Impressive Alt-az Mount

[Sunshine]

Left home before sunrise  on a 5hr round trip to pick up this beautiful mount, made by Universal Astronomics which was a one man operation in the US, gentleman by the name of Larry really liked doing things with pride as this mount is testament to. It is built like a tank but weighs like a Toyota which is what we want in astro gear. Upon first inspection I was so impressed at the silky smoothness of its motions with no stiction to speak of, no slack in joints or wobble of any kind, just rock solid smooth motion. 
 

It will allow for 40lbs on one side and 30lbs on the other for a total load of…you guessed it, 70lbs which is more telescope mass than I will ever have, for now my 102 is all it will see but in my future there is a larger frac and I sleep easy knowing I’m prepared. It has another neat feature which honestly I’m not sure if all tandem mounts have but, both scopes on either side can be precisely aligned so they are on target at the eyepiece, one side allows for adjustments with lock screws just like one would align a primary in a dob then lock in place. This would make it so both scopes would be dead on at the eyepiece. 
 

From the Universal Astronomics website which is still up after Larry (founder) retired, I gather he made a few other models, the doublestar tandem which I have is the largest and only tandem model and he only made 40 as they are intricate and difficult to make which made them pricey. This is really neat, it is beautiful, functional to the highest degree and rare to boot, I love rare. Mounting my 102 on it and slewing it around is like turning the wheel on a well tuned car, just smooth as silk and easy as can be. There are knobs which adjust friction on both axis and the slightest turn affects friction accordingly. 
 

All I need now are some clear skies!

[mikemarotta]

Congratulations. I did not know about Universal Astronomics.  Now, it is too late.

Quote

 

Been a long time coming, but UA is slowly closing its doors.  My thanks to those who supported our products over the past 20 years.

And my apology to those who have struggled recently to communicate with me.  

We are no longer taking orders for larger altazimuth mounts, All parallelogram designs, or tripods.  

Feel free to inquire for availability of accessories or lighter altaz mounts.

Please use Larry@universalastronomics.com for any inquiries.

Current product prices can be found at the PRICE LIST  page in the menu above.   All prices and information subject to change without notice.

http://www.universalastronomics.com

 

That last price list is dated three years ago.

RETAIL PRICE LIST

effective November 1, 2018*

 

[John]

Congratulations !

Universal Astronomics mounts have an excellent reputation. It's sad that they are no longer made.

I had their smallest model, the Dwarfstar, for a while and found that worked really well considering it's tiny size and weight.

Yours looks a mightily capable mount

[JeremyS]

Looks impressive @Sunshine. Keen to hear how you get on 

[RT65CB-SWL]

I have one of the 'DwarfStar' mounts, (imaage below), that I purchased from fellow SGL-er @heliumstar. 

It is the perfect travel mount when I am away from home and travelling light. It is so small, that can fit into the palm of an adult hand. 

[Sunshine]

6 minutes ago, Philip R said:

I have one of the 'DwarfStar' mounts, (imaage below), that I purchased from fellow SGL-er @heliumstar. 

It is the perfect travel mount when I am away from home and travelling light. It is so small, that can fit into the palm of an adult hand. 

Wow! that is small, it looks to be the perfect travel mount indeed!