience with the mount. But we have discussed this before .......

Thanks for the input

I have the appropriate counterweights now as you advised John, so the top saddle is balanced for Tak + accessories when set up. 

Would an AZ EQ6 be good for your TEC?

[John]

12 minutes ago, 25585 said:

..Would an AZ EQ6 be good for your TEC?

The scope is a TMB/LZOS actually put togther by APM Telescopes in Germany.

My strong preference is always for low / no tech setups with no power requirements, setup routines etc.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[CraigT82]

7 minutes ago, John said:

My strong preference is always for low / no tech setups with no power requirements

As a half serious tongue in cheek suggestion.... how about a Fullerscopes mk111 cranked over to alt az?!  Can be had cheaply with slow mo controls, very sturdy and low tech. Probably look a bit weird with the high end fracs on though  Bit low too I'd imagine!

[25585]

I would like that whole set up!

[Stu]

John, I know you are not necessarily a goto man, but have you considered an AZEQ6? In AZ mode they are great for visual, and are very stable. There is the added benefit of tracking which helps reduce vibrations from nudging the scope. Of course setup time is a little longer and I’m sure you could skew to a target manually as quickly, if not quicker, but I’ve come to enjoy tracking mounts for their more relaxed nature at the eyepiece, particularly for lunar, planetary and solar work. Just a thought  

[25585]

2 hours ago, moriniboy said:

Love mine in bino mode.

Looks cool. What weights are those?

[John]

50 minutes ago, Stu said:

John, I know you are not necessarily a goto man, but have you considered an AZEQ6? In AZ mode they are great for visual, and are very stable. There is the added benefit of tracking which helps reduce vibrations from nudging the scope. Of course setup time is a little longer and I’m sure you could skew to a target manually as quickly, if not quicker, but I’ve come to enjoy tracking mounts for their more relaxed nature at the eyepiece, particularly for lunar, planetary and solar work. Just a thought  

Thanks for the suggestion Stu. I have owned a Celestron AVX and an HEQ5 over the past 18 months so I can see the appeal of tracking mounts. I didn't use the GOTO features of either though - I skipped straight through the setup options so that I just had access to the dual axis tracking control and slewed to targets using "me" power.

I suspect that I'll stick with the Skytee II - it serves all my refractors pretty well. I'm a bit of a luddite I guess

 

 

[Stu]

Fair enough John  Just suggested because obviously using in AZ mode is a different experience to an EQ.

Just for reference, as it had been talked about on the thread, there is a Bray Tablet on eBay currently.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F292441935074

[25585]

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

Fair enough John  Just suggested because obviously using in AZ mode is a different experience to an EQ.

Just for reference, as it had been talked about on the thread, there is a Bray Tablet on eBay currently.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F292441935074

Which Bb tripod is it on? Looks like an EQ6 pillar on top.

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Which Bb tripod is it on? Looks like an EQ6 pillar on top.

Not sure, it should say in the ad but it doesn’t. Yes, looks like an EQ6 pillar.

[John]

14 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Which Bb tripod is it on? Looks like an EQ6 pillar on top.

It's a Berlebach Uni 28 with an EQ6 pillar. The vendor won't split the setup - I did make a few enquiries about it.

This was my Bray Tablet on the Meade Giant Field Tripod ( 3 inch steel tube legs !) with the "Owls Nest" pillar extension and the Istar 6" F/12 on board. Pretty solid but very much NOT grab and go !

 

 

[moriniboy]

23 hours ago, 25585 said:

Looks cool. What weights are those?

Not sure, got from good old Astroboot.

[John]

1 hour ago, moriniboy said:

Not sure, got from good old Astroboot.

I guess they could be Bresser or Meade ones. Vixen have also used that shape. It's a useful shape when the C/W bar is being used on that point of the Skytee II. The C/W bar looks longer than the stock one on morinibboys' mount though ?

[moriniboy]

15 hours ago, John said:

I guess they could be Bresser or Meade ones. Vixen have also used that shape. It's a useful shape when the C/W bar is being used on that point of the Skytee II. The C/W bar looks longer than the stock one on morinibboys' mount though ?

Well spotted, another Astroboot item re-threaded to suit the Skytee

[garryblueboy]

The AYO Master would hold The TMB John bit more pricey than the Smaller one but is really smooth and not to heavy I had the Skytee 2 great mount I'd say I prefer the AYO but price wise I was lucky to pick a nice used one 

[Stu]

I used an AyoDigi II with my 20kg Vixen 150ED and, although I did have a problem with the mount, it would have been fine. I guess the Master is that bit heavier duty though.

[John]

Thanks for the additional feedback folks.

I decided to keep the Skytee II (which I've tweaked a bit and improved the backlash in the slow motions) and I've bought a pre-owned Vixen GP-DX which I will use with the Berlebach Uni 28 tripod to carry the big LZOS refractor when I want EQ driven observing.

 

[garryblueboy]

Yes Stu the master is up to 25kg but surprising how light the mount is