Rainbow Robotics RST-300

[Jonny_H]

Hi all,

I was doing a bit of optimistic window shopping last night, looking at things which I cannot really afford (as you do ), and I started looking at the Rainbow Robotics RST-300 mount.

It looks very interesting and uses something called a 'Strain Wave Gear'. Up to a certain weight, which I think the majority of us would fit, you do not need any counterweights. The head itself is very light but can hold a very impressive payload.

That said, at circa £8.5k for just the head, it puts it (give or take a grand or two 😛) in the firing line of some of the biggest names in the business.... 10Micron, Paramount etc...

Interested to hear other views on this. Worth it or stick with the bigger boys?

Thanks,

Jonny

[fireballxl5]

 I grabbed FLO's black Friday offer on its baby brother the RST-135E. Early days yet with only 3 nights to play but I'm very impressed.  My priorities were low weight,  accurate unguided tracking with the ability to image at a scale of around 1"/pix when guiding.  Seems to perform well so far. 

[Jonny_H]

Good to hear all is well so far.  What sort of payload are you putting on your 135E?

[fireballxl5]

6 hours ago, Jonny_H said:

What sort of payload are you putting on your 135E?

for these these initial tests I've just used my current travel scope, a 60mm/f10 refractor with OSC CMOS configured to give 1.65"/pixel. This setup weighs only 5kg, so easily within the mounts minimum spec (13.5kg w/o counterweights). My primary aim to use this mount for mobile galaxy/PN imaging with a payload of ~9kg (RC6 + accessories) at an image scale of <1"/pixel.

Edited December 20, 2021 by fireballxl5
re-calculated mount load

[Jonny_H]

I should have read the spec of the 135E a little more closely. I didn't realise that the payload could be increased by using counterweights!

I wonder if the same rule of thumb applies to these mounts as it does for others, e.g. 2/3 of the advertised payload for imaging etc....