Skywatcher AZ GTi alt/ AZ mount

[Guest]

I recently bought an AZ GTi alt/AZ goto mount. What a wonderful device in such a small package and light weight. Easily handleable. It states that the payload in 5 kgs. Just wondered if there were plans to produce an updated version. To perhaps carry a payload of 7 kgs. This would open up the range of telescopes and equipment that could be used. I know that there are HEQ5 mounts and the like. But I like the idea of an alt/AZ goto tracking mount and there are few options in my opinion. You can get the Celestron Nexstar SE and very good setups indeed. But you are limited to the telescope that it was designed to have.

Pound for pound the AZ GTi is great value aswell. And lighter that some of the larger equatorial mounts.

So come on Skywatcher.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Guest
Added text.

[jadcx]

I have no idea about future SW plans, but I regularly see people loading the AZ-GTi beyond 5kg using a counterweight, and seemingly without any significant issues.

[AstroNebulee]

I sometimes use my skymax 127 on my az gti mount, but think the payload including a dslr is at the very top limit for it, I can add a long m12 bolt to even the weight distribution but think a Skymax 102 with dslr is the ideal mak load for the mount. But just my opinion. I regularly use my evostar 72ed ds pro on mine and perfect for it. I agree that it's a beautiful mount for goto and lightweight, I'll use a wedge and counterweight on it and try to polar align in EQ mode as I love using this mount for its goto abilities as I like the convenience of it for quickly finding the target I'd like to image

UPDATE my skymax 127 and 6x30 fs with Canon 600D is 4.2kg without dslr it's 3.6kg. If changing the fs for a 9x50 it'll be 4.38kg or without dslr 3.9kg.

Edited April 27, 2021 by AstroNebulee
Add weights

[badhex]

My AZ-GTi handles a C5 pretty well (I chose C5 over Skymax127 as it's a bit lighter) but I think the only real problem with the mount is weight distribution, as it definitely feels a bit lopsided. I am planning to get a counterweight when I can find one in stock somewhere which would bring the weight close to the 5kg but I reckon would handle a bit more easily enough as @jadcx mentioned.

Edited April 27, 2021 by badhex
mistagged

[Guest]

3 hours ago, badhex said:

My AZ-GTi handles a C5 pretty well (I chose C5 over Skymax127 as it's a bit lighter) but I think the only real problem with the mount is weight distribution, as it definitely feels a bit lopsided. I am planning to get a counterweight when I can find one in stock somewhere which would bring the weight close to the 5kg but I reckon would handle a bit more easily enough as @jadcx mentioned.

I have owned  a C5 before. They are a joy to use due to their weight. They give good views of planets and the moon.

Edited April 27, 2021 by Guest
Spelling.

[badhex]

1 hour ago, Grumpy Martian said:

They give good views of planets and the moon.

Exactly my reason for buying it - ahead of the great conjunction last year. I have a Skymax 102 in storage in the UK and was missing planetary observing.

[jjohnson3803]

Have you had any issues with the software?  I've seen some discussions of problems and although I was a software engineer once upon a time, the last thing I want to do is futz with software / firmware as part of a hobby. 

[Avocette]

The AZGTi wasn’t called the AZ/EQGTi when it was launched in 2018! So the fact that already with a change of firmware and the addition of an equatorial wedge you can do some serious astrophotography suggests to me that the software situation is pretty much under control. Perhaps I should have added ‘now’ because there have been teething troubles over the years and if you want to use guiding an earlier firmware v3.20 is better than the latest published version v3.26.

People seem to have experienced examples of mounts that work and some others that don’t although it’s not clear reading the forum threads what faults there have been. My personal experience is with the AZGTi on a SW wedge carrying a 61EDPH II and ZWO miniscope for guiding. I use a Raspberry Pi 4 loaded with Astroberry to control via WiFi from my laptop. I began by using the AZGTi wireless communication from the RPi hotspot but that constrained the RPi to use the 2.4GHz WiFi bands. So I now use an EQDirect cable and operate the RPi on 5GHz WiFi. I am a retired electronic engineer so I am much more comfortable with hardware than software, but there is no doubt that I have had to gain some software skills climbing the astrophotography learning curve.

I would like to get to the bottom of the variability I find with my guiding error curves, but In the meantime I continue to have made some images that please.....