Mesu 200 Arrrives

[ollypenrice]

I have  Geoptik weights on one Mesu and stainless steel of unknown make on the other.  (Both our Mesus were bought second hand.) The Geoptik weights' chrome has flaked off leaving a rusty lump beneath and, in one case, the plastic knob came loose on the locking bolts when the rusted in bolt wouldn't turn. I was able to rescue the situation by locking two nuts together to free the stuck bolt and continue to use it.

Marks for Geoptik?   0/10.  

Olly

[Laurin Dave]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I have  Geoptik weights on one Mesu and stainless steel of unknown make on the other.  (Both our Mesus were bought second hand.) The Geoptik weights' chrome has flaked off leaving a rusty lump beneath and, in one case, the plastic knob came loose on the locking bolts when the rusted in bolt wouldn't turn. I was able to rescue the situation by locking two nuts together to free the stuck bolt and continue to use it.

Marks for Geoptik?   0/10.  

Olly

Hmmmm..  better get some grease on them...

[Laurin Dave]

4 hours ago, MartinB said:

How on earth did you learn to master all this.  Fortunately I managed to install my Mesu without any re engineering but if I'd been in your situation I wouldn't have a clue.  The number of screw threads seems to approach infinity and you can guarantee that what ever I have available won't fit the required job and I'll have no idea what I need to buy.  Imperial, metric, diameter, pitch...nightmare!!   Mounting dovetail plates, adaptors, side by side bars and so on is always a major headache  because of screw incompatability.  Bike manufacturers are much more consistent!

Once you have got your head around Sitech you will find the Mesu an incredibly boring mount!  It just slews and tracks, and tracks and tracks and slews.  The guide graph is never very interesting and stars are just dull small round things.  Where is the fun in that!?

 

Simple Martin..   I followed Steve's excellent instructions and searched this forum for other users experiences of attaching it!  

I have to say though that I was a bit perplexed when I saw the mounting plate with the stud in it and then found that the usual trick of two nuts locked together on the stud wouldn't budge it..  An email to Lucas confirmed Loctite had been used and once I'd found my blowtorch it didn't take long to free it (250 deg C required).  A trip to Screwfix for a tap and die set and some (you can't buy just one) 12mm A2 bolts and a visit to my engineer friend and cycling buddy Ollie's workshop to use his drill press and an hour or so later it was all rock solid and mounted on the pier.

Interesting you mention the thread issue as my JTD adjustment saddle, Losmandy bar and Dovetail clamp for side by side mounting arrived Monday..  more drilling and tapping and a trip Ollie's required.   As for the mount being boring...  that's just what we all want really..  stress and intervention free astrophotography.

Dave

[kirkster501]

I have one too and it is wonderful.  Superb mount and never misses a beat.

Splitting hairs the only thing I don't quite like is the polar alignment with the big bolts and the fact that tightening up the bolts disturbs the alignment you just achieved so painstakingly.  That said, you learn to anticipate this and work around it to some extent.

[kirkster501]

...just to add here is a thread I did about how I mounted my MESU to my pier.

 

 

[Laurin Dave]

4 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

...just to add here is a thread I did about how I mounted my MESU to my pier.

 

 

Thanks Steve...  yours is one of the posts that I learned from .  If you have to re-do PA then maybe try the greased washer trick and a pipe wrench as that gives enough leverage to keep the locking nuts quite tight.

 

Dave

[tomato]

I have made a thin PTFE washer to go under the steel one on the centre bolt. I'll see if this eliminates the small amount of movement on the final tighten down after precise alignment, if the skies ever clear again in North Yorkshire....

[gorann]

On 18/12/2018 at 17:52, Laurin Dave said:

Thanks everyone for your comments and encouragement...  it's through reading yours and others user experiences on this forum that I decided to get one after suffering many cold and largely fruitless nights last winter trying to get the AZEQ-6 to behave.  (For some reason it does now) ..  I just wanted equipment that worked (two things actually as I also got an Esprit 150) ... and as Olly often says.... they just do.  I particularly like the noise it makes on slew  ..  

As for counterweights Gorann I got 2x10kg and 1x5kg Geoptik, just using the 2x10 at the moment with the Esprit, side by side with the GTF81 beckons in the new year.  

One other minor issue I had was that the Lakeside focuser lost its com port and calibration first time out, not sure why - maybe Win10, maybe because it and the mount were on a hub, but recalibration and using separate USB ports resolved that one.

Dave

 

 

Thanks. I just ordered Geoptik 2 x 10kg + one 5 kg from Amazon.de. They offer free delivery so that was the least expesive offer I could find (thanks Lis!). Still, I find it hard to accept that something that only provides weight and is bound to corrode should cost 100+ Euro. I will make sure to use plenty of grease on the threads in an attempt to avoid Olly's problem.

Now I only have to wait until the Christmas postal chaos is over so I can tell Lucas to ship it. In the unlikely event that the clouds would leave before that, I still have the EQ8 on the pier.

[steppenwolf]

I too have the Geoptik counterweights and I maintain them in perfect rust-free condition by wiping the over with silicone lubricant from time to time and running a dehumidifier to protect everything. They are eye wateringly expensive but I suspect that stainless steel versions would be even worse!

[kirkster501]

Geoptik weights here too.  "Reassuringly expensive" to coin a term from Olly ?

[ollypenrice]

33 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

I too have the Geoptik counterweights and I maintain them in perfect rust-free condition by wiping the over with silicone lubricant from time to time and running a dehumidifier to protect everything. They are eye wateringly expensive but I suspect that stainless steel versions would be even worse!

I've clearly been a bit remiss and certainly don't run dehumidifiers: I give EDF more than enough money as it is!  My SS weights look like the ones on the Mesu Optics site but I can't see a price for them.  I'm a great fan of stainless steel though.

Olly

[steppenwolf]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

I'm a great fan of stainless steel though.

Me too, lovely stuff! Any nuts/bolts/washers on my observatory that weren't already stainless steel were immediately replaced! The dehumidifier is very good indeed but not a full answer to the issue of corrosion.

 

[gorann]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I've clearly been a bit remiss and certainly don't run dehumidifiers: I give EDF more than enough money as it is!  My SS weights look like the ones on the Mesu Optics site but I can't see a price for them.  I'm a great fan of stainless steel though.

Olly

I was offered to buy the stainless steel ones by Lucas Mesu. He said they were expensive because of the material: 13kg for 180 euro and 6.5kg for 110 euro before VAT. So about twice the price of the Geoptik ones

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

I was offered to buy the stainless steel ones by Lucas Mesu. He said they were expensive because of the material: 13kg for 180 euro and 6.5kg for 110 euro before VAT. So about twice the price of the Geoptik ones

Good information, Goran. If you are concerned about how your kit looks (and I'm not) then the SS ones are worth every penny. I find the Geoptik ones irritating because of their styled 'barrel' shape, pathetic chrome and rustable locking bolt. A CW, for me, is just a lump which needs no styling but should be happy to live outside for at least two hundred years. 

Olly

[Dr_Ju_ju]

You intend being around that long then, Olly.....

[harry page]

45 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

is just a lump which needs no styling but should be happy to live outside for at least two hundred years. 

My wife says this is a good description off me

But I agree about the geopak weights very poor quality

Harry

[tomato]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

A CW, for me, is just a lump which needs no styling but should be happy to live outside for at least two hundred years. 

Some years ago when my astronomy hobby was ‘parked’, I rashly offered ‘A night under the stars’ with my telescope at a local charity auction. When the time came to deliver, I discovered I had lost my substantial counterweight for my scope. The solution was to punch a hole through the middle of a biscuit tin, fill it full of rocks, tape the lid on and hold it on the bar with jubilee clips. It worked and created an interesting opening topic on the night, but did little to dispel the ‘mad scientist’ impression that I had acquired.

[whipdry]

I have 3 of the 12.5 kg Baader stainless steel counterweights on my Mesu, think they also make 6.5 & 8.5 kg.

Here's a link for the 12.5 kg if anybody is interested;

https://www.astroshop.eu/counterweights/baader-cdp-counterweight-12-5kg/p,15462?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=15462&utm_campaign=1812&utm_source=froogle&gclid=CjwKCAiAmO3gBRBBEiwA8d0Q4nyLgJhaQs8ZhYOmr5TTVpeWV2Q4aLm33OQwBpPrIL4b9J2vakKsRRoC21YQAvD_BwE&utm_content=

Peter

[gorann]

10 hours ago, whipdry said:

I have 3 of the 12.5 kg Baader stainless steel counterweights on my Mesu, think they also make 6.5 & 8.5 kg.

Here's a link for the 12.5 kg if anybody is interested;

https://www.astroshop.eu/counterweights/baader-cdp-counterweight-12-5kg/p,15462?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=15462&utm_campaign=1812&utm_source=froogle&gclid=CjwKCAiAmO3gBRBBEiwA8d0Q4nyLgJhaQs8ZhYOmr5TTVpeWV2Q4aLm33OQwBpPrIL4b9J2vakKsRRoC21YQAvD_BwE&utm_content=

Peter

 

11 hours ago, tomato said:

Some years ago when my astronomy hobby was ‘parked’, I rashly offered ‘A night under the stars’ with my telescope at a local charity auction. When the time came to deliver, I discovered I had lost my substantial counterweight for my scope. The solution was to punch a hole through the middle of a biscuit tin, fill it full of rocks, tape the lid on and hold it on the bar with jubilee clips. It worked and created an interesting opening topic on the night, but did little to dispel the ‘mad scientist’ impression that I had acquired.

The only minor problem with the Baader weights is that the price is truely astronomical. I like the biscuit tin solution! Only drawback there would be the lack of a bolt to fasten it to the rod but with two smaller counterweights on each side it would work perfectly. Wonder if they make stainless biscuit tins.....

[MartinB]

One of my Geoptik counterweights didn't fit and needed some filing.  Whilst I was sorting I bought a strap on weight  which worked a treat (didn't go far beyond the meridian though!). 

[ollypenrice]

14 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

You intend being around that long then, Olly.....

 No, but the Mesus shows every sign of being up for it!

 

14 hours ago, harry page said:

My wife says this is a good description off me

But I agree about the geopak weights very poor quality

Harry

Our wives eem to think alike, Harry.

Olly

[whipdry]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

 

The only minor problem with the Baader weights is that the price is truely astronomical. I like the biscuit tin solution! Only drawback there would be the lack of a bolt to fasten it to the rod but with two smaller counterweights on each side it would work perfectly. Wonder if they make stainless biscuit tins.....

OK, 

25kg of Geoptik 2x10kg plus 1x5kg =£325. (Modern Astronomy) 

25kg of Baader 2x12.5kg

=£336  (see link) 

Peter

[gorann]

2 hours ago, whipdry said:

OK, 

25kg of Geoptik 2x10kg plus 1x5kg =£325. (Modern Astronomy) 

25kg of Baader 2x12.5kg

=£336  (see link) 

Peter

I can agree Peter that when you consider the weight the difference is smaller but not that small for me:

25 kg Geoptik from Amazon.de that I just ordered was 112.55 + 112.55 + 99.24 = 324.31 Euro with free shipping (so a bit cheaper than Modern Astronomy assuming the pound is still higher than the Euro)

25 kg Baader from Astroshop.de is 185.32 + 185.31 + 19.80 Euro shipping = 390.44 Euro

In any case I have placed my order and payed so I have to tell myself that I made the right choice?

[mihaighita]

On 17/12/2018 at 23:48, tomato said:

Another question if I may, I note the two bars installed adjacent to the Dec motor, these are not on the 2014 version. What is their purpose, my guess is to protect the motor from impact damage?

Most probably Lucas installed them after he received my mount for repair after an unfortunate wind-related incident... I hope he installed those on my 2017 mount - will see next week when the mount is arriving back to me.

[gorann]

My Mesu 200 arrived on Thursday and is now sitting on the livingroom table while I have been figuring out how to attach it to the pier, and I have decided to wait until I get some clear nights with moon to replace the EQ8 (so I do not miss prime imagaging time). Today I spent about two hours getting the super-glued central M12 bolt out of the Mesu mounting plate. I will then run a central M12 bolt through the top of the custom made aluminium box I have on my pier top and through the Mesu plate to secure the plate and then further up for attaching the mount. As you also found Dave, that bolt really needed a lot of heat to losen, and also a lot of force. I had to get more and more brutal before I eventually was able to make it turn.

I am also waiting for a Pole Master. I think it will make life easier both for the initial alignment and also to check and correct the alignment as the pier may move slightly due to the freezing and thawing of the ground.