iOptron AZ Pro - Decisions

[AdeKing]

Hi All,

I will shortly be in the position to purchase an AZ Pro mount, which for me represents a sizeable investment. 

I'm a visual observer only, though might dip my toe into basic solar and lunar imaging, though more than likely that I will not.

Scope wise I'll be using either an ED100, ED120, or if the mount can cope with the length of the tube a Starwave 102 f/11 mainly for solar, lunar, planetary, doubles and less frequently DSOs.

In the future, I may go to a larger Frac, but its unlikely to be larger than a 5" as I don't have an observatory so would need to set up / break down each session.

I also want to ramain fairly mobile.

As it stands, I was looking at the combination of the AZ Pro mount and 2" tripod, with the pier extension and secondary dovetail clamp but have recently read a few less than glowing reports about the 2" tripod (mainly on CN)  and am wondering whether or not it would be worth me going for either the iOptron Tri-Pier or a Berlebach Uni 28 with suitable top plate.

My EQ5 was struggling with the 102 f/11 until I mounted the EQ5 on a Uni 18 which has transformed the setup, so I'm wondering whether or not it would be worth spending the extra money on a Uni 28.

I know that the Tri-Pier is heavier, but does a tri-pier take much more setting up than a tripod as I'll be honest in that I'm a bit of a lazy astronomer and lots of faffing around to set up is likely to result in me not using it much and the reason for getting the AZ Pro is the simplicity of setup. 

As the tripod forms a reasonable amount of the cost, I'd like to get a tripod that is future proof so that I don't have to buy again, and that could be used for other mounts.

Berlebach offer a number of top plates for their tripods, but does anyone know which would be suitable for the AZ Pro.

Many thanks for any help received.

[GlenM]

I got in touch with Berlebach about a top plate for the AZ Pro to fit their excellent tripods and they don't make one. Perhaps if the mount becomes more popular they will produce one.

 

Glen.

 

 

[AdeKing]

6 hours ago, GlenM said:

I got in touch with Berlebach about a top plate for the AZ Pro to fit their excellent tripods and they don't make one. Perhaps if the mount becomes more popular they will produce one.

 

Glen.

 

 

Thanks for the info @GlenM, though I've done a bit more digging and it seems that Berlebach offer a top plate for an IEQ45.

Given that I'd need the mini Pier extension to accommodate my OTAs and as this fits the IEQ45 tripod and would give me a suitable platform for the AZ Pro. 

I'll make some more enquiries, but think that this gives me a solution to my problem. 

Ade

 

[GlenM]

Interesting,Ade. So the thread for the IEQ45 is M12 with a  1.75mm pitch? That's the thread on the iOptron 2" tripod.

 

Glen.

 

[AdeKing]

1 hour ago, GlenM said:

Interesting,Ade. So the thread for the IEQ45 is M12 with a  1.75mm pitch? That's the thread on the iOptron 2" tripod.

 

Glen.

 

Hi Glen, not quite from the images I have seen the IEQ45 has a locating pin rather than thread.  However, the pier extension bolts to the top plate of the tripod via three M8 bolts.  

The top of the mini pier then needs the threaded rod and star nuts to connect the AZ Pro and I know that the mini pier is compatible as its listed on the ioptron website. 

I'm not sure whether the IEQ45 top plate is directly compatible with the AZ Pro yet. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by AdeKing

[JG777]

There is a lot of info in this thread on CN about AZ Pro 

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/658180-ioptron-az-mount-pro/

[GlenM]

22 hours ago, AdeKing said:

Hi Glen, not quite from the images I have seen the IEQ45 has a locating pin rather than thread.  However, the pier extension bolts to the top plate of the tripod via three M8 bolts.  

The top of the mini pier then needs the threaded rod and star nuts to connect the AZ Pro and I know that the mini pier is compatible as its listed on the ioptron website. 

I'm not sure whether the IEQ45 top plate is directly compatible with the AZ Pro yet. 

Right, Ade, got it. Let me know how you go on as I would be very interested in a Berlebach tripod.

 

Glen.

 

[AdeKing]

3 hours ago, GlenM said:

Right, Ade, got it. Let me know how you go on as I would be very interested in a Berlebach tripod.

Glen.

I've never used an iOptron EQ mount, but looking at the IEQ45 manual, it seems that rather than having a large single central bolt, as skywatcher mounts have, that the IEQ45 uses a central rounded pin and north alignment peg together with two star nuts which bolt to the east and west sides of the mount and secure it to the tripod top plate (see photo from Berlebach website).

The IEQ45 top plate only has 4x threaded holes in it, two for the north/south pin and the other two to bolt the IEQ45 head to and so it is therefore not suitable for the AZ Pro head directly.

I'm not sure whether the central pin is removable, but if it is, it may be possible to pass an M12 bolt directly through and bolt the AZ Pro head directly to the top plate if you're happy to dispense with the three levelling screws and just use the tripod legs to level.

The Mini-Pier Top Plate (CAD Drawing) has the three threaded holes (circled in red) for the adjustment screws, and whilst it is available separately, I'm not sure how you would attach it directly to the top of a tripod without modification, but it looks like it will attach straight out of the box if you use the mini-pier extension (http://www.ioptron.com/v/Manuals/8032_MinPier_Instruction.pdf).

The issue for me is that the IEQ45 top plate adds £70 to the price of a Uni18/Uni28 meaning that you're approaching Berlebach Planet tripod money, although if you go for the heavyweight Planet Tripod, the IEQ45 top plate costs no extra.

Hope this helps to explain things a bit better.

[GlenM]

Yes it does. All very complicated 😀

 

Glen.

 

[GlenM]

I want to fit my Benro S8 video head to the iOptron 2" tripod but not worked it out yet. Probably an Heath Robinson affair, I'll get there eventually.

 

Glen.

 

 

 

[BGazing]

Bump!

Do you guys think it would be feasible to make an adapter for EQ 5 Berlebach Uni plate so that AZ Pro could be installed on top? 

[AdeKing]

I'm sure that an engineering company could machine you something if you showed them the drawing above and took the tripod with you.

I'd guess it would be a two part job, the adaptor plate as shown above and a separate adaptor to accommodate the north pin of the EQ5 tripod and give a flat top.

[omo]

The North pin is bolted on on my Planet, so hopefully it can be removed from a Uni too

[AdeKing]

15 minutes ago, omo said:

The North pin is bolted on on my Planet, so hopefully it can be removed from a Uni too

D'Oh, sorry, I didn't read the Berlebach part, just saw EQ5.

The north pin on the Berlebach Uni EQ5 top plate is also bolted on and can be removed.

The problem will be that I think the central thread used on the base of the iOptron AZ Pro is larger than the M10 thread used by the EQ5, but so you'd need to enlarge the central hole in the Uni top plate.

If you're going to need to use the pier extension, then you can simply clamp the base of the pier extension to the EQ5 top plate using an M10 threaded rod with large washers and nuts above the extension base plate and again under the Uni top plate to sandwich the two parts.

I did this successfully with mine before the Berlebach iEQ45 top plate turned up.

Hope that helps.