Zwo harmonic mount pretty much confirmed

[Hogarth]

After the leaked image of a group of people doing some astrophotography and an unidentified red mount with no counterweights was spotted, the speculation was a mount from zwo was coming.

 

today pretty much confirmed

[gilesco]

Interesting, do you have a link to the leaked image?

[Hogarth]

13 minutes ago, gilesco said:

Interesting, do you have a link to the leaked image?

 

[gilesco]

Will be interesting, ZWO have a habit of entering a market with very competitive price points.

[Hogarth]

As i understand, harmonic mounts can suffer badly from PE. 

[gilesco]

3 minutes ago, Hogarth said:

As i understand, harmonic mounts can suffer badly from PE. 

Apparently, although if you're using auto-guiding (which ZWO would obviously like you to do, as you will buy twice as many cameras if you are) then you can essentially eliminate PE.

PE becomes an issue if you're tracking without guiding.

[Stargazer33]

Is there not a very good reason why mounts have a counterweight to offset the weight of the ota? 🤔

[gilesco]

11 minutes ago, Stargazer33 said:

Is there not a very good reason why mounts have a counterweight to offset the weight of the ota? 🤔

You can still use counterweights on harmonic drive mounts, and I would recommend it as you want to have the system balanced to stop the chance of it toppling over.

They say Harmonic Drives don't need counterweights, because the transfer of torque by the drive mechanism is much more efficient than a worm gear mechanism.

[nephilim]

It looks as if the tripod leg on the left is bending under the weight of the scope, hopefully just a trick of the light.....or is it 😂😂

[gilesco]

3 minutes ago, nephilim said:

It looks as if the tripod leg on the left is bending under the weight of the scope, hopefully just a trick of the light.....or is it 😂😂

https://www.illusionsindex.org/ir/hering-illusion

[nephilim]

2 minutes ago, gilesco said:

https://www.illusionsindex.org/ir/hering-illusion

I didn't realise there was an actual name for it, learn something new every day 🙂

[catburglar]

I don’t think it’s the hering illusion…if it were the leg would be straight even though it appears bowed…the attached crop with an overlaid straight edge shows that the image of the tripod leg is not straight

I think it’s simply lens distortion because of the wide angle lens used and the proximity of the object to it..

[Rusted]

It is called "barrel distortion."

The whole image shows it.

No red "herrings" required.

[Stargazer33]

3 hours ago, gilesco said:

You can still use counterweights on harmonic drive mounts, and I would recommend it as you want to have the system balanced to stop the chance of it toppling over.

They say Harmonic Drives don't need counterweights, because the transfer of torque by the drive mechanism is much more efficient than a worm gear mechanism.

I definitely wouldn't want what looks like a C11 or possibly a C14 swinging around without a counterweight; even on a fixed pier, let alone a tripod! 😱

[Elp]

Looks a bit like the ioptron gem. But will it be any good...

[gilesco]

Possibly named the AM5 ?

Edited December 24, 2021 by gilesco

[StarryEyed]

Took me three minutes to see the mount in the picture even with the ring around it. This is because it took me three minutes to stop staring at that clear sky. 

[nephilim]

57 minutes ago, StarryEyed said:

Took me three minutes to see the mount in the picture even with the ring around it. This is because it took me three minutes to stop staring at that clear sky. 

Its a very good use of Photoshop 😂

[gilesco]

[gilesco]

[gilesco]

[wornish]

Its on their website now.

 

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/zwo-am5-harmonic-equatorial-mount

 

Look at the price!

[gilesco]

3 minutes ago, wornish said:

Its on their website now.

 

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/zwo-am5-harmonic-equatorial-mount

 

Look at the price!

Well - a harmonic drive + tripod for £2000 (I know it says USD $1999, but that will translate to £2000+ for UK retail suppliers)

This will always need auto-guiding, the laser feature may not be available in many countries due to local regulations etc...

I will certainly keep an eye on this.

[nephilim]

12 minutes ago, gilesco said:

Well - a harmonic drive + tripod for £2000 (I know it says USD $1999, but that will translate to £2000+ for UK retail suppliers)

This will always need auto-guiding, the laser feature may not be available in many countries due to local regulations etc...

I will certainly keep an eye on this.

Knowing AP prices in the uk it'll probably translate closer to £3000 😂

[Elp]

At the price they're asking for they can keep it.