first light skywatcher AZ3 mount and skywatcher mercury 705

[tinvek]

this is a bit of an unusual first light so a brief explanation.

before xmas i purchased a celestron c80 ed from FLO (couldn't resist at that price ) and to save time used the clamshell and mounted it on my cheapo argos photo tripod.At the time i passed the thought that a similar mount with it would be close to if not the ultimate grab and go for me.

anyway in january i decided after almost buying a heavier photo pod and head to by a skwatcher AZ3 mount, despite it's listed failings, along with a photo adapter plate so that i could use the clamshell and have the option of mounting the DSLR on it. Typically about 5 days later, my son, rylan, asked if he could have my old telescope from when i was about 10 years old. rylan lives with his mum and her partner steve who are not interested in astonomy and i remembered that it( a prinz optics newt on an alt az wooden tripod with rigid spreader plate ) was a real struggle for me to set up due to its size and weight and was inpart responsible for me not really bothering till recently (35 years later!) so i looked to see what i could find. after making sure that lidl had sold out of their

scopes (though i ended up with a microscope ! ) i turned to FLO. looking through the site i came across the skywatcher mercury 705 on an altz mount which was only slightly dearer than the mount on its own so i contacted steve to see if i could amend the order so i could try the scope to see if

it was suitable. the mount was already on its way but after talking with steve we decided that the scope would be perfect and with a corrected image it would also double as a terrestial scope which always seems to amuse kids (even those in their 40s ) so i ordered two with steve very kindly intercepting one on route to remove the mount rather than me returning the original one.

skywatcher AZ3

i've got my c 80ed on the mount and despite the well known critisisms of it being rather unsophisticated i must admit it's surprised me as how good it is. it's very stable even when fully extended and its set up time is measured in seconds, more importantly because i havent fastened the eyepiece tray to it, it's packing up time is also very quick. i had planned to do a simulated "rain run" but the real thing happened to me and because i had the eyepieces in my pockets, i was able to be inside the house within 30 secs ( it takes about 25 secs to walk the distance without a scope). tracking a target is surprisingly easy once you get used to the two controls even when using a

9mm and 2 X barlow throught he c80 ed, though you do have to make sure they are set to the right part of their travel to give you a lot of time before corse adjusting.

ok it's no good for imaging apart from the moon and yes the one of the slow mo controls does need to be moved out of the way as you tip the scope but unlike a lot of people i've had no problem with the scope tilting back on its at extreme angles even with the dslr on the back and it has allowed me to take advantage of some very short gaps in the cloud. one other "fault" is that you can't go far below the horizon but thats not exactly a problem for astro use

skywatcher mercury 705

first thing, this scope is very light and comes with skywatchers red dot finder, which isn't the most substantial but it does the job, and a 25mm and 10 mm lens. the scope feels pretty good and as long as the focuser screw isn't slack the focuser is fairly steady though the mount for the red dot is a bit light weight consisting of 2 knurled nuts on thin threaded rods. i tried it yesterday afternoon on the local views through a bedroom window and the image is pretty clear, certainly on targets 10 miles away, with the 25mm lens i could clearly see the iron railings that suround a memorial on garn mountain. then switched to a farm thats about a mile away to look at the clock thats on the cow shed roof. sure enough it was clear (and still an hour fast ) so i dropped to the tractor i could

see in the yard. with the 25mm i could see that his grandson was playing on the tractor and with the 100 mm i could see he was blowing his nose !

last night rylan joined me for a proper first light, we started with the moon (what else when you're 9?) and it was clear, very clear really, easy to focus on and with no apparent false colour, we then switched to the 10mm and once again it was clear (the lenses are nearly parafocal btw) finally i got my skywatcher 6.5mm and tried that. once again clear, a bit more awkward to focus but certainly usable on the moon, showing nice detail.( later on when we came out to view saturn the moon was brighter and then false colour was apparent as a purple/ blue light round its

edge but not on its face.) we then switched to venus, with the 25mm it was fine but both the 10mm and 6.5 mm showed false colour around it but it showed the creasent nicely. we then tried "that small constelation up there " also known as pleiades, with the 25mm we had a nice view of the stars and i dropped my 30mm plossl in and the view was quite stunning given the apperture. finally we looked at the orion nebula and could see the "cloudy bits" with both the 25mm and the 10mm lenses.

we went inside for a bit, rylan carried it in no problem which proved it was doing it's job and while he played i started on this.

by 11 we had the combination of saturn being high and there being gaps in the clouds so out we

went, rylan carried it out, set it up and managed to center on saturn after i had pointed it out, once again the mount and scope were doing their job. with the 25mm we could see a moon and a hint of the rings but it took the 10mm to show the edge on view properly, with the 6.5mm we could see them well, with a very audible WOW from rylan, but as expected could see no surface detail, unfortunately i never thought to try the 6.5mm with my 2X barlow.

in conclusion the scope is pretty good for a first scope for younger observers, apart from the false colours which only have appeared with venus and a bright moon. the lenses are ok but thats all, i tried the 25mm celestron lens that came with the c 80ed and it was better.it also works very well as a terrestial or spotter scope. the mount is more solid than i expected, certainly up to the job with the mercury 705 and it also handles the c 80ed ok.

if your looking for a simple first scope thats not too long / heavey or a general purpose day and night scope then this does the job. if your after a simple mount that won't have to carry much weight then the AZ3 is better than you may think and as long as you leave the eyepiece tray off it's legs can be close up as its lifted which make sit easy to get through doors in a hurry. if you buy the photo adapter, it is pretty solid with a good length cork base to help locate whatever is fastened to it. if you are going to buy one check the price of the skywathcer mercury 705, since the price rises they currently the same price so thats a scope for nothing.*

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=az3

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=mercury705

future plans?

well rylan's taking my 6.5mm and 30mm lenses and i've got a s/h 25mm celstron lens off a c80ed coming for him, the scope is very easy for him to handle and seems to be encouraging his interest in astronomy and no doubt he'll soon be developing "aperture fever".

finally a big thanks to steve and First Light Optics for their help

* there has been an unfortunate effect of getting a second mercury 705 with my mount, by inverting one of the rings, it has somehow become fastened onto my cheapo tripod so once again i have a grab and go on a wobbly photo pod though this time it'll be living in the boot of the car with it's 2 lenses for break time at work. i'll be making up a length of bar to mount the 2 rings on and tap it to take the photo screw and the locating pin.

[philsail1]

Useful report "tinvek!"

The "Az3" Altazimuth mount would I imagine be suitable for a "grab-and-go" set up, for a quick look when skies are a bit "iffy".

If as you say, the mount remains steady, even with the eyepiece tray left off, then it sounds ideal.

Having good slow motion controls are a must - especially when using, say, a Maksutov scope with narrow field of view.

Yes, "AZ3" seems a highly underrated, value for money mount.

Regards,

philsail1