Tripod and mount guidance

[RT65CB-SWL]

18 hours ago, John The Ron said:

I haven't seen the AYO mounts before, very nice!

Yes... they are very nice! ...(and so is the Tele-Optic Giro). 😜

[John The Ron]

All, thank you for your replies, advice and thoughts. The belt driven mounts are nice but I fully understand the downside of them. It would seem to me that my best choices for a manual alt/az would be from: Sky-Tee2 or it's equivalent, Altair Sabre v2.0, Giro Ercole.

I would appreciate your views on these mounts with my CC8 telescope (9kg bare) and very possibly a Berlebach Uni-28 tripod?

Thanks again,

John.

[johninderby]

The CC8” is a rear heavy scope so can be tricky to balance on a Sabre or Giro mount. The Skytee is very tolerant of a scope that isn’t perfectly balanced so would be my choice for the CC8”. Plus I like having slo mo controls on a high powered planetary scope.

Not owned a Sabre mount but have owned a Giro mount. A refractor can usually but moved within the tube rings to achieve perfect balance so will work well on a Giro mount.  A wide field refractor on the Giro would be good for DSOs.

Edited April 29, 2021 by johninderby

[KP82]

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

An SGL member was less than impressed with the Hercules mount.

 

The model in the review was of an earlier revision. The one I've got does allow me to add some tension to the altitude axis with the clutcher bolt (also easier to grip in the later revisions), but this is nothing like what you would find on an AZ5. So balancing is still important.

The mini saddle is actually ok, but the opening is a bit tight so I have to slide my scope in. Actually RVO sells it with a bigger heavier duty saddle (they've probably realised about this issue), but it's such a waste for this tiny little mount so I swapped it with the smaller one that I had lying around and put the bigger one on my iexos100.

[KP82]

double post, please delete.

Edited April 29, 2021 by KP82

[John The Ron]

John, thanks for the info on the Sabre and Giro mounts. The Sky-Tee was recommended by FLO also.

KP82, thanks for the additional info too.

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, johninderby said:

An SGL member was less than impressed with the Hercules mount.

 

Interesting.  On the current iteration, there's no included dovetail clamp, but there are tension screws on the belt knob axes.  You can even see the threaded holes where they are supposed to be in the photos.

[johninderby]

On the version sold by 365astronomy it includes the clamp and counterweights.

https://www.365astronomy.com/most-popular/special-promotions/365astronomy-hercules-alt-azimuth-telescope-mount-with-manual-belt-drive-head-only

[johninderby]

Also sold under the Artesky brand.

https://www.astroshop.eu/mountings-accessories/mountings/alt-azimuth-without-goto/15_55_10_10/m,Artesky

[Louis D]

And those images show the tension screws on the knob axles.  Still, not the best place to put a tension screw.  It really should be on the center of each axis.

[johninderby]

I like the idea of the Hercules mount but needs further development before I would consider one.

Edited April 29, 2021 by johninderby