Lightweight az mount choices.

[johninderby]

19 minutes ago, banjaxed said:

That’s a handy looking stool John, does the seat swivel up and down? I have been looking for one but they all seem to have ratchet adjuster.

Yes the seat rotates to raise or lower it Just a regular drummers throne although I did replace the vinyl seat with a cloth covered one. More comfy when it’s cold. 🙂 ,

Got it from Gear4Music. Silimar to this one.

https://www.gear4music.com/Drums-and-Percussion/Drum-Throne-Stool-by-Gear4music/8BT

Edited July 26, 2020 by johninderby

[Space Hopper]

Here's my lightweight set up. Like you i was looking at a lightweight grab and go  / carry to use while travelling to darker skys.

I'm sorry i don't have any experience with the Bresser or SW options.

I use a Gitzo photo tripod. Its only 2.6kg. Floorspikes are an option if i want them. Although expensive, i've been blown away by its performance, its a thing of beauty.

On it i mount my American DiscMounts DM-4. With its extender it weighs in at 3.8Kg, and adding the tripod to that gives a total weight of 6.4kg.

Holding it at the extender, its an easy one handed carry.

The tripod is rated to carry 40kg and the mount is good for around 9Kg. A 100mm class of refractor is ideal provided is a shortish focal length. I wouldn't really want to mount

anything bigger on it such as a one meter long refractor though.

My scope weighs 6 or 7kg i think and has a 650mm focal length. Its an ideal combination. No balance issues at all.

I've also used it for landscape viewing and some bird watching at well, and i've been really pleased with it.

    

Edited July 26, 2020 by Space Hopper

[Steve Clay]

19 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

Here's my lightweight set up. Like you i was looking at a lightweight grab and go  / carry to use while travelling to darker skys.

I'm sorry i don't have any experience with the Bresser or SW options.

I use a Gitzo photo tripod. Its only 2.6kg. Floorspikes are an option if i want them. Although expensive, i've been blown away by its performance, its a thing of beauty.

On it i mount my American DiscMounts DM-4. With its extender it weighs in at 3.8Kg, and adding the tripod to that gives a total weight of 6.4kg.

Holding it at the extender, its an easy one handed carry.

The tripod is rated to carry 40kg and the mount is good for around 9Kg. A 100mm class of refractor is ideal provided is a shortish focal length. I wouldn't really want to mount

anything bigger on it such as a one meter long refractor though.

My scope weighs 6 or 7kg i think and has a 650mm focal length. Its an ideal combination. No balance issues at all.

I've also used it for landscape viewing and some bird watching at well, and i've been really pleased with it.

    

Is the little pier part of the discmount or is it an accessory?

[fireshipjohn]

Interesting regarding the earlier mention of AliExpress mounts, they seem to come in 2.5", 4" and 6" varieties.

Edited July 26, 2020 by fireshipjohn

[banjaxed]

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

Yes the seat rotates to raise or lower it Just a regular drummers throne although I did replace the vinyl seat with a cloth covered one. More comfy when it’s cold. 🙂 ,

Got it from Gear4Music. Silimar to this one.

https://www.gear4music.com/Drums-and-Percussion/Drum-Throne-Stool-by-Gear4music/8BT

Thank you for the information, looks exactly what I have been looking for.

[Space Hopper]

@Steve Clay Hi Steve, it was purchased from Discmounts as an optional extra.

[HollyHound]

On 26/07/2020 at 12:08, johninderby said:

Just got the Berlebach 212 Report tripod and am surprised how stable it is for such a light tripod.

Can carry the whole setup outside with one hand. 👍🏻

+1 on the Report tripod range, I have the 372 Report and it’s a lovely lightweight and stable tripod. Like @johninderby, I can also carry the tripod, ScopeTech Zero mount and C5 around with one hand 😊

The ScopeTech is also a mount worth considering...  more information here.

 

[John]

On 26/07/2020 at 14:15, fireshipjohn said:

Interesting regarding the earlier mention of AliExpress mounts, they seem to come in 2.5", 4" and 6" varieties.

These get mentioned in this thread on another forum. Not too positive though. Hope those were atypical examples

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/719533-manual-alt-az-mounts-show-us-what-you-have/?p=10369641

[johninderby]

Only saw the one mention with no explanation of why they found it unusable. Maybe they didn’t like the 8:1 reducti9n of the belt drive.?

[Steve Clay]

11 hours ago, johninderby said:

Only saw the one mention with no explanation of why they found it unusable. Maybe they didn’t like the 8:1 reducti9n of the belt drive.?

Mine arrives tomorrow so will see what it's like. I spoke to Zoltan at 365 and no issue with returning if it's not suitable.

[johninderby]

I think CN dosen’t like it because it’s made in China.  Will be nice to read an unbiased review of the mount. 👍🏻

Found brief mentions of it on IceInSpace and the only complaint they had was that it didn’t come with counterweights and counterweight bar and they were expebsive to buy seperately.

Edited July 28, 2020 by johninderby

[Telescope40]

Would the counterweight bar from a AZ GTI fit, possibly ?? 
 

Thx. John 

[johninderby]

Can’t find the spces for the counterweight bar but it looks like an M8 or M10 thread? 

The more I look at the mount it seems like it might not work properly without the counterweight. Unequal loading on the az bearing without? 🤔

Edited July 28, 2020 by johninderby

[HollyHound]

16 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Can’t find the spces for the counterweight bar but it looks like an M8 or M10 thread? 

The more I look at the mount it seems like it might not work properly without the counterweight. Unequal loading on the az bearing without? 🤔

You're right, it actually looks a little bit like my very first mount... the Skywatcher AZ EQ Avant (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-eq-avant/sky-watcher-skyhawk-1145ps-az-eq-avant.html), when operating in AZ mode. Nice, but very low payload (3kg) and swapped between EQ and AZ, but even with the supplied Mak 102, I found it needed the provided counterweight when used in AZ mode, otherwise it tended to bind a little bit.

 

[GlenM]

On 25/07/2020 at 22:42, John said:

One of our members owned one of those I seem to recall but I can't recall who it was

 

I had the blue version from 365astronomy. I did like the mount but had to strip it down to get it to my standard. I did eventually sell it on though after 'fixing' it up. I believe it's now under a Tak 76 and the user is very satisfied with it. If I wanted another mount I would still seriously consider it.

 

Stay safe,

Glen.

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by GlenM

[HollyHound]

It is possible that this counterweight bar (from the Star Adventurer, but also used on the AZ EQ Avant), might work... if required 🤔

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-counterweight-kit.html

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by HollyHound

[johninderby]

At least Steve will be able to check the thread and answer the counterweight bar question although at the price for the whole setup from 365astronomy not going to be worth buying the parts seperstely from somewhere else.

[GlenM]

It certainly worked better with the counterweight bar and weights. Lets hope Zoltan got some spares in because there were no spares available when I bought my Hercules.

 

Stay safe,

Glen.

 

[Telescope40]

28 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

It is possible that this counterweight bar (from the Star Adventurer, but also used on the AZ EQ Avant), might work... if required 🤔

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-counterweight-kit.html

 

This is the bar I currently have attached to my AZ GTI mount, hence the enquiry. 
Answers in due course. 👍👍
 

John