NEW Rowan AZ75 Alt-Azimuth Mount.

[FLO]

Following the success of the Rowan AZ-100 Alt-Azimuth mount, Rowan will soon release a more compact model with a payload capacity around 15kg per side. 

Like the Rowan AZ100, the AZ75 will be available with / without high resolution encoders.

Starting price is expected to be around £549 for the non-encoder model. 

At SGL @Stu and @Alan White have kindly agreed to kick its tyres so Rowan have loaned them both a pre-production mount. We are looking forward to hearing from them. 

Final design and specification have yet to be confirmed and will depend to some degree on the feedback provided by Stu and Alan. 

The new mount will be added to our website and be available to buy soon. 

[FLO]

9 minutes ago, FLO said:

The new mount will be added to our website and be available to buy soon. 

Regarding price, during the pandemic materials costs have increased significantly. This has understandably increased cost of manufacturing. Rowan have absorbed the higher costs and will continue to do so a while longer but retail prices will need to increase later this year. So if you have been planning to order a Rowan mount or accessory we recommend you place an order before year end. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Alan White]

I am looking forwards to the tyre kicking, will post some bits later today.
It's a very nice unit, truly the little brother or cousin of the AZ100.

 

[Stu]

Yep, me too. Looks and feels really nice. Smaller than I expected but in a good way, still feels solid as a rock!

[jock1958]

Just now, Alan White said:

I am looking forwards to the tyre kicking, will post some bits later today.
It's a very nice unit, truly the little brother or cousin of the AZ100.

 

Was just going to ask about some pics 😉

[FLO]

21 minutes ago, Alan White said:

It's a very nice unit, truly the little brother or cousin of the AZ100.

 

19 minutes ago, Stu said:

Smaller than I expected but in a good way, still feels solid as a rock!

Some time ago, Grant and I visited Dave and Derek at Rowan. We were looking for a small UK engineering company to make a premium, compact, AltAz mount. They liked the idea but revealed they were already working on a larger Alt-Az mount with higher payload. They showed us a prototype of what later became the Rowan AZ100. It has of course sold well and owners are delighted but it is this new smaller AZ75 that we think will be most popular. From what I hear it will be precisely the kind of mount we were looking for 🙂 

[Jiggy 67]

Timing is everything, I was actually considering the AZ100 which I knew would be an exercise in over mounting so this will be just right. Looking forward to seeing a photo and specs 👍

[Stu]

I’ll post elsewhere, but a pic or two for this thread.

[jock1958]

Like it @Stu not surprisingly looks very similar to the AZ100. Does AZ75 mean its 75% the weight and size of its big brother? 

[Chris]

That just looks right doesn't it! That view too!

[Stu]

39 minutes ago, jock1958 said:

Like it @Stu not surprisingly looks very similar to the AZ100. Does AZ75 mean its 75% the weight and size of its big brother? 

The 75 relates to the main parts being 75mm in diameter, vs 100mm for the AZ100. I suspect that means it is nearer half the weight but haven’t measured it.

[RobertI]

Very nice.....and very tempting.

[AL1]

It really does look good👍

[John]

This is excellent news - just what the market has needed for some time IMHO

A really well engineered mount that sits between the Skytee II / Giro Ercole niche and the AZ100 / APM Maxload / niche.

 

 

Edited October 15, 2021 by John

[Greymouser]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

The 75 relates to the main parts being 75mm in diameter, vs 100mm for the AZ100. I suspect that means it is nearer half the weight but haven’t measured it.

Would you mind weighing it please? Also I assume it has slow mo controls?

I have to say, I am not jealous of the equipment you have, not even your latest scope, but your garden; house and that view! Wow, just wow! I am almost insanely jealous of that, you are very lucky, though I have no doubt well earned.

[Alan White]

No slow motion, it’s a push to mount, part of its simplicity

I have started an AZ75 thread in Mounts section.

 

Edited October 15, 2021 by Alan White

[RobertI]

26 minutes ago, Alan White said:

No slow motion, it’s a push to mount, part of its simplicity

 

Ah. That’s probably a deal breaker for me I think, as I do a lot of solar system observing at around 200x ….. unless someone can convince me otherwise? I’ve not used a real premium altaz mount of this class so I guess I might change my mind when I’ve used one? 🤔

Edited October 15, 2021 by RobertI

[Alan White]

Robert see my AZ75 in mounts thread....

[Stu]

5 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Ah. That’s probably a deal breaker for me I think, as I do a lot of solar system observing at around 200x ….. unless someone can convince me otherwise? I’ve not used a real premium altaz mount of this class so I guess I might change my mind when I’ve used one? 🤔

The motions are very smooth Robert and I’m sure tracking at high powers will be quite straightforward. Both Alan and I will give it a good going over on planets I expect. We will both update in our respective threads.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Greymouser said:

Would you mind weighing it please? Also I assume it has slow mo controls?

I have to say, I am not jealous of the equipment you have, not even your latest scope, but your garden; house and that view! Wow, just wow! I am almost insanely jealous of that, you are very lucky, though I have no doubt well earned.

Happy to weigh it tomorrow. No slow motion controls, which actually I don’t think is an issue as the movement in the axes is very smooth and easy to set the ideal tension.

Thank you for the kind words. I must say  the view from the garden is very nice, it’s so good to have a low southern horizon and the darker skies. House is nice too  

[John]

I have to say that I don't use my Ercole much because of the lack of slow motion controls.

Before I got my Tak and TMB/LZOS I was happier without but those two scopes seem to eat high power so easily ........

Mind you, my dob is very much "push" driven and I get on OK with that at high power as well

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, John said:

I have to say that I don't use my Ercole much because of the lack of slow motion controls.

Before I got my Tak and TMB/LZOS I was happier without but those two scopes seem to eat high power so easily ........

Mind you, my dob is very much "push" driven and I get on OK with that at high power as well

Will be interesting to see how it fares John. From what I’ve seen so far, the movement is very smooth, up a level from the Ercole so hopefully tracking at high power should be fine. As you say, you manage with your dob at very high powers with no problem 👍

[John]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

Will be interesting to see how it fares John. From what I’ve seen so far, the movement is very smooth, up a level from the Ercole so hopefully tracking at high power should be fine. As you say, you manage with your dob at very high powers with no problem 👍

I'm just recalling the reactions from members when I posted some info on a new alt-az that didn't have them a while back. But that was not a Rowan of course

[Alien 13]

25 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Ah. That’s probably a deal breaker for me I think, as I do a lot of solar system observing at around 200x ….. unless someone can convince me otherwise? I’ve not used a real premium altaz mount of this class so I guess I might change my mind when I’ve used one? 🤔

Me too...

Alan

[F15Rules]

That's a cracking looking mount..and British made too!✴️👍

So encouraging to see such true, UK based innovation in engineering -  especially in collaboration with a UK reseller who really do actually listen to their customer's feedback, and use that feedback to help inform new product development.

Wishing you every success with this project guys

Dave