Show off your Alt-Azimuth mounts

[John]

Nice selection Mike

I guess many of us have owned an AZ-3 at some point. OK with a short scope on board, as long as you don't try and point it too high in the sky !

The fork mount (2nd from last) is a Hercules isn't it ?. Don't see many of those over here.

 

[John]

I've found a couple more that I'd forgotten about

Vixen Porta Mk 1:

Tele Vue Gibraltar:

[GavStar]

9 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

@GavStar    Ok...........

The handset. I can't get to grips with it. I struggle with the alignment procedure every time. I've done 2 star alignments and slewed to an object and its been nowhere near it.

You have to be careful with the cables which can easily get caught. And the main power lead is all too easy to accidentally catch and pull out.

Its unbelievably heavy. I'm glad i go to the gym ! 

The counterweights are hazardous to fingers ! The edges of the tightening wheels are razor sharp (as well as the bars) , and i've cut myself on them several times. Its a gloves on job now for me when i handle them.

Other than that.....😀

The reality is, i'm not very savvy with things like this, and just need someone who knows the mount show me the ropes.

Neils has just started an online user group, so hopefully i can get to grips with it. I must persevere, as it's stopping me doing any sort of imaging.

Then theres the fact then when i actually do get a clear night when i'm not at work, its all too easy just to grab the DM-6 and be observing in no time at all. That i can use, and i have no problem at all using the DSC Nexus, unlike the Panther.

 

Thanks for these comments, very interesting to get someone else’s perspective on this mount - there doesn’t seem to be that many around.

I agree the handset is a bit awkward. Hence I use skyfi and sky safari to zip around the skies with the panther. I’ve never had a problem with the 2 star align - I assume your location settings etc are all correct?

Compared to my dob and c11 I find it not too heavy - I like the fact it breaks down into separate bags which are easy to transport.

And my counterweights aren’t sharp - so no bloody fingers here. 

It did take me a little while to get the hang of it. In particular I now do the balancing on setup carefully which avoids any issues. 

And it works well with binoculars as well.

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by GavStar

[mikeDnight]

7 hours ago, John said:

Nice selection Mike

I guess many of us have owned an AZ-3 at some point. OK with a short scope on board, as long as you don't try and point it too high in the sky !

The fork mount (2nd from last) is a Hercules isn't it ?. Don't see many of those over here.

 

Hi John. Yes its a Hercules. I was too tired last night to do a write-up for each mount, but I've edited the post now giving a description of each mount.

[Stu]

Wow, what a popular thread already!

@John, I think you might have missed one though? No pictures yet I guess? 😉😉 Should be right up your street 👍👍

Here are a random selection from me, a few missing from this but it gives a flavour.

Looking at the pictures, I seem to favour relatively grab and go kit which I can take around with me, although the Vixen 150ED on AZ-EQ6 'missile launcher' was a beast!

 

[John]

Wow !!!

What a great selection of alt-az joy there Stu

I'm picking up my new baby on Sunday all being well

Thats why my mind has been on alt-az mounts of course !

[Alan White]

13 minutes ago, John said:

Wow !!!

What a great selection of alt-az joy there Stu

I'm picking up my new baby on Sunday all being well

Thats why my mind has been on alt-az mounts of course !

New Baby??? Tel more Mr H ???

[Alan White]

@Stu I thought some of the others such as @John and @mikeDnight etc were obsessed,
however I think so far you take the prize for most mount / scope ownership shown on alt/az.
That Vixen 150 managed to make the AZ-EQ6 look small!

[Stu]

31 minutes ago, John said:

Wow !!!

What a great selection of alt-az joy there Stu

I'm picking up my new baby on Sunday all being well

Thats why my mind has been on alt-az mounts of course !

Ah yes, was thinking you had it already.

I thought that might be influencing your thoughts at the moment 😁👍

[Stu]

32 minutes ago, John said:

Wow !!!

What a great selection of alt-az joy there Stu

I'm picking up my new baby on Sunday all being well

Thats why my mind has been on alt-az mounts of course !

Thanks John.

For the record, my obsession is as follows:

Vixen Porta

Mini Giro

Giro-WR - still have

Giro x2

Ercole x2 - still have one

AyoDigi II

AZ-EQ5

AZ-EQ6

Temporary custodian of an AZ100

I think that is it!

[John]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

New Baby??? Tel more Mr H ???

I'm buying GavStar / Gavin's T-Rex from him

It's my 60th birthday next month so I've decided to treat myself to something really nice. When Gavin put his T-Rex up for sale I knew that I had to act fast. These things rarely become available and production stopped back in 2016 when the chap who exclusively built the mounts in Japan sadly passed away.

I'm really rather excited

[johninderby]

One of the great all time Alt-Az mounts.. 👍🏻

[Stu]

13 minutes ago, John said:

I'm buying GavStar / Gavin's T-Rex from him

It's my 60th birthday next month so I've decided to treat myself to something really nice. When Gavin put his T-Rex up for sale I knew that I had to act fast. These things rarely become available and production stopped back in 2016 when the chap who exclusively built the mounts in Japan sadly passed away.

I'm really rather excited

It's an excellent mount John, sure you will love it. I would be very tempted by one but for the fact that I enjoy dual scope setups too much.

[Alan White]

1 hour ago, John said:

I'm buying GavStar / Gavin's T-Rex from him

It's my 60th birthday next month so I've decided to treat myself to something really nice. When Gavin put his T-Rex up for sale I knew that I had to act fast. These things rarely become available and production stopped back in 2016 when the chap who exclusively built the mounts in Japan sadly passed away.

I'm really rather excited

Happy Birthday in advance.
And wow, that will be a nice mount indeed, now I realise why you held off the AZ100.
I remember you saying you would like one a long time back, you have more patience than myself.
 

[Stu]

This has got to win the barmiest alt az setup, surely? 🤣🤣

Orion Optics VX12L f6 (not f5.3) on an AyoDigi II mount. I had to use a step to reach the eyepiece at the zenith if I remember correctly. It was a bit wobbly due to flex in the tube and rings. A dob is soooooo much better.

[johninderby]

Bresser 10” dob OTA on a TS-AZ5 mount. Worked surprising well but prefer the dob mount.

[Fozzie]

Yep I can swing a space heater around on a skyteeII too! 

I miss the aperture of the 200p, but by eck this was a heavy set up..  The chap I bought the sky tee from had a 250p on it, with a big 7kg meade CW.. grab and stagger!

[John]

I've tried the newt / mak-newt + alt-az T mount thing a couple of times. it worked quite well too

[wormix]

18 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

My AZ5  (little squealer), as when i got it from RVO it sqealed like a stuck pig. RVO couldnt have cared less, so I dismantled it to find there was no grease on any of the parts that needed it. After greasing the necessary parts the mount worked fine. Not as good as an AZ4 by a long way!

That’s interesting - I’m considering an AZ4 / 5 as a quick setup mount for my ETX125 and just assumed the AZ5 would be superior. 
 

 

[mikeDnight]

10 minutes ago, wormix said:

That’s interesting - I’m considering an AZ4 / 5 as a quick setup mount for my ETX125 and just assumed the AZ5 would be superior. 
 

 

The AZ5 might be ideal for an ETX 125 as its a short scope, and the slow motion controls would be of real benefit at higher powers. You may need to fine tune the slow motion controls by adjusting the tension on the worms using the adjustable grub screws, as they are a bit jerky and tight directly from the factory.

Edited January 29, 2020 by mikeDnight

[John]

First lighted my T-Rex alt-az last night. What a superb mount !!!!

 

[fiestazetecmk2]

Does this count.

[John]

Yep - it's an alt-az mount !

 

[McNewt]

Sorry for the mess.  Flooring to be done.   

 

[Steve Clay]

Stellarvue MC2 on EQ5 tripod. Carrying my ED80. Mount not available in the UK.