Ercole Giro

[FLO]

5 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Maybe it’s time for something new in Alt Az mounts.

Hold that thought... 😉

Steve

[johninderby]

OK I’m holding................

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by johninderby

[heliumstar]

18 minutes ago, djpaul said:

Anyone here care to share their thoughts on the Altair Sabre mk2 ?

I used it. Very smooth and I had no issues focusing and observing at 150x with 127 Mak. What put me off is non-responsive Altair Astro when I inquired about encoders they were developing so I didn't go with it and am kind of still on the hunt for similar mount. I mean if you can't answer a simple question what about the support down the line? I don't want to bash anyone but that put me off of any AA products now and I love their scopes - Starwave 80ED-R was one of the best I owned - better star test than equivalent TS.

17 minutes ago, FLO said:

Hold that thought... 😉

Steve

No, just no. Holding people hostage like this is not polite

Edited September 19, 2019 by heliumstar

[John]

I had an Altair Sabre Mk2 for a while. It was OK to use and looked good but I felt that both the Ercole and the Skytee II did a better job with my ED120 refractor in terms of both smoothness of motions and high magnification vibration dampening. I tried a 6 inch F/8 refractor on the Sabre and it was rather overwhelmed.

Very interested to hear what FLO might be thinking of

[FLO]

Need to make some photos then will reveal in the sponsor section a new premium Alt-Az mount manufactured here in the U.K. 🙂

Sometime early next week.  

Steve  

[John]

Hopefully priced somewhere between the Skytee II / Ercole and the £1K plus items I mentioned earlier ?

[johninderby]

2 minutes ago, FLO said:

Need to make some photos then will reveal (in the sponsor section) a new premium Alt-Az mount manufactured here in the U.K. 🙂

Sometime early next week.  

Steve  

So will I have to sell just a scope and some bits to afford it or a kidney?  😁

[djpaul]

3 minutes ago, FLO said:

Need to make some photos then will reveal (in the sponsor section) a new premium Alt-Az mount manufactured here in the U.K. 🙂

Sometime early next week.  

Steve  

Tell us more .... Approx Price? 😀

[FLO]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Hopefully priced somewhere between the Skytee II / Ercole and the £1K plus items I mentioned earlier ?

I think you will be pleased 🙂

[omo]

41 minutes ago, djpaul said:

Anyone here care to share their thoughts on the Altair Sabre mk2 ?

Only had mine out twice so its difficult to say, at higher powers may be some vibration despite being a bit OTT on the tripod riser side of things. I need to learn how to use it now its starting to get dark  up here.

And now Aunt Flo is going to tempt me with something else, hope it can use more than 2 bolts from the pm clamps unlike the sabre

Edited September 19, 2019 by omo

[Alan White]

The Giro and the Skytee 2 use 2 bolts too, or am I not understanding what you mean?

[Alan White]

31 minutes ago, FLO said:

I think you will be pleased 🙂

I hope so, you have piqued our interest.

 

[djpaul]

I bought a sky tee 2 secondhand and sold it on within a week.

Too much backlash and didn't like the overall quality of it at all .

[omo]

7 minutes ago, Alan White said:

The Giro and the Skytee 2 use 2 bolts too, or am I not understanding what you mean?

There are lots of hole combinations but only 2 match up with either an ADM or Primaluce saddle / clamps.  just like the idea of more support for the load

[Space Hopper]

I think i'm the only DM6 user on here, and together with the Nexus DSC they are a formidable combo.

I love mine.......i would'nt consider it 'grab and go, but its not too far off.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Tubby Bear

[mike chadwick]

Giro mini on a Meade giant tripod can duel mount a 120 frac and an Orion 8 inch reflector (but not a skywatcher way to heavy) at the same time very solid 

[djpaul]

1 hour ago, FLO said:

I think you will be pleased 🙂

Im looking forward to this item.

[AdeKing]

20 minutes ago, djpaul said:

Im looking forward to this item.

Me too 😊

[Stu]

32 minutes ago, mike chadwick said:

Giro mini on a Meade giant tripod can duel mount a 120 frac and an Orion 8 inch reflector (but not a skywatcher way to heavy) at the same time very solid 

The Mini Giros are amazingly capable if you stick them on a decent tripod with a pier extension. With two scopes on they seem to work even better because they are balanced.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, FLO said:

Need to make some photos then will reveal in the sponsor section a new premium Alt-Az mount manufactured here in the U.K. 🙂

Sometime early next week.  

Steve  

Intriguing Steve. You are teasing us somewhat 🤣🤣

Look forward to seeing it. Might there be a glut of Ercoles on the market soon I wonder?

[jock1958]

3 hours ago, johninderby said:

Have looked at the AZ8 and thought maybe someday but the TS-AZ5 I have now works so well. Seems better set up than the Skytee II and no problem with backlash. 

Just googled the TS AZ5 now as I wasn’t 💯 sure what it was, looks a dead ringer of the Skytee 2 to me. What’s the differences? 

[Rob Sellent]

I enjoy using the AZ4 with the small 76 but get a little nervous when mounting the 4". A few years back I bought this Skywatcher(?) mount (see below) from a fellow astronomer in Alicante. It's excellent for mounting the 76 and 60 Lunt for dual solar viewing and I've also been using it with the Vixen. So far so good, and a lot more sturdier than the AZ4. Nevertheless, I'm also very intrigued by what FLO has in store. 

Playing around with the two AZ mounts, I also think much stability comes from the tripod as well. For high power viewing for anything over f7, perhaps a decent 2" tripod is also necessary?

@jock1958Don't quote me on this but I don't think Skywatcher make the Skytee 2. As such, the TS mount and the Skytee 2 are probably from the same manufacturers with pretty much identical specs.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Rob Sellent

[John]

1 minute ago, Rob Sellent said:

 

@jock1958Don't quote me on this but I don't think Skywatcher make the Skytee 2.....

Quite correct. The Skytee II is not a Skywatcher product.

 

[johninderby]

39 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Just googled the TS AZ5 now as I wasn’t 💯 sure what it was, looks a dead ringer of the Skytee 2 to me. What’s the differences? 

The same basicly except they seem to have specced extra quality control. Mine doesn’t suffer from backlash problems. Also both ends are drilled for saddles not just the one end as on the Skytee. And they haven’t wasted monsy on rubbish saddles that need replacing anyway.

Stellarvue used to sell a version with saddles on both ends. 🤔

And no that isn’t the stock tripod but a modded EQ6.

Edited September 19, 2019 by johninderby

[Stu]

34 minutes ago, Rob Sellent said:

I also think much stability comes from the tripod as well. For high power viewing for anything over f7, perhaps a decent 2" tripod is also necessary?

Totally right Rob. The tripod makes a huge difference and can make a good mount seem poor. As said, the Mini giro on a good tripod eg EQ6 feels like it can take pretty big loads very steadily.