Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[LaurenceT]

Thanks for that Lee.

[RayWUK]

Ordered some Lithium grease today but i think i'm going to delay the strip down a bit and give it a try as is. Hopefully if we get a break in the clouds i'll be able to do a quick session and see what the guiding is like. At least that'll give me an idea if striping down, tweaking and re-greasing later on has improved things. Heres a picture of my setup.

Edited January 24, 2022 by RayWUK

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, RayWUK said:

Ordered some Lithium grease today but i think i'm going to delay the strip down a bit and give it a try as is. Hopefully if we get a break in the clouds i'll be able to do a quick session and see what the guiding is like. At least that'll give me an idea if striping down, tweaking and re-greasing later on has improved things. Heres a picture of my setup.

Another beautiful az gti set up, nice work Ray, lots and lots of shiny red there 😍, hopefully you won't need to do the strip down and will wear in. Love to hear a report when the cloud finally breaks 👍

Can I ask what are you attaching your az gti mount to the WO wedge please? Is it half of a skywatcher L bracket? Looking for ideas as selling my star adventurer 2i and won't have a plate from the sa 

Edited January 24, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[Rob20236]

hmm. was thinking of selling mine as ive not used it since buying an eq6. but after skimming through this thread i may just have to break it out. if it can take my wo gt71 with 183c . just to handy of a portable mount .

[AstroNebulee]

10 minutes ago, Rob20236 said:

hmm. was thinking of selling mine as ive not used it since buying an eq6. but after skimming through this thread i may just have to break it out. if it can take my wo gt71 with 183c . just to handy of a portable mount .

This thread is responsible for a few members rekindling their romance with the az gti haha and why not is a beautiful mount 😍, it'll definitely take your set up Rob. Love to hear more when you get out with it, clear skies👍

Edited January 24, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[Elp]

1 hour ago, RayWUK said:

Ordered some Lithium grease today but i think i'm going to delay the strip down a bit and give it a try as is. Hopefully if we get a break in the clouds i'll be able to do a quick session and see what the guiding is like. At least that'll give me an idea if striping down, tweaking and re-greasing later on has improved things. Heres a picture of my setup.

Nice matching all the red. I wanted a gold/yellow WO wedge to match my scope but couldn't find one, now with all the zwo I've got it's kind of all red anyway. Neat cable management too, mines a mess of wires as I setup fresh every time, at least it's good practice for whenever it's pitch black at a dark site.

[RayWUK]

11 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Another beautiful az gti set up, nice work Ray, lots and lots of shiny red there 😍, hopefully you won't need to do the strip down and will wear in. Love to hear a report when the cloud finally breaks 👍

Can I ask what are you attaching your az gti mount to the WO wedge please? Is it half of a skywatcher L bracket? Looking for ideas as selling my star adventurer 2i and won't have a plate from the sa 

Thanks, the shiny red was unintentional, i bought a lot of the stuff secondhand apart from the RedCat, mount and Wedge.

The Dovetail bar that mounts the AZ-GTI to the wedge is a 'Astro Essentials Dovetail Bar' from FLO.  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-dovetail-bars.html It's what they recommended but you'll need a 1/4" to 3/8" adaptor for the mount. The one they supplied wouldn't screw right in to the mount so i had to machine the small flange off it to get the bar sitting flush with the bottom of the mount. Alternatively open the slot out a touch to take a 3/8" bolt at the appropriate place.

Edited January 25, 2022 by RayWUK

[AstroNebulee]

14 minutes ago, RayWUK said:

Thanks, the shiny red was unintentional, i bought a lot of the stuff secondhand apart from the RedCat, mount and Wedge.

The Dovetail bar that mounts the AZ-GTI to the wedge is a 'Astro Essentials Dovetail Bar' from FLO.  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-dovetail-bars.html It's what they recommended but you'll need a 1/4" to 3/8" adaptor for the mount. The one they supplied wouldn't screw right in to the mount so i had to machine the small flange off it to get the bar sitting flush with the bottom of the mount. Alternatively open the slot out a touch to take a 3/8" bolt at the appropriate place.

Thank you Ray, I've ordered one now and will just open up the plate to accept a 3/8 inch bolt 👍, good luck with your set up. 

Edited January 25, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[RayWUK]

11 hours ago, Elp said:

Nice matching all the red. I wanted a gold/yellow WO wedge to match my scope but couldn't find one, now with all the zwo I've got it's kind of all red anyway. Neat cable management too, mines a mess of wires as I setup fresh every time, at least it's good practice for whenever it's pitch black at a dark site.

Cable management can be a problem, they're usually too long. Having the ASIAIR pro mounted on the scope has helped a lot and i use the power out sockets to power everything. I've cut down the length of the Dew heater cables and bought short 0.5m USB cables for cameras and EAF. The only excessively long cable i've got now is the USB cable to the mount. Short ones with the required RJ12 mount connector seem hard to come by.

[Yubnub]

This IS the thread I am looking for!

[Yubnub]

Will be following with great interest. Looking to get a SW 127 with the GTi mount

[LaurenceT]

7 minutes ago, Yubnub said:

Will be following with great interest. Looking to get a SW 127 with the GTi mount

Perfect match.

[RayWUK]

Still waiting for a clear night to try out the AZ-GTI, there's a few stars out tonight but still more than 50% cloud cover. 😬 Will have another look later this evening.

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, RayWUK said:

Still waiting for a clear night to try out the AZ-GTI, there's a few stars out tonight but still more than 50% cloud cover. 😬 Will have another look later this evening.

Hopefully you can get out tonight Ray 👍

[RayWUK]

2 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Hopefully you can get out tonight Ray 👍

Well, i did get out. Just managed to do a PA before the clouds rolled back in. Oh well, another day night.

Not completely wasted, i did find that there was a new software update for the ASIAIR (1.8.2.9.12).

[AstroNebulee]

9 hours ago, RayWUK said:

Well, i did get out. Just managed to do a PA before the clouds rolled back in. Oh well, another day night.

Not completely wasted, i did find that there was a new software update for the ASIAIR (1.8.2.9.12).

A bit of practice on the PA then to get used to it Ray. Nice and easy with the asiair 

[bomberbaz]

I like these small imaging rigs, so versatile and simple compared to some or the impressive but equally massive ones.

I am now pondering with making one up of my own as I already have a GTI and planetary cam suitable for guiding. 

(Opens the money pit)

[AstroNebulee]

40 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

I like these small imaging rigs, so versatile and simple compared to some or the impressive but equally massive ones.

I am now pondering with making one up of my own as I already have a GTI and planetary cam suitable for guiding. 

(Opens the money pit)

Sounds like a brilliant plan baz, get digging that pit but once you do you'll love the results you get ftom the brilliant little mount 👍

[AstroNebulee]

Taken with my sw 72ed AzGti eq mode zwo asi 294mc pro asiair pro. Not bad considering this mount isn't designed for astrophotography. 4 hours worth of data. 

Edited January 30, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[RayWUK]

8 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Taken with my sw 72ed AzGti eq mode zwo asi 294mc pro asiair pro. Not bad considering this mount is designed for astrophotography. 4 hours worth of data. 

Only one thing to say, WOW. Did you use any filters?

Edited January 30, 2022 by RayWUK

[AstroNebulee]

40 minutes ago, RayWUK said:

Only one thing to say, WOW. Did you use any filters?

It was 2 sets of images 2.5 hours with an 80% moon and no filter. Then 1.5 hours with an sv bony 2 inch ir uv cut filter. Both images stacked together and processed. Would of been nice to of had the total 4 hours with filter but I'm happy with the result 👍

[bomberbaz]

2 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Taken with my sw 72ed AzGti eq mode zwo asi 294mc pro asiair pro. Not bad considering this mount isn't designed for astrophotography. 4 hours worth of data. 

Cracking image that, very nice indeed, good scope the 72ED.

Are you aware of anybody using a SW Evoguide as the imaging scope.

It is a lovely little ED frac but the main issue is mounting the guide. I haven't been able to figure a way to mount an mini guide to the main evoguide.

I had thought about the ED72 but I prefer this as a super lightweight option. 2 smallish flight cases carry everything except the tripod.

Edited January 30, 2022 by bomberbaz

[AstroNebulee]

22 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

Cracking image that, very nice indeed, good scope the 72ED.

Are you aware of anybody using a SW Evoguide as the imaging scope.

It is a lovely little ED frac but the main issue is mounting the guide. I haven't been able to figure a way to mount an mini guide to the main evoguide.

I had thought about the ED72 but I prefer this as a super lightweight option. 2 smallish flight cases carry everything except the tripod.

Thank you, very kind. I'm sure I've read somewhere of the evoguide being used as the main imaging scope. I'll have a look. Could you attach the guidescope on a dovetail bar and attached to the tube rings on the evoguide . It sounds a perfect real lightweight setup indeed 👍

Edited January 30, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[bomberbaz]

1 minute ago, AstroNebulee said:

Thank you, very kind. I'm sure I've read somewhere of the evoguide being used as the main imaging scope. I'll have a look. Could the guidescope be fitted via tube rings on the evoguide and fitting aI dovetail bar on the rings to attach the guidescope. It sounds a perfect real lightweight setup indeed 👍

That was one idea but not sure how viable it is. The main tube is 56mm so think I will have a look around at what is available, cheers. 

[AstroNebulee]

6 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

That was one idea but not sure how viable it is. The main tube is 56mm so think I will have a look around at what is available, cheers. 

I have found this article and it seems someone has achieved fitting a guidescope with an attachment similar to a hot shoe 

https://nightskypix.com/evoguide-50ed-vs-redcat-51/

Edited January 30, 2022 by AstroNebulee