E.Fric first light, champion in Price / Performance / Capabilities

[vdb]

So I finally had the time to setup the mount in the garden, heavy LP zone, I had no spare LP filters, so in this regard it's just to test the mount, what can I say.

E.fric:

http://www.geminitelescope.com/efric-friction-drive-mount-german-equatorial/

 

- It's a beauty, I really like steam punk 

- Easy to balance, the benefit of friction drive but has clutches so it can move freely.

- Easy to polar align, it has a built in adaptor for the Polemaster, so alignment was done in 5 minutes

- I use the Onstep controller from Instein 

- I use geoptic Hercules tripod 

- I put an FSQ 106 + QHY367C on it, no guide scope! 

- It slews smooth, low noise level, no noise when tracking

- So after the polar alignment I took a 30 sec shot, round stars, 60 second, round stars, 120 sec, round stars, 180 second round stars ... at 1.8 Arcsec/pixel not bad at all ...

 

I still need to dial in my limits for auto meridian flip in SGP ... stay tuned.

 

In my opinion there is NO better mount in this weight / accuracy / performance / price ratio 

 

 

/Yves

No guiding, 1 plate solve object dead center, no calibration, no dither  (SGP direct mount was to big in jumps) ... 30x3minutes sub

 

E.Fric test by Yves, on Flickr

Edited September 16, 2020 by vdb

[Dr_Ju_ju]

and the mount is ??

[vdb]

15 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

and the mount is ??

E.Fric:

http://www.geminitelescope.com/efric-friction-drive-mount-german-equatorial/

 

/Yves

 

[vdb]

Last night I got automatic flip + SGP dialed in.

The onstep FW needed a setting adjusted, prefer east side. Andras was very helpful and mailed me the same day the adjustment

So it’s quite simpel, in the ascom driver you say how many degrees past meridian you can goto, when you are on the west side.

With the option in the FW enabled you now can track past meridian and when SGP sends the goto command, Onstep does the right thing and moves the OTA to the preferred East Side ...

 

Another night with 80+ subs unguided and round stars, no need to build complex models etc, what a joy!

 

 

/Yves

[tooth_dr]

20 hours ago, vdb said:

In my opinion there is NO better mount in this weight / accuracy / performance / price ratio

Looks great! What is the final cost of the mount?  

[vdb]

2 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

Looks great! What is the final cost of the mount?  

The (net) price is EUR 3800 (for EU customers 4636) + controller, I paid 200 euro’s for a ready made Onstep controller, but you can make the controller for 50 euro’s or any stepper driver that delivers more than 1 amp ...

 

/Yves

 

[pete_l]

So to turn this into a usable piece of kit, the owner has to provide a tripod/pier, counterweights and a controller. Is that correct?

What about a power supply. I see no mention of that on the product website. Does it come with the mount or is it an extra?

Edited September 17, 2020 by pete_l

[vdb]

I bought:

- the mount and cable for the Onstep from http://www.geminitelescope.com

- the Onstep controller from Instein.eu (it seems there where are some health issues with the owner, so better mail for availability) But if you have already a stepper controller it's easy to make it work or buy something more to your liking, or buy all the components and PCB from: https://www.stmbluepillkits.com

- I had the counterweights and I have a dozen or so 12v supply's, I think most of us do,

- The onstep can be controlled via webpage or android app, no need for a HC

- it's also the Philosophy of this mount, reduce waste and complexity, no other mount vendor even considers this.

Oh and did I mention it tracks like NO OTHER mount in this price / weight capacity range?

 

I'm sure if you mail Andras he can provide you with all the necessary pieces, but as mentioned it's the philosophy to reuse components you already have.

 

/Yves

 

 

 

[tooth_dr]

5 hours ago, pete_l said:

So to turn this into a usable piece of kit, the owner has to provide a tripod/pier, counterweights and a controller. Is that correct?

Apart from the controller, mesu mounts are also shipped without power supply, counterweight or tripods 

[vdb]

10 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Apart from the controller, mesu mounts are also shipped without power supply, counterweight or tripods 

And I did not mention this, but I already had the controller for my G53F so actually I use the same controller for 2 mounts, I just need to reflash the FW ....

/Yves

 

[pete_l]

1 hour ago, tooth_dr said:

Apart from the controller, mesu mounts are also shipped without power supply, counterweight or tripods 

I am aware of that. Just trying to get a handle on how much extra work and money is needed. Presumably a user also needs to obtain the correct adapter between mount and tripod/pier?

Neither of these mounts appears to be "oven ready"

[vdb]

47 minutes ago, pete_l said:

I am aware of that. Just trying to get a handle on how much extra work and money is needed. Presumably a user also needs to obtain the correct adapter between mount and tripod/pier?

Neither of these mounts appears to be "oven ready"

 

IIt’s straight forward I used no adaptor on my tripod, center M10 bolt and a pin to the north an M8 bolt for polar alignment 

/Yves

 

 

 

[vdb]

And if you want an adaptor, Andras can quote you on one, I ordered an adaptor for my G53F to fit on the iOptron pier (I can also use my E.fric on it)

 

/Yves

 

[tooth_dr]

2 hours ago, pete_l said:

Neither of these mounts appears to be "oven ready"

They do not! But they are not aimed at the beginner either.

[vdb]

Unguided 5 minute shot just above 30 degrees 100% crop, I have never seen this, never for a mount without encoders and in this price range an weight capacity, never .... and gusts of wind in an open field ...

Edited September 17, 2020 by vdb

[Neil27]

Hi Yves,

I contacted Andras a few months ago and was ready to pull the trigger on an E-Fric mount at the introductory price, but alas personal circumstances got in the way and I had to pull away from the deal, my loss but hey ho!

It certainly tracks like a good un' and the innovative design, build quality and looks certainly mark it out (to me anyway) as a mount to consider in this price point / weight capacity. 

Looking forward to more updates, some mount pictures might be nice as well, are you using a permanent set up?

 

[vdb]

No it’s a mobile setup.

[vdb]

Another un eventful night

IC1318 by Yves, on Flickr

[tomato]

Great to see another friction mount out there and delivering excellent results, as far as I know the JTW OGEM is still not at this stage?

[DeepSkyMan]

Yves

I’m considering the e-fric as the mount for my new observatory.  Do you have a video of the mount in operation?  Can pm you my personal email address.  Since the mount does not come with an integrated controller, I’m also curious about how  you mount the OnStep unit to the mount, and what cabling you use.  I have a preference where possible for LAN/WiFi based control over SkySafari.

Kind Regards

Paul.

Edited January 9, 2022 by DeepSkyMan