Skymax 127 on Supatrak mount

[Steve Reed]

I have pretty much decided on getting a Skymax 127 but have yet to decide on the mount. Supply of new OTAs and mounts is difficult at the moment so I am keeping my eye on secondhand items. I have seen a 127 on a Supatrak mount advertised local to me. Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, with this mount for general observing?

Cheers

Steve

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Steve Reed.

I think the Supatrak will be at its maximum payload with the 127.
BTW… have you got a dew shield? - being a catadioptric ‘scope, they are notorious dew magnets.

Below is my ETX105 on small manual alt-az mount on a photography tripod…

 

and a bit of overkill with one of these…

is added to the photography tripod.

Edited August 19, 2021 by Philip R

[Steve Reed]

A dew shield is on the shopping list. Sounds like the supatrak is a bit below par for this OTA. Also, from what I can see there is no easy manual override for finding particular objects as it all needs to be done via the hand control.

 

Steve

[johninderby]

You might want to consider the 127 on an AZ-GTi mount. A more modern and capable mount.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

[Steve Reed]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

You might want to consider the 127 on an AZ-GTi mount. A more modern and capable mount.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

If they were in stock I would definitely go for this combination. Maybe I just need to be patient!

[johninderby]

The well known shortage of Skywatcher products has been very frustrating to would be buyers. 😕

[Captain Scarlet]

I started out about 4 years ago with exactly the combination you are considering. The Mak 127 was sold as a package on and with the Supatrak by FLO and the other retailers. It worked very well for me, even using relatively heavy Delos eyepieces in that scope. I even mounted my heavier APM/LZOS 105/650 on the Supatrak for a while, while I waited for a SkyTee.

so yes you will be fine with that combination.

Cheers, Magnus

Edited August 18, 2021 by Captain Magenta

[Cosmic Geoff]

The Supatrak mount was never very popular.  Note that in stability it is the same as the Synscan GoTo mount in the same series, same stability as the Celestron SLT and a lot of other entry level mounts. On the plus side it is very portable.  If you decide you don't like Supatrak you can upgrade it to GoTo by purchasing a Synscan GoTo handset.  If you want a more stable class of mount you could be spending a lot more money.

The 127mm Mak (similar to the one I own) is a good scope.

[Captain Scarlet]

14 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

The Supatrak mount was never very popular.  Note that in stability it is the same as the Synscan GoTo mount in the same series, same stability as the Celestron SLT and a lot of other entry level mounts. On the plus side it is very portable.  If you decide you don't like Supatrak you can upgrade it to GoTo by purchasing a Synscan GoTo handset.  If you want a more stable class of mount you could be spending a lot more money.

The 127mm Mak (similar to the one I own) is a good scope.

… ah yes I should add that the one I had was the goto version.

Although it worked perfectly well for me, it has to be said it’s not very attractive. I always thought it looked like a toy. The az-gti and the new virtuoso have a much more serious “look” to them.

[Steve Reed]

Thanks for all the replies. I am tempted to go for it. Looks like a fair price for a very lightly used (but quite old) setup and I can always upgrade the mount at a later date. 

Steve