Going lightweight :-)

[knobby]

Hi all, due to an ageing body (mainly back) I'm in the process of planning a lighter rig.

I've been using my AZ-Gti for a few years now but miss the ability to do any planetary imaging with it.

I've sold my HEQ5 and C8 Edge as I just can't set it up without suffering the next day or 3 😞

I'm toying with getting a 180 Mak on an Ioptron HEM27, or a ZWO AM5 if or when they prove themself.

Other options would be an Ioptron GEM28, still very light but would handle a large Mak well enough for planetary imaging.

I've seen some bad reviews on the GEM28 so my gut feeling is to wait for a while.

Budget around £2700 plus whatever I can get for the AZ-Gti so I'm probably looking at a used Mak or maybe even C925 SCT.

All suggestions welcomed 🙂

 

 

[etsatlo]

Forgive me but why aren't you able to do planetary with the mount?

[knobby]

22 minutes ago, etsatlo said:

Forgive me but why aren't you able to do planetary with the mount?

Forgiven 😀

The AZ-Gti will only carry 5 kg ... The scopes I'm looking at are both around 9

[Shimrod]

50 minutes ago, knobby said:

Hi all, due to an ageing body (mainly back) I'm in the process of planning a lighter rig.

I've been using my AZ-Gti for a few years now but miss the ability to do any planetary imaging with it.

I've sold my HEQ5 and C8 Edge as I just can't set it up without suffering the next day or 3 😞

Budget around £2700 plus whatever I can get for the AZ-Gti so I'm probably looking at a used Mak or maybe even C925 SCT.

All suggestions welcomed 🙂

 

 

I'm not sure I understand the logic of selling an 8" Edge but getting a heavier and larger 9.25 SCT. Was it the mount rather than the OTA that is causing the issue? I've no experience of it, but if needing something lightweight for planety the Stellalyra 6" Classical Cassegrain might be a good choice, or for lighter still the Stellamira 80ed F10 refractor. 

[Elp]

I imaged Jupiter yesterday with my azgti and C6 combo. The gem28 is also excellent.

[Ratlet]

Gem 28 is nice and light.  If weight is an issue then I would wait to see how the harmonia look.  You won't need a counter weight which will knock at least 5kg of the weight.

[knobby]

2 hours ago, Shimrod said:

I'm not sure I understand the logic of selling an 8" Edge but getting a heavier and larger 9.25 SCT. Was it the mount rather than the OTA that is causing the issue? I've no experience of it, but if needing something lightweight for planety the Stellalyra 6" Classical Cassegrain might be a good choice, or for lighter still the Stellamira 80ed F10 refractor. 

The C8 edge was a bit of a sacrificial lamb to help fund a lighter mount, honestly the edge isn't really needed for planetary as the planet is tiny and generally in the middle of field so it was sold with the intention of replacing it after the mount had been decided.

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

Gem 28 is nice and light.  If weight is an issue then I would wait to see how the harmonia look.  You won't need a counter weight which will knock at least 5kg of the weight.

Yes, I really like the specs of the GEM28, just a bit warey of the poor reviews and perceived quality control issues 

Thanks for all the replies 👍🏻

[Louis D]

Maybe you could look into a harmonic drive mount?  That way, you'd save yourself the effort of carrying around and installing counterweights.  The mounts themselves are fairly lightweight while still having a relatively high load capacity.

[dweller25]

I also have a bad back and have had to find a lightweight observing option.

It is currently a Mewlon 180 on a Vixen GP.

A Celestron C6 on an EQ mount would be even lighter…..

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/advanced-vx-goto/celestron-c6sct-vx-goto.html

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by dweller25

[knobby]

6 hours ago, Louis D said:

Maybe you could look into a harmonic drive mount?  That way, you'd save yourself the effort of carrying around and installing counterweights.  The mounts themselves are fairly lightweight while still having a relatively high load capacity.

Cheers Louis, yes I'm leaning towards a bit more saving up ( plenty of time as the harmonic mounts aren't readily available yet ) and choosing between the ZWO and the Ioptron, with maybe a used Mak for planets.

3 hours ago, dweller25 said:

I also have a bad back and have had to find a lightweight observing option.

It is currently a Mewlon 180 on a Vixen GP.

A Celestron C6 on an EQ mount would be even lighter…..

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/advanced-vx-goto/celestron-c6sct-vx-goto.html

 

Cheers David, It's more the mount weight that causes me issues, I can lift a scope up to around 10 kg easily enough, it's the mount that is awkward to handle.

The Tak looks a stunning scope but way out of my price range 🙂

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by knobby
Name

[dweller25]

1 hour ago, knobby said:Cheers David, It's more the mount weight that causes me issues, I can lift a scope up to around 10 kg easily enough, it's the mount that is awkward to handle.

The Tak looks a stunning scope but way out of my price range 🙂

 

Actually, a new Mewlon 180 and a new SW EQ5 GOTO costs £2600, which is less than your £2700 budget 🙂

[knobby]

Mmmm food for thought 🙂

 

[knobby]

Also, can't find one in stock ...

[great_bear]

Ed Ting lists the Mewlon 180 as one of the top five scopes he regrets buying (this link jumps straight to the Mewlon part):

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by great_bear

[CraigT82]

38 minutes ago, great_bear said:

Ed Ting lists the Mewlon 180 as one of the top five scopes he regrets buying (this link jumps straight to the Mewlon part):

 

To be fair on the Mewlon it sounds like he had something wrong with his scope. 
I’ve heard plenty of Mewlon owners praising the scopes rock solid collimation 

As for Knobby’s dilemma, I’d be looking hard at a used C9.25.  About 9kg and easily carried by any of the new harmonic drive mounts, even could be pushed into service on an EQ5 if necessary.  Packs an aperture punch for its weight and a proven performer too for planetary imaging. 

Edited June 24, 2022 by CraigT82

[great_bear]

3 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

To be fair on the Mewlon it sounds like he had something wrong with his scope. 
I’ve heard plenty of Mewlon owners praising the scopes rock solid collimation 

He says "that is a reputation these scopes have" - so a bad batch maybe? Certainly not the kind of issue you'd expect from Tak... 

[Bigwings]

If the problem is your body (as is mine needing 2 new knees etc) causing difficulty with weights and setting up there is another solution.

A scope trolley. This is an AZ EQ6 with a Bresser 10" Newt. 

It's now fitted with StarSense so takes about 5mins to set up and align after pulling it out of the garage with very little effort

[iantaylor2uk]

I have an Innorel RT90C carbon fibre tripod, which weighs around 3kg, but can support up to 40 kg. I have a harmonic mount on the tripod which can be in equatorial mode or alt-az. Total weight of tripod and head is only around 6 kg, although you may need a counterweight if you are operating in alt-az mode. With a counterweight you can put a telescope on up to 18kg, or up to 13.5kg without the counterweight. I have found it to be a good lightweight set-up.

[knobby]

What mount Ian ?

[MalcolmM]

5 hours ago, great_bear said:

Ed Ting lists the Mewlon 180 as one of the top five scopes he regrets buying (this link jumps straight to the Mewlon part):

 

All I can say to this is I have recently got a Mewlon 180 and the collimation was perfect straight out of the box, after having travelled half way round the world! Whether it stays that way or not remains to be seen but my experience with the Mewlon 180 so far is very very good!

Malcolm 

[iantaylor2uk]

1 hour ago, knobby said:

What mount Ian ?

I've got an RST 135 mount on the tripod, but there are cheaper harmonic mounts coming along.

[JeremyS]

6 hours ago, great_bear said:

He says "that is a reputation these scopes have" - so a bad batch maybe? Certainly not the kind of issue you'd expect from Tak... 

they have a reputation for being hard to collimate, not that they don’t hold collimation once collimated. Reputation is they hold collimation well (unless some replaces Tak screws with Bobs Knobs). 
I have never owned one, but used a few that friends own.

Edited June 24, 2022 by JeremyS

[neil phillips]

For a cheaper alternative to the suggestions so far. I think the Stella lyra 8" (7.3) is a good light weight option especially if the losmandy and vixen plates are taken off. And rings are used. My optics seem excellent. 

Example 

Jupiter in daylight on the 16th. Other than that i am with Craig on C9.25 

Edited June 24, 2022 by neil phillips

[MalcolmM]

11 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Reputation is they hold collimation well

That was my conclusion from researching online! Though I do rate Ed Ting's reviews very highly.

On the original topic; I can identify with back problems, ease of portability has always been one of my criteria. I have no experience with other similar scopes to the Mewlon but I do find it very easy to setup, the built in finder/handle is brilliant. 

Malcolm 

[johninderby]

While Ed Tings revoews are mainly good I have noticed he does tend to jump to conclusions sometimes and can fail to look into a “problem” properly.

He recently had a rant about a scopes front cover that kept falling off without realising that after inserting the cover you needed to rotate it to lock it into place. Duh🤔

Edited June 25, 2022 by johninderby