Rowan AZ100 Mount Owners Thread

[Deadlake]

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

At a few hundred pounds with the needed adaptor it seems overpriced. 🤔

Would be interesting to get the ADM price for comparison....

[Deadlake]

First night I managed to get out with AZ100. 

Very robust mount, no shakes at all. Once the scope was balanced no drift at all, but you need a long Losmandy bar to balance a stubby nose heavy triplet.

Tracking on Jupiter was a step up from a ScopeTech Zero and the quality of the views due to the solid way the mount performed was really down to seeing.

And yes really fun to swing around the star field, you can just go where you want to compared with a GEM and no need to have to re-align the diagonal after every move.

The only item is balance, going from a TOE 4mm to a APM UFF 30 mm needed a rebalance, however thats quite minor considering the flexibility provided and no need to move the diagonal like in a GEM.

AZ100, T-Pod and LZOS is luggable around the garden without taking apart. And the T-Pod seems super stable. Need to test some more.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Deadlake

[johninderby]

Now you know why owners love their AZ100s and rave about the build quality. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[Telescope40]

Hello.  Just came across a very short video on my FB feed showing the mount with goto motors attached being given a test run with SkySafari. User notes very quiet slewing at full speed and silent when tracking. Refractor in use on the mount. 
Typical -  cant find it again now as I was trying to post a link. 
John

[Alan White]

https://www.facebook.com/rowanastronomy/videos/259031926150492/

 

Here you go John.

[Alan White]

On 01/10/2021 at 23:53, Deadlake said:

The only item is balance, going from a TOE 4mm to a APM UFF 30 mm needed a rebalance, however thats quite minor considering the flexibility provided and no need to move the diagonal like in a GEM.

That  would apply to any Alt-Az with such a differrence in eyepiece size and weight though.

[johninderby]

That vid was just posted by Rowan. Encouraging news this morning from Derek about the beta test units so hopefully not much longer. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Getting the last few things sorted with a new system does take a fair bit of time.🙂

[Stephenstargazer]

On 01/10/2021 at 23:53, Deadlake said:

The only item is balance, going from a TOE 4mm to a APM UFF 30 mm needed a rebalance, however thats quite minor considering the flexibility provided and no need to move the diagonal like in a GEM.

A few suggestions:

Balance the scope at 45 deg rather than horizontally to begin with. Use a midweight eyepiece initially and apply more clutch friction to accomodate your range of eyepieces - which fortunately will not much affect the Rowan slow motions.

Add a small secondary counterweight you can move to balance out different eyepieces - works well and can be reset whilst az lock is applied to change eyepiece. Could be on the RHS of mount, or a slider on prism bar, but not hard to arrange.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Stephenstargazer

[Deadlake]

4 hours ago, Stephenstargazer said:

A few suggestions:

Balance the scope at 45 deg rather than horizontally to begin with. Use a midweight eyepiece initially and apply more clutch friction to accomodate your range of eyepieces - which fortunately will not much affect the Rowan slow motions.

Add a small secondary counterweight you can move to balance out different eyepieces - works well and can be reset whilst az lock is applied to change eyepiece. Could be on the RHS of mount, or a slider on prism bar, but not hard to arrange.

That's a good idea, I start with a 24mm UFF, its the 30 mm UFF is what starts a balance shift. Really minor.
 

[Alan White]

10 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

That's a good idea, I start with a 24mm UFF, its the 30 mm UFF is what starts a balance shift. Really minor.
 

I balance my UFF 30 and my 7mmXW OK in my Alt Az Mount, so I am sure with just the right point found you will too.
The HR3.4 is obviously a gear change in size, but with a small move of the Vixen Rail backwards, all is good.
You have that wonderful 'Stu's Knob' aka Altitude Lock on the AZ100 of course that makes things easier.

Sorry @Stu it has to be said every so often, makes me snigger like a naughty school boy.
I did ask Derek why they dropped the fine name, he grinned and said it was a professional decision...
they clearly liked the name too secretly 😉 
Is that Nuralzyer wearing off?

[Dek Rowan Astro]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

You have that wonderful 'Stu's Knob' aka Altitude Lock on the AZ100 of course that makes things easier.

Sorry @Stu it has to be said every so often, makes me snigger like a naughty school boy.
I did ask Derek why they dropped the fine name, he grinned and said it was a professional decision...
they clearly liked the name too secretly 😉 
Is that Nuralzyer wearing off?

Externally we call it the altitude lock, within the 4 walls of Rowan we give it the respect it deserves and call it after it's inventor 😉 

I think the Nuralyzer will be a distant non memory very soon, eh Alan 😉

Derek

[Alan White]

Neuralyzer? 
I don’t remember, just a flash and back on the M40

I am glad it’s given due respect at Rowan Towers, perhaps the Stu Lock is more PC

 

 

[Alan White]

Another vid on FB with both motors at 100% speed, very quiet indeed

I think some folks are in for a treat very soon indeed 👍👍👍

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Another vid on FB with both motors at 100% speed, very quiet indeed

I think some folks are in for a treat very soon indeed 👍👍👍

Thanks for the heads up, looks amazing! Can’t wait to give it a try out.

[TakMan]

On 01/10/2021 at 23:53, Deadlake said:

The only item is balance, going from a TOE 4mm to a APM UFF 30 mm needed a rebalance

Another option (upon those suggested above), is a TeleVue 'Equaliser' - something I use if switching from a heavy Ethos to a 1.25" eyepiece...

https://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=23&Tab=_equil

[Deadlake]

36 minutes ago, TakMan said:

Another option (upon those suggested above), is a TeleVue 'Equaliser' - something I use if switching from a heavy Ethos to a 1.25" eyepiece...

https://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=23&Tab=_equil

If Baader could make one with a click lock....

or this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/counterweights/baader-dovetail-bar-levelling-counterweight.html

Edited October 5, 2021 by Deadlake

[lifeonmars]

On 27/09/2021 at 18:56, Stephenstargazer said:

All this talk of risers reminds me of one of the advantages of equatorial mounts, but I wont go there on this Thread! If you do need a riser then you should consider a heavier duty tripod (much discussed earlier!!) not just for the extra weight but also the the height added. This raises the mass of mount and scope well above the tripod intersect which increases tendency to vibrate.

A really good riser design was the Vixen one shown, a one piece aluminium casting locating with QD spigots each end. Sadly I dont think there has ever been an EQ6 sized one. This is 210mm long and  weighs 1.8kg. An economic low volume version for AZ100 could have CNC end plates welded into a cut tube to save cost of a casting mould.

 

 

I wonder,as anybody tried to to scallop out a Skywatcher  Extension like this? tempted to have a go with a grinder and chain drill the curved bits and do a bit of heavy filing,the only thing that puts me off is am i going to induce flexure into the extension piece  . Hmm Decisions Decisions.

[Stephenstargazer]

The Vixen is a thick walled casting. I don't recommend cutting out a thin walled tube, like SW riser, and you would still have the other joints in it. The idea of the cut out is to have a 'one piece' riser. The Baader one does the same ?

PS some of this is getting a bit off topic  from AZ100, but they are issues found in use. Valid ???

Edited October 8, 2021 by Stephenstargazer

[lifeonmars]

Good point Stephen,think I will leave well alone,Disaster Averted thanks.

[AdeKing]

As posted in the postman thread, I collected the final piece of my AZ100 setup yesterday, an iOptron Tri-Pier.

I've had the relevant Tri-Pier adaptor for a while and managed to find time to get everything assembled this afternoon.

The legs are not fully spread out in this shot as the feet on the Skywatcher pillar mount that this replaces are only 800mm apart compared to 1,000mm on the Tri-Pier when fully extended so the pads I set into the lawn need to be moved apart to fit the Tri-Pier.

I even managed to get a quick look at the sun in WL earlier, so here everything is on solar observing guise.

[JeremyS]

39 minutes ago, AdeKing said:

As posted in the postman thread, I collected the final piece of my AZ100 setup yesterday, an iOptron Tri-Pier.

I've had the relevant Tri-Pier adaptor for a while and managed to find time to get everything assembled this afternoon.

The legs are not fully spread out in this shot as the feet on the Skywatcher pillar mount that this replaces are only 800mm apart compared to 1,000mm on the Tri-Pier when fully extended so the pads I set into the lawn need to be moved apart to fit the Tri-Pier.

I even managed to get a quick look at the sun in WL earlier, so here everything is on solar observing guise.

Has anyone said you’ve got nice legs Ade 🤔

🤣

[Stu]

Looks fabulous @AdeKing 👍👍

[Alan White]

Looking great Ade, the trip was worthwhile

[AdeKing]

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Has anyone said you’ve got nice legs Ade 🤔

🤣

Why thank you @JeremyS 🤣 they are rather lovely aren't they, even if I do say so myself 😂

3 hours ago, Stu said:

Looks fabulous @AdeKing 👍👍

Thanks @Stu, lets hope that it works as well as I hope it will and that it doesn't just look good.

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Looking great Ade, the trip was worthwhile

Thanks @Alan White, yes the trip was definitely worthwhile, I'm very pleased with the end result and can't wait to give it a try to see how it performs. 

Now I need to get a cover for those lovely legs as they stick out from underneath the cover that I currently have and I want to keep them looking good.

Ade

[BGazing]

20 hours ago, AdeKing said:

As posted in the postman thread, I collected the final piece of my AZ100 setup yesterday, an iOptron Tri-Pier.

I've had the relevant Tri-Pier adaptor for a while and managed to find time to get everything assembled this afternoon.

The legs are not fully spread out in this shot as the feet on the Skywatcher pillar mount that this replaces are only 800mm apart compared to 1,000mm on the Tri-Pier when fully extended so the pads I set into the lawn need to be moved apart to fit the Tri-Pier.

I even managed to get a quick look at the sun in WL earlier, so here everything is on solar observing guise.

Can't help wondering...why do you use vibration dampers on grass and first dig out little foxholes for them?