AZ5 manual tracking at high (ish) mag

[Ratlet]

I currently have an slt127 which I have not gotten on with.  This is almost exclusively because it turns out that 

a) I hate manually moving the mount.  Doing everything with the handset is soul destroying and even small adjustments for solar sap my will to live.

b)I thought I wanted go to, but it turns out that I really enjoy actually finding stuff in the sky.  Even just with my eyes I'm getting huge enjoyment out of finding stuff.  Visual guys, please feel free to quote this bit and reply "we told you so".  It might inspire others.

Anyway, I've decided to swap to a 130pds and an az5 mount.

My question is, how easy is it to manually track at high magnification with the AZ5?  With the eye pieces I'll be getting I'll be looking at 163 magnification (8mm BST and a 2x Barlow).

I'm quite far north so the planets won't be up for some time so I'll have time to practice before using this level.

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Ratlet

[KP82]

There are slow-motion knobs on the AZ5, so tracking at medium to high power shouldn't be an issue. Personally this is a must have feature. However motorised mounts with their auto tracking still win here in terms of convenience.

As for low power sweeping, yes you're absolutely right. Manual sweeping is much more intuitive, fun and satisfying than fiddling around with buttons on a hand controller.

[Pixies]

Dare I mention EQ?

An EQ5 with a single motor will track nicely. Polar alignment for visual is very simple.

[bosun21]

I don’t think you should give up on your 127 go to just yet. Have you mounted the telescope to the left of the fork?. Are you leveling the mount before you start?. Have you set the tracking speed to sidereal?. When looking through the eyepiece have you reduced the speed to 2-4 depending how magnified you are. I take it you aren’t going through the alignment process as if you did the tracking would be bang on (for visual). I have a 127 Maksutov go to and a 8” dobsonian with starsense fitted plus a 120mm refractor on an EQ5 pro go to mount. Whilst I enjoy star hopping my way to a target sometimes, I also enjoy accurate tracking once I have found it.

[Ratlet]

Thanks guys,

I forgot to mention an important bit of information, I've still got a GEM28 if I want to use goto and tracking.  Sorry about that.  It was bought for astrophotography and the 'second setup' is so I can do visual whilst the imaging does its thing, but I'm not completely adverse to using the gem28 for visual if required.

Really what I'm wondering is how it is to track (say a planet) with the AZ5 at 160 mag.

[bosun21]

Once you have mastered the slow motion cables then it’s manageable.

[RT65CB-SWL]

I think I can somewhat sympathise with @Ratlet. 

Using a catadioptric ‘scope on a manual alt-az mount is not an easy task when using high power, due to the narrow field of view.

Not having any provision for flexi-slow motion cables on any of my alt-az mounts whatsoever is challenging, especially during the winter months, when focusing and guiding at the same time. That said, I will not part with them.