Ercole Giro

[Alan White]

22 hours ago, johninderby said:

I’m thinking £599.00 or so for just the head without saddles. 🤔🙂

Off the mark John , but the posted price is lower than the AZ8 by a decent margin.
Can also have internal encoders fitted from the images and Steves write up.
Looks most interesting indeed.
Now, how do I sell body parts 🤣

[John]

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

... the posted price is lower than the AZ8 by a decent margin.
 

Does the AZ8 cost of around £1K include DT clamps and a tripod ?

 

[omo]

I think it has clamps but no tripod or riser, load about 70lbs

[John]

With a couple of DT clamps the AZ100 will be pretty much the same price as the AZ8 I think.

It's the capacity to handle tube length that I'm interested in

[johninderby]

It looks like the AZ100 will have a bit higher load capacity although they won’t know for sure until they have tested it with long OTAs. The saddles they provide with the AZ8 are very short and I see quite a few have upgraded their saddles.

Seems to me that Rowan have studied the AZ8 and have made a number of improvements particularily the slo mo control.

 

 

[John]

I've been interested in the AZ8 for some time and very nearly bought one but from the feedback that I could gather on it, I had some lingering doubts whether the AZ8 would carry my F/9.2 130mm triplet refractor more steadily than my Skytee II currently does, which would be the prime reason for me to acquire such a mount.

Of course the AZ8 is much better machined and finished than the Skytee II, that is obvious

 

[CraigT82]

44 minutes ago, John said:

Does the AZ8 cost of around £1K include DT clamps and a tripod ?

 

Looks like RVO has it with clamps and tripod at £999.

[Alan White]

47 minutes ago, John said:

Does the AZ8 cost of around £1K include DT clamps and a tripod ?

 

Short answer John, yes listed at £999 with clamps, tripod and 6” riser at RVO.

Load is 35lbs per side, which is about 15 Kg.

Not sure if the AZ8 has an encoder option though and it’s not made in the UK of course.

[omo]

3 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Looks like RVO has it with clamps and tripod at £999.

Thats a good deal compared to Telescope Service who dont include the tripod, the risers are not cheap either but are adaptable.

 

 

[AdeKing]

4 hours ago, Alan White said:

Not sure if the AZ8 has an encoder option though and it’s not made in the UK of course.

I saw this when searching for encoders earlier, so it looks like AZ8 encoders are available from Astro Devices. 

https://www.astrodevices.com/shop/index.php?product/page/18/Losmandy+AZ8+Encoder+Kit

[Rick_It]

Watch out. Encoders seem to be mounted internally in the Rowan 100, but externally in the AZ8.

Having the encoder internally mounted (like in the AYO mounts) is better.