Forked AZ Mounts.

[Carl Au]

I have been attrached to forked headed AZ mounts since I saw A TV scope mounted on one years ago, but I have never used one. I have seen a few for sale recently like this one : https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p9123_Tecnosky-eLLe-Duo-Altzimuth-Fork-Mount.html 

Ladies and gentlemen, your opinions please!

[RT65CB-SWL]

I have seen the TeleVue Gibraltar fork mount, which is of a similar design to the one in your link, and I was not convinced or impressed by it.

I prefer and use the 'Giro' type or 'T' mounts for alt-az...

The only thing that is missing from these two is a Berlebach tripod.

[John]

I've owned a couple of the fork design mounts, a Tele Vue Gibraltar and a Hercules, which is similar to the one that you link to. The Gibraltar was a bit of a let down in all honesty. It did a decent job with my F/6.5 102 mm ED Vixen refractor but was not steady enough to handle an F/9 100mm refractor or the F/7.5 ED120 refractor.

The Hercules I had on a pillar on a 2 inch steel legged tripod and that was more sturdy than the Gibraltar but still not all that great and I was again a little disappointed in this setup. I know that @mikeDnight has had a better experience of one of these than mine though.

Overall I prefer the "T" style alt-azimuth mounts such as those pictured by @Philip R above to the forked style. The Giro II that I had was excellent as is the Giro Ercole that I have now. I also have a Skytee II which does not quite have the build quality of the Giro's but is very solid and steady.

Those are my experiences with them, for what they are worth.

 

Edited March 20, 2021 by John

[mikeDnight]

As John mentioned, I did have a Hercules Helix fork mount which I felt was extremely good. It was mounted on a solid, tubular steel tripod, and would easily hold a 5" refractor. After setting the tension and balance correctly, the mount would glide quite easily with a gentle push. It had a rapid damping time too, which for the Hercules was under 3 seconds.   The Technosky fork you linked appears weak to me, in that it has only a small azimuth bearing, and looking at the altitude bearings, you'll notice they are small and shallow. They should be in line with the central point of the tube assembly.  With the Hercules Helix they were adjustable so as to fit various tube diameters. The fork you linked might be very good for binoculars though. Also, like most observers who have had experienced the Gibraltar mount, I find it very disappointing.

I'm not a fan of gyro style mounts that require any form of counter balance.  Unfortunately theres not a lot of choice on the market, and if i could find a solidly built true fork mount with slow motion controls that was readily available, I'd probably go for one. It's almost as if the altazimuth mount is looked down upon by manufacturers as being not such a serious mount.

There are some worthy contenders that come under the serious category, but they are not forks. ( I'd just like to add that there's no such thing as a single armed fork mount. To be a fork it needs two arms). Rowan produce a beautiful looking mount, but you've to buy essential extras to get the thing up and running. Losmandy offer the AZ8, which comes complete for less than the Rowan. Then there's the T-Rex, which is sadly nolonger available new. Other than that, I really can't think of anything  that grabs my attention.

 

My trusty Hercules Helix fork mount.

[Carl Au]

Thanks chaps, that has put me right off, which is a good thing. I don't even know why I am looking, there is nothing wrong with the mount I have. 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Carl Au

[Carl Au]

22 hours ago, Philip R said:

I have seen the TeleVue Gibraltar fork mount, which is of a similar design to the one in your link, and I was not convinced or impressed by it.

I prefer and use the 'Giro' type or 'T' mounts for alt-az...

The only thing that is missing from these two is a Berlebach tripod.

Yeah I had the Giro III for my ED 120, great mount.

[Cleetus]

On 20/03/2021 at 16:46, John said:

I've owned a couple of the fork design mounts, a Tele Vue Gibraltar and a Hercules, which is similar to the one that you link to. The Gibraltar was a bit of a let down in all honesty. It did a decent job with my F/6.5 102 mm ED Vixen refractor but was not steady enough to handle an F/9 100mm refractor or the F/7.5 ED120 refractor.

The Hercules I had on a pillar on a 2 inch steel legged tripod and that was more sturdy than the Gibraltar but still not all that great and I was again a little disappointed in this setup. I know that @mikeDnight has had a better experience of one of these than mine though.

Overall I prefer the "T" style alt-azimuth mounts such as those pictured by @Philip R above to the forked style. The Giro II that I had was excellent as is the Giro Ercole that I have now. I also have a Skytee II which does not quite have the build quality of the Giro's but is very solid and steady.

Those are my experiences with them, for what they are worth.

 

Which Gibraltar are you referring to? Do you mean the HD5 or the older versions?

[John]

3 minutes ago, Cleetus said:

Which Gibraltar are you referring to? Do you mean the HD5 or the older versions?

The older ones. I know the HD5 raises the game but at the price they are, there are other attractive options such as the Rowan AZ100 or the T-Rex which I have now.

 

 

[Cleetus]

Yes, the HD5 seems to be an upgrade on the previous versions. I never had one of those but I own the HD5 and I never had any problems with it. However, I have a very light and relatively short 4 inch refractor on top and placing something bigger, or longer, might prove problematic. TV say it was designed for 5 inch refractors. What it could do with is a handle. I agree about there being other options. It all depends on requirements though. I can easily lift  the whole thing out into the garden when required. The other options probably wouldn't allow me that convenience.