Show us your mount!

[markse68]

6 minutes ago, doublevodka said:

That tripod looks very strong and stable, what is it? I'm assuming the mount head itself is custom built?

it’s an old military tripod i’ve had 20+ years and finally have a good use for 🤣 It’s pretty stable though a couple of the ball joints could do with replacement but have had trouble finding correct parts.  I put a build thread in the DIY section for the mount- yes it’s self built.

Mark

[Ags]

21 minutes ago, doublevodka said:

strong and stable

Haven't heard that phrase for a couple of years! No doubt the tripod was financed by the magic money tree 😀

[markse68]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

Very clever setup, Mark!👍

Thanks Dave  That was my first light with the Cape Newise and as expected it ain’t right. Need to strip it down tonight and have a look at one of the correction lenses which is loose and i think is the main culprit in weird non-pointy star shapes. Once sorted I think i’m going to love and use this setup a lot  

Mark

[tomato]

This one is a bit off the beaten track, a DIY designed and built EQ mount and portable steel tripod pier, constructed by @Tomatobro back in the late 1980’s and used for imaging in the days before digital cameras.

The mount has since been recycled and parts made from it reside on my current setup, but the pier is still around.

 

[badhex]

17 minutes ago, tomato said:

This one is a bit off the beaten track, a DIY designed and built EQ mount and portable steel tripod pier, constructed by @Tomatobro back in the late 1980’s and used for imaging in the days before digital cameras.

The mount has since been recycled and parts made from it reside on my current setup, but the pier is still around.

 

Amazing. Now we need to see your current setup! 

[tomato]

The 1980’s experience taught me the importance of a substantial, well engineered mount, so when I got back into imaging the choice was simple,  a bog standard Mesu Mk 1.

 

 

[mikeDnight]

As usual, my contribution is doubtless going to bring this amazing thread crashing down to earth with bog standard, simple Altaz mounts.

AZ4

Hercules Helix fork

Tasco fork

Unitron

Takahashi Teegul

Edited April 6, 2022 by mikeDnight

[mikeDnight]

And my basic, no frills, equatorials.

Prinz Astral c1980

Vixen Great Polaris with FC100DC 

Vixen GP with FC100DZ 

H. N. Irving

Irving with 6" F10 Edmund Scientific.

And my latest acquisition,  a vintage Carton refractor and equatorial.

[badhex]

I promised a photo of my recently purchased Scopetech Mount Zero, and here it is now I have the right tripod to go with it! 

 

[plyscope]

This is the Rowan AZ100 with a Starfield 102 f7.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, plyscope said:

This is the Rowan AZ100 with a Starfield 102 f7.

Lovely job 👍👍

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, plyscope said:

This is the Rowan AZ100 with a Starfield 102 f7.

Marriage made in heaven 👍🏻

[Mr Spock]

Oh my... drool 

Starfield 102mm f7 ED on an EQ5 - perfection 

[paulastro]

This is the Takahashi Teegul TG - L  which recently came to me from mikeDnight.  There is (or was) an Astro-Tech Voyager  'clone' of it.  I'd be surprised if it was made to the same spec as the Teegul - if it is, it would make a very good buy on the used market.

It is very sturdy with smooth slow motion knobs, and comfortably accommodates my TS 6inch F6 reflector.  The scope in the pIc is my Tecnosky 102ED F7, the more recent Starfield version being one of several versions of this scope.

 

 

 

 

  

[DaveS]

Couple of photos of the DDM 85 carrying the ODK 12.

[L8-Nite]

Zeiss T1,  Zeiss TM,  Questar 7,  and  Half/Hitch  Mount's.

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, L8-Nite said:

Zeiss T1,  Zeiss TM,  Questar 7,  and  Half/Hitch  Mount's.

I must have died and gone to heaven 

[Franklin]

Another Vixen mount joins the gang. My first ever goto, though I think I will stick to dual-axis drives only, for now. I got it for its greater capacity than my GP2. Handles the 4" refractor very well.

 

[badhex]

16 hours ago, Franklin said:

Another Vixen mount joins the gang. My first ever goto, though I think I will stick to dual-axis drives only, for now. I got it for its greater capacity than my GP2. Handles the 4" refractor very well.

 

I was just watching the Ed Ting video on this (or one like it). He said the futuristic LCD handset was a bit tricky, how do you find it? 

[Franklin]

8 minutes ago, badhex said:

He said the futuristic LCD handset was a bit tricky, how do you find it?

It's very simple to operate and intuitive but compared to the Star Book 10 and other more modern offerings it is a little outdated. However, none of that really matters to me because I will be bypassing the alignment process and not using any of the goto or object lists. I plan on just using it in basic mode as a dual axis motor driven EQ and the reason for getting it is that it can carry up tp 12kg as opposed to the 7kg rating of my GP2. It does appear to be very well built and sturdy. It seems like the Sphinx is to the GP what the HEQ5 is to the EQ5, if that makes sense.

[badhex]

41 minutes ago, Franklin said:

It's very simple to operate and intuitive but compared to the Star Book 10 and other more modern offerings it is a little outdated. However, none of that really matters to me because I will be bypassing the alignment process and not using any of the goto or object lists. I plan on just using it in basic mode as a dual axis motor driven EQ and the reason for getting it is that it can carry up tp 12kg as opposed to the 7kg rating of my GP2. It does appear to be very well built and sturdy. It seems like the Sphinx is to the GP what the HEQ5 is to the EQ5, if that makes sense.

Nice. I can definitely see the appeal of motor driven but not using the goto functionality. Plus it looks pretty cool! 

[Franklin]

2 hours ago, badhex said:

I can definitely see the appeal of motor driven but not using the goto functionality. Plus it looks pretty cool!

Yes indeed. Unfortunately, if you're looking for a dual axis/tracking EQ mount, then the GP/EQ5 class is about as big as you can get. The GPD2 and GPDX are not made anymore and also the early (black) HEQ5/EQ6 which were dual drive only. It seems that anything bigger than an EQ5 is GOTO these days. Exceptions are the new Vixen 2nd generation Sphinx, the SX2, which can be bought (£1500) supplied with the Star Book1 for dual drives only and probably a Losmandy G8/G11 but of course all of these cost quite a bit. I managed to pick up the SXW for around the cost of a new EQ5 and all the motors are working fine. So if the older GOTO software fails or turns weird in the future I will still be able to bypass it all and just use the drives. The only strange thing is in order to alter the slewing speed I have to zoom in on the planetarium view on the Star Book controller but I'm sure I will get used to that. I think all Vixen gear looks pretty cool!

[Franklin]

3 hours ago, badhex said:

I was just watching the Ed Ting video on this

I really like Ed Tings videos, he certainly knows his stuff and i did see his review of the original Sphinx mount which was not very complimentary. When researching the mount online I also read quite a few negative reviews as well. Mainly the software having problems and the way in which it accounts for inaccurate polar alignment, namely with steps in the DEC axis. For visual this is something that doesn't really matter but users wanting to use the mount for imaging found this to be a problem. All I can say is that the mount is like a rock, the sidereal tracking is accurate and I can slew around in both axis for centering stuff in the eyepiece. Powering it is another matter, my GP battery box lasted about an hour so I'm going to have to get hold of a proper 12vDC supply.

[badhex]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Yes indeed. Unfortunately, if you're looking for a dual axis/tracking EQ mount, then the GP/EQ5 class is about as big as you can get. The GPD2 and GPDX are not made anymore and also the early (black) HEQ5/EQ6 which were dual drive only. It seems that anything bigger than an EQ5 is GOTO these days. Exceptions are the new Vixen 2nd generation Sphinx, the SX2, which can be bought (£1500) supplied with the Star Book1 for dual drives only and probably a Losmandy G8/G11 but of course all of these cost quite a bit. I managed to pick up the SXW for around the cost of a new EQ5 and all the motors are working fine. So if the older GOTO software fails or turns weird in the future I will still be able to bypass it all and just use the drives. The only strange thing is in order to alter the slewing speed I have to zoom in on the planetarium view on the Star Book controller but I'm sure I will get used to that. I think all Vixen gear looks pretty cool!

I'm currently quite enjoying manual at the moment, and have just about perfected the right balance with my 102ED F7 and scopetech mount zero combo. When using my ZS73 I typically have it on an AZ-GTi which I occasionally use just for slewing and tracking. 

Eventually, when I have the right circumstances, I have an EQ6-R Pro waiting for more regular use, and I imagine that I'll probably often use that for simple slewing and tracking as well. 

[CCD-Freak]

My Astro Physics AP900 mount is probably the best investment I have ever made.  It carries any of my OTAs with ease.  (^8