Sky-Watcher Evostar 100ED mount and tripod advice

[saturnian]

Hello,

I can no longer manage my beloved 10 inch Dob due to back injury,I have some fun with my 80 mm startravel but now I would like to upgrade.

I do have my eyes on a Sky-Watcher Evostar 100ED.I just like some views onto which mount to put it.I m thinking of a skywatcher AZ5 Deluxe with Sky-Watcher 3/8" Stainless Steel Tripod.So that s £240 in total for the mount,I can t spend more.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Edited September 13, 2020 by saturnian

[Alfian]

When I had my 100ED I mounted it on An AZ4 with the 1.75" steel legged tripod and in terms of stabilty was perfectly adequate. The pillar extension made it even better, avoiding some back ache, but makes the whole plot heavier. An az4 second hand can be picked up for £100 ish.

[rwilkey]

19 minutes ago, Alfian said:

When I had my 100ED I mounted it on An AZ4 with the 1.75" steel legged tripod and in terms of stabilty was perfectly adequate. The pillar extension made it even better, avoiding some back ache, but makes the whole plot heavier. An az4 second hand can be picked up for £100 ish.

I agree with Ian above, the 100ED will sit vey well on an AZ4, I did this with the Bresser AR102 for a friend (who had bought this great scope for his 8 yo son).  For my scope I chose the Vixen Porta II mount which is equally up to the task and having tried both, I prefer the Vixen.  The only advantage it has over the AZ4 is that it has got good slo-mo controls, which the AZ4 does not.  I like my slo-mo controls.  Good luck and clear skies!

[saturnian]

Thanks for the reply.I did look at the Porta 2 it s just that the tripod looks a bit light to me but yes it looks like a good mount.

[Alfian]

1 hour ago, rwilkey said:

I agree with Ian above, the 100ED will sit vey well on an AZ4, I did this with the Bresser AR102 for a friend (who had bought this great scope for his 8 yo son).  For my scope I chose the Vixen Porta II mount which is equally up to the task and having tried both, I prefer the Vixen.  The only advantage it has over the AZ4 is that it has got good slo-mo controls, which the AZ4 does not.  I like my slo-mo controls.  Good luck and clear skies!

The chap that owned the 100ed before me had it on what I am fairly sure was the older AZ5 as sold by TS Optics which like the Porta had an alli' tripod. He also used it with a pillar extension. I gathered  the lighter tripod wasn't an issue. I'll confess to liking 'scopes over mounted rather than under but that does make things less portable.

[Robindonne]

I recently bought this one.  
It has a very good tripod, i think a vixen hal110?

i could compare it at the same time with a 120mm. And the vixen porta lost the battle    Im not sure about the az4 mounts, haven’t owned one.

Its really an underestimated mount, that gso, especially because that tripod is rock solid.

it has slomo controls. I compared it with my porta 2 and immediately made the decision to never use that porta again 

its a gso altaz deluxe, and the mount and tripod costs somewhere around the price of just that vixen hal tripod

Edited September 19, 2020 by Robindonne

[rwilkey]

23 hours ago, saturnian said:

Thanks for the reply.I did look at the Porta 2 it s just that the tripod looks a bit light to me but yes it looks like a good mount.

Yes, the Porta II does look a bit light compared to the AZ4 but it is as solid as a rock.  My wife has the AZ5 which is quite good for her small scope (a Startravel 102), but to be honest, the AZ4 is a much stronger affair.  One of the things I liked about the Porta II compared to the AZ4 was that you didn't have to set up the tripod, ie. screwing the ep tray on etc to stabalize it, with the Porta II you can just collapse the tripod without any fiddling about and so on. Here is my scope on its Porta II:

 

[mikeDnight]

On 13/09/2020 at 17:20, saturnian said:

Thanks for the reply.I did look at the Porta 2 it s just that the tripod looks a bit light to me but yes it looks like a good mount.

The Japanese made aluminium tripods are generally all metal which gives them more rigidity, where as the Chinese aluminium tripods use plastic connections which weakens them. Also, the plastic can often split when tightening the height adjustment knobs. From what I remember, the Vixen Porta were all metal. The only drawback might be that the short control knobs may be a long way from your 100ED's focuser, so you may require floppy drives.

I've owned an AZ5 and really liked it, but I mounted mine on an old Japanese Vixen aluminium tripod which gave it stability. As a lightweight grab and go however, I really enjoy my AZ4, which is also mounted on a strong vixen tripod. I have successfully used in excess of 300X using this mount, which when well balanced and clutched is really quite smooth. 

I

[rwilkey]

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

enjoy my AZ4, which is also mounted on a strong vixen tripod

Hi Mike, that's a great idea, the best of both worlds, I tend to mix and match, I did this with my 200P.

[Timebandit]

 

 

The AZ4 is a really great mount IMO. I run my 120ED on this , and the 8" OO newt. Mine does have the 2" stainless steel legs. But for the money purchase second hand then I have found this mount just right for my needs . it is simply, strong and effective for very sensible money 

 

 

[GazOC]

I've had my ED120 and ED100 on an AZ4 with stainless steel legs and an extension tube. 

The damping down time on the 120 was borderline what I'm willing to put up with but the ED100 was fine. I think upgrading the Skywatcher ally tripod is very worthwhile even with the bit of weight the steel tripod adds 

Edited September 15, 2020 by GazOC

[A McEwan]

Another vote for the AZ4 here. Quite easy to find second-hand at affordable prices, and sturdy enough for any 100mm scope. I have used 120mm on it too, with relatively good success.  Mine is mounted on a Berlebach UNI-18 tripod, which increases stability, but also the price (by quite a lot). A pier extension completes the assembly for when I want greater elevation.

[John]

I was not too happy with my ED120 on the AZ4 even with a 2 inch steel legged tripod. The scope can handle very high magnifications but the mount could not keep up.

The AZ4 was entirely happy with my 102mm F/6.5 Vixen ED refractor on it even with the 1.75 inch steel tubed legs. I can't recall ever using an F/9 100mm on the AZ4 so it might be OK with a good set of tripod legs under it.