Rowan AZ100 Mount Owners Thread

[johninderby]

45 minutes ago, swsantos said:

The Orion riser looks great with the Berlebach and I had thought about the Orion but they are unavailable, not one piece, not anodized aluminum like my TPOD, too tall for my purposes, and I wanted it wider than the AZ100 aesthetically. Also my impression is that the top of the Orion is flat and I wanted the riser to have a cut out on the top to accommodated the 2.6” protrusion on the bottom of the AZ100.

The riser has the cut out  in the top but for some reason both Orion and SW use an upside down photo of the riser that shows the bottom of the riser. Amazon.com says ships in 3 to 4 days.

8

Edited September 24, 2021 by johninderby

[Deadlake]

1 hour ago, swsantos said:

Anyone interested would have to contact him directly about it. 

if you have to ask then you cannot afford it... 😀
A large amount of metal to be CNC'd..

[bsdsgl84]

2 hours ago, swsantos said:

He custom made it for me to my specifications and it’s not on his site. Anyone interested would have to contact him directly about it. 
 

This is a link to my more detailed Cloudynights post about the riser

Hello @swsantos, 

Thanks for responding - I appreciate the link to CN. 

Tell me, presuming the centre bolt at the top of the riser matches the standard Rowan AZ100 base, is the riser bottom bore hole, similarly matched to the EQ-6 bolt? If both are yes, then I'm thinking it might be easy to simply contact Anthony at ADM with the link to your CN post and simply ask for a copy. 

Let me know, okay? 

Thanks again., 

bsdsgl84

 

[swsantos]

1 hour ago, bsdsgl84 said:

Hello @swsantos, 

Thanks for responding - I appreciate the link to CN. 

Tell me, presuming the centre bolt at the top of the riser matches the standard Rowan AZ100 base, is the riser bottom bore hole, similarly matched to the EQ-6 bolt? If both are yes, then I'm thinking it might be easy to simply contact Anthony at ADM with the link to your CN post and simply ask for a copy. 

Let me know, okay? 

Thanks again., 

bsdsgl84

 

Yes, that is correct all around, the bottom female thread is EQ6 standard 12mm x 1.75 pitch because my TPOD has the EQ6 adapter on it.

I specified the height of mine to be 6" because I needed that clearance for my Televue NP127 to clear the tripod with a little room to spare. You may need more or less...

I then ordered a 3 1/2" shorter panhandle from Rowan so that it too would clear the tripod.

I really do not like any part of my mount or telescope being able to hit the tripod. Its not about observing at the zenith, its about whacking the diagonal on the tripod by accident.

 

[bsdsgl84]

17 minutes ago, swsantos said:

Yes, that is correct all around, the bottom female thread is EQ6 standard 12mm x 1.75 pitch because my TPOD has the EQ6 adapter on it.

I specified the height of mine to be 6" because I needed that clearance for my Televue NP127 to clear the tripod with a little room to spare. You may need more or less...

I then ordered a 3 1/2" shorter panhandle from Rowan so that it too would clear the tripod.

I really do not like any part of my mount or telescope being able to hit the tripod. Its not about observing at the zenith, its about whacking the diagonal on the tripod by accident.

 

Hello @swsantos, 

Great - thanks for confirming. 

I'll email Anthony to request a copy. 

Thanks again!

bsdsgl84

[swsantos]

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

The riser has the cut out  in the top but for some reason both Orion and SW use an upside down photo of the riser that shows the bottom of the riser. Amazon.com says ships in 3 to 4 days.

8

I did not realize the picture was upside down, but I have had ADM make me three or four risers over the years and I really like a one piece anodized riser that's the height that I need and no more, and while I am at it the width I prefer.

[Deadlake]

11 hours ago, johninderby said:

There is always the Orion riser. Same as the SW but in black..

This actually the SW one but ainted back.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orion-7394-Atlas-Telescope-Extension/dp/B0069VZ6QW

What is the Orion riser's weight, only shows the package weight. 

The ADM special is around 2.5 kg.

[johninderby]

36 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

What is the Orion riser's weight, only shows the package weight. 

The ADM special is around 2.5 kg.

Full weight including clamping knob is 2980g so a bit heavier..

[Stephenstargazer]

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.

 

 

[johninderby]

Using a riser with the AZ100 is usually to gain clearance from the tripod  when using a long refractor.

[Deadlake]

59 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Using a riser with the AZ100 is usually to gain clearance from the tripod  when using a long refractor.

The ADM half pier is for use with a Tele Vue 127, thats around F5.5, it's short.

[JAC51]

21 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

The ADM half pier is for use with a Tele Vue 127, thats around F5.5, it's short.

There might be hope for slightly longer refractors as the  Televue 127 has a physical length of 33.5” or 850mm without diagonal, (source televue website) though it is Optically F5.5 , physically it more like a more conventional F7 ish scope.  
I was surprised by this when someone pointed this out to me on CN as I always assume they where really short.

[Deadlake]

56 minutes ago, JAC51 said:

There might be hope for slightly longer refractors as the  Televue 127 has a physical length of 33.5” or 850mm without diagonal, (source televue website) though it is Optically F5.5 , physically it more like a more conventional F7 ish scope.  
I was surprised by this when someone pointed this out to me on CN as I always assume they where really short.

The LZOS 130/F6 I have is 780 mm, then add a FT3545 focuser and it starts to get long. 

[Trentend]

Had the C11 and full kit (heavy binoviewer etc) on the AZ100 this evening. Seemed to be balanced ok but the Alt slow motion control was juddering quite badly when adjusting the scope up. Is this poor balancing skills on my behalf, do I need to adjust the clutch tension or something else?

Jupiter especially sharp this evening and even managed to try the scope out with the night vision kit and reducer. Globs looked spectacular.

[lifeonmars]

21 hours ago, Trentend said:

Had the C11 and full kit (heavy binoviewer etc) on the AZ100 this evening. Seemed to be balanced ok but the Alt slow motion control was juddering quite badly when adjusting the scope up. Is this poor balancing skills on my behalf, do I need to adjust the clutch tension or something else?

Jupiter especially sharp this evening and even managed to try the scope out with the night vision kit and reducer. Globs looked spectacular.

Try adjusting the Alt damping knob on the mount in slightly, it does help to stop the juddering you are talking about. long term you may need to counterweight the front of the tube.Try it, it may help.

[Trentend]

Thanks I’ll take a look.

Bigger problem now is I’ve looked into getting an additional saddle so I can have two scope pointing at the same place (C11 and frac) but also need an altitude adjuster so these plus the mount are going to weigh quite a bit! The price I suppose for stability…

[Trentend]

Presume all quiet in terms of a motor for this mount?

[johninderby]

18 minutes ago, Trentend said:

Presume all quiet in terms of a motor for this mount?

Been waiting for a while for my beta test motors. Been due in a couple of weeks for about two months. But knowing Rowan it won’t be released until they get it perfect. 

[johninderby]

21 minutes ago, Trentend said:

Thanks I’ll take a look.

Bigger problem now is I’ve looked into getting an additional saddle so I can have two scope pointing at the same place (C11 and frac) but also need an altitude adjuster so these plus the mount are going to weigh quite a bit! The price I suppose for stability…

For visual the adjuster isn’t essential really. I find the alignment is good enough for most uses.

[Stu]

On 28/09/2021 at 01:07, Trentend said:

Seemed to be balanced ok but the Alt slow motion control was juddering quite badly when adjusting the scope up

I suspect that it is imbalance causing the juddering, it happened with my 130mm when unbalanced badly.

[Deadlake]

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.

 

 

Baader make an EQ6 pillar as well

However why possible to mount on a T-Pod I've not seen any other adapters for other brands on tripods....

 

 

[bsdsgl84]

21 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

Baader make an EQ6 pillar as well

However why possible to mount on a T-Pod I've not seen any other adapters for other brands on tripods....

 

 

I came across this myself earlier, but they never responded to requests for information about using this pillar with existing EQ6 / Rowan AZ100 compatible tripods.., 

That said, it does look useful., 

bsdsgl84

 

[Stu]

4 minutes ago, bsdsgl84 said:

I came across this myself earlier, but they never responded to requests for information about using this pillar with existing EQ6 / Rowan AZ100 compatible tripods.., 

That said, it does look useful., 

bsdsgl84

 

Looks like you need the EQ6 flange with it.

https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/accessories/mount-accessories/tripod-adapter-flanges/baader-gp-tripodpillar-adapter-flange-for-cel-as-eq-5heq5.html

[bsdsgl84]

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

Looks like you need the EQ6 flange with it.

https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/accessories/mount-accessories/tripod-adapter-flanges/baader-gp-tripodpillar-adapter-flange-for-cel-as-eq-5heq5.html

This product is the puck adapter for the mount and not the tripod - about which I sought information from Baader.., 

bsdsgl84 

 

[johninderby]

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