The ZWO AM5 landed!

[DSviewer]

Looks awesome I was thinking about an AM5 they are v expensive but broken back is irreplaceable. I have not heard any out of band tracking errors with these 

[Speedmaster]

I’ve read here and there that this mount is not suitable if you don’t guide, is that true? 
i don’t guide and don’t intend to for now so I was wondering if that moiint would be a good choice. 

[The Admiral]

It does need guiding. Though, I've no experience with very short focal lengths, but of course it's an expensive mount if you're limited to that.

If you use something like an ASIAir then guiding isn't too much of a problem.

Ian

[jpoulette]

I'm an absolute beginner, but I had my new AM5/ASIAIR out last night for a rare 'couple of hour window' of clear sky. 😀

The goal was to get guiding functioning (enough reading - time for doing).

After a few hours of cool down (it was +21F) I spent 20 minutes (I took my time) getting things level and got the PA down to 1' on each axis. (got the smiley face - but it also told me I was "bicycle slow" )

After that I went to M81, and it guided very nicely at about 0.4-0.5" for about an hour. No data collected but I was very pleased with this progress because it was the only the second time I had attempted guiding.

What surprised me was the numerical auto-focus change; the set-up was in the same place, same temperature, and cool-down time was the same. Not much of a change (maybe 10-12 on the focus scale), but I thought it would be closer.

OK, now that I'm getting a workflow into place -  I wait the classic wait for more clear skies.

[SamAndrew]

Took to plunge and ordered one of these yesterday, arrived this morning; initial impressions are very positive, there's a chance of some clear sky tonight and tomorrow so hopefully I can get it setup and tested.

The scale on my full PE graph only goes +/- 6", so it seems I have a good example . I guess mine is from a more recent batch so hopefully any initial production issues have been ironed out.

[Elp]

Can you advise the dimensions and total weight of the mount and accessories inside it's soft carry case please? Don't include the tripod.

[SamAndrew]

7.5kg in the case, the case it quite weighty! the head is 5.5kg on its own

Case is 33x32x18.5cm

[SamAndrew]

Have just done a quick test of the guiding as I haven't got the imaging rig for this mount setup yet; default PHD2 settings (fresh install), about 7kg of payload, polar alignment to within a couple of minutes, using a hugely underspecced tripod off my azgti, I was sitting right next to it on the patio (afraid it might tip over), lovely still night, shame not to be able to capture some data.

Better than expected, fingers crossed it continues to perform like this, pointed the scope towards Mars, literally spent 5 minutes guiding and was seeing this:

[The Admiral]

12 hours ago, SamAndrew said:

Better than expected

That is good. I've generally got higher, but less than twice that, which is still pretty reasonable. I use 0.5s guide exposures, were you using 1 sec?

Ian

Edited February 20, 2023 by The Admiral

[SamAndrew]

4 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

That is good. I've generally got higher, but less than twice that, which is still pretty reasonable. I use 0.5s guide exposures, were you using 1 sec?

Ian

Yes 1 second was the default, the rate of change of the PE is slow from what I saw, so I don't think going any shorter would improve the results, I will try and run guiding assistance next time; if the min movement is lower then the number of corrections will increase (for better or worse)

[Elp]

Another question. Can you power the asiair, and then run 12v out from the air into the am5 also with all imaging equipment also attached to the air? This is how I do it with my azgti setup with a small single power source like the Celestron Lithium LT, but my gem requires its own power so two power sources opposed to one, ideally I'd like to keep to one power source for travel considerations if thinking about an am5.

[Dark Raven]

49 minutes ago, Elp said:

ideally I'd like to keep to one power source for travel considerations if thinking about an am5

You can use one power supply with ASIAir and AM5, however official recommendation is that you power the AM5 first and than from AM5, power ASIAir. AM5 has passthrough 5521 DC power socket. That is how I run my setup and it works great.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Dark Raven

[jpoulette]

32 minutes ago, Dark Raven said:

You can use one power supply with ASIAir and AM5, however official recommendation is that you power the AM5 first and than from AM5, power ASIAir. AM5 has passthrough 5521 DC power socket. That is how I run my setup and it works great.

 

I presently use a Y-cable from a separate 10A AC-DC supply (one leg to the AM5, the other to the ASIAIR+). There's been some debate whether the standard 5A converter can really handle the load of an AM5, ASIAIR, plus accessories (cameras, dew heaters, etc.). I've heard several reports of flaky performance, and some cases of an ASIAIR reboot or shut-down.

The AM5 is rated for 3A max, but I suspect the momentary inrush current (dynamic load) is much higher.  I haven't looked into a battery pack yet, but I hope to take some AM5 current measurements before I do so.

From a beginner, the AM5 has been a great mount so far - good luck ! 😀

[The Admiral]

I must admit I use two 5 amp power bricks, one dedicated to the mount, the other the AAP. The mount's feed-through is supposedly rated, and legended, as 3 amps, so not really enough for cameras etc. But talk on the ZWO mount FB site refers to 5 amp for the feed-through. If you are using a battery I'd have thought using a splitter as the last poster would be a better option.

Ian

[StevieDvd]

The AM5 recommends a 12v of at least 3A,  and the output port can be up to 5A.

The mount can use around 1.7A for goto, 0.4A standby & 0.6A tracking.

So logically you could use a 12v 5A supply to the mount to allow the pass-through to have 3.3A available. I don't know if the pass-through could use 5A if the mount was powered by a 10A psu.

Currently, I am using just USB ports on my Asiair Plus so using a single power supply to the mount and the pass-through to the Asiair is not an issue and keeps the cabling simpler.

With a power cooled camera and dew heaters added to my setup I'd likely err on the side of powering them individually.

 

 

 

[Elp]

Dew heaters are the worst. Pretty much guarantee need their own supply as I'm doing atm.

[The Admiral]

3 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

the output port can be up to 5A.

OK, I see that the manual now says 5 amps 👍.

Ian

[david_taurus83]

Just wondering if anyone uses their AM5 on the carbon tripod with heavy refractors? My Esprit 100 is currently sat in the wardrobe while the 200P is on the pier so I was thinking about trying the Esprit on the AM5? The Esprit isn't a particularly long refractor but it's weighty. I'm not doubting the AM5's capability but more concerned about toppling the tripod. I don't have the pier extension either. Would a counterweight be advised? 

[Elp]

Best just to test it. I believe the Dec doesn't have a brake either so it would be wise to roughly balance it as you would on a normal worm gear mount. The CW is exactly for the reason to make sure it doesn't fall over (unlike a worm gear mount where it reduces mechanical stress on the gears).

[Simon Pepper]

5 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Just wondering if anyone uses their AM5 on the carbon tripod with heavy refractors? My Esprit 100 is currently sat in the wardrobe while the 200P is on the pier so I was thinking about trying the Esprit on the AM5? The Esprit isn't a particularly long refractor but it's weighty. I'm not doubting the AM5's capability but more concerned about toppling the tripod. I don't have the pier extension either. Would a counterweight be advised? 

This is why I got the EQ6r I just couldn’t trust that AM5 mainly the tripod. I can’t recall where I saw it but someone had an Edge that was on an AM5 and it fell off glass shattered complete write off can’t recall how but I suspect it toppled over. 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Simon Pepper

[Elp]

Its also why I always differentiate between a mount and a tripod when recommending equipment. The tripod makes all the difference in a setup.

[david_taurus83]

So I mounted up the Esprit and its a marvel to see the mount swing it round without toppling over! I don't think I would trust it without a counterweight though or 5 litres drum for weight in the middle of the tripod. However the camera will clash with the legs at zenith so I need to think about it a bit more. I could get the extension pier but ita not cheap for what it is. I would much rather use my 2" SW tripod in the shed but the centre bolt is M12 so the ZWO extension won't work with that either. Need to think a bit more about it. Perhaps could make my own mini pier out of some aluminium plates...🤔

[Elp]

I think you could theoretically mount it onto a SW mini extension pier, but I wouldn't want the top heavy mount+payload weight hanging off the top puck without it being solidly (maybe permanently) locked in.

[david_taurus83]

Sod paying 200 odd quid for the ZWO one. Made my own mini pier today. Had to get the 3/8 bar off ebay and drink a lot of coffee but works out a lot cheaper! Should compliment my custom custard counterweight nicely! The concrete side will go on top of the EQ6 tripod and the AM5 bracket will sit perfectly flush with the bottom side of the coffee tin. Will give it a few days to go off before trying it.

 

[david_taurus83]

I know there's another active AM5 thread but I'll stick this in here for continuity. Finally got to try the AM5 on my spare 2" tripod. Happy to report that it's nice and stable even without a counterweight. Guiding was also nice and stable last night, around 0.5 to 0.7 RMS. Was nice to get back out last night with my second setup. Last outing was back in February!