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The Moon & a Hercules AZ Mount


Mandy D

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@Ratlet, @Stu Following on from the Hercules mount discussion, to avoid cluttering up the other thread, here is an image of the Moon from last night using the RC6 and D3200 on the Hercules AZ mount and Skywatcher 2" tripod. It is certainly not the best or clearest image I've ever taken, but it was so much easier working with this setup, especially compared to using a Dob for imaging. The photo is a stack of the best 190 images from a total of 480.

Unfortunately, I was shooting with the settings on my camera for the 200P at f/5.9 whilst using the RC6 at f/9! Hence the images came out very dark, but I was too busy playing with the mount to give the photography the attention it deserved. I have been advised by those who know far more than I do to use the 200P for lunar and planetary imaging rather than the RC6, but I wanted to test the mount and was comfortable with photographing the Moon. The RC6 is such a lovely little scope and now it is well mounted such a joy to work with, that I will likely continue using it even when I may have other scopes that are better suited to the job.

Given that the images from last night are not quite as well focussed as they could be and were very dark, I probably will not look at processing them further than this and will accept it as a lesson in what not to do! Obviously, any advice is welcome as always.

So, how did the Hercules mount perform?

Overall, I was very happy with it. As mentioned previously, there are a couple of quite serious niggles that the manufacturer really should address. First, the belt drive system does not allow the locking mechanism to solidly lock the mount axes when necessary. Second, the locking screws bear directly onto the rotating shafts, thus the potential for damage and wear. Third, the ratio used with the handwheels makes movement rather faster than it should be and it can be quite hard work raising the scope in this way - push and nudge like a Dob can become the order of the day. A final niggle was that the azimuth control worked backwards, i.e. clockwise rotation of the handwheel moved the scope anti-clockwise!

In use, I found it to be really straightforward with all the controls coming readily to hand without even having to look at the mount. The movements were quite smooth and when it was locked, focussing did not induce crazy vibrations in the scope and any that did occur were damped very quickly. For it's size and cost I was quite impressed.

This mount might not be to everyone's taste and there are far better out there, but given the low price I paid for it and the fact that it was going on a sturdy tripod I already had to carry a small scope made it a great choice for me.

Moon_4421.jpg

RC6_Mount_4404.JPG

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5 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Good see that someone has posted a 'positive' review.

I have read a few of the 'negative' reviews here on SGL and other astro-forums.

Nice lunar image too @Mandy D :icon_salut:

From what I can gather, the later versions are somewhat improved over early samples and feature full disc plastic bearings for a smoother action. This mount, in my opinion, still has a long way to go before it reaches the levels expected of a "proper" astro-mount. I would like to see proper gears with a more suitable ratio rather than the current timing belt drive and the locking screws desperately need sorting. On the positive side it is very stiff and sturdy for a small mount with vibrations being rapidly damped.

Thank you for the kind comment on my image!

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Nice balanced review @Mandy D, glad it’s working out for you as you had hoped. I can see how it would be a lot easier for lunar/planetary imaging than the dob, unless you stick that on an EQ platform perhaps?

EDIT Forgot to say nice image too. A tweak on the focus and slightly different exposure and it would be excellent, but that’s for next time 👍👍

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Just now, Stu said:

Nice balanced review @Mandy D, glad it’s working out for you as you had hoped. I can see how it would be a lot easier for lunar/planetary imaging than the dob, unless you stick that on an EQ platform perhaps?

Thanks, Stu. I have an AZ-EQ5GT already, but where I live it is currently impractical to use which is why I bought the Dob and now the Hercules mount. When I am able to drive again, I will be out in the Peak District with the EQ5. Originally, I was going to put the RC6 on it, but I see no reason why the 200P should not have a ride on it. Although this setup is heavier than the 200P, I find it much easier to carry to my local observing site, even fully set up. I doubt I could do that with the EQ5 and am not prepared to make multiple trips for security reasons.

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1 hour ago, Stu said:

Nice balanced review @Mandy D, glad it’s working out for you as you had hoped. I can see how it would be a lot easier for lunar/planetary imaging than the dob, unless you stick that on an EQ platform perhaps?

EDIT Forgot to say nice image too. A tweak on the focus and slightly different exposure and it would be excellent, but that’s for next time 👍👍

Thank you! I'm very, very pleased with this scope. It is the very one that Sky at Night Magazine had for review, so quite special to me. Everything that is wrong with that image is entirely down to me and hopefully it will be better next time.

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24 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

I'm very, very pleased with this scope. It is the very one that Sky at Night Magazine had for review, so quite special to me.

The actual one? Is there a story here you might like to share? How you got it maybe? 🤥

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15 minutes ago, Laurieast said:

The actual one? Is there a story here you might like to share? How you got it maybe? 🤥

Yes, sure. I was on Rother Valley Optics' waiting list for one of these scopes for several months, when I got a call from Adam to tell me that one had become available, but it was not exactly brand new because it had been out for review by a magazine. He never said which one at the time, but I could have it at a discounted price. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity and picked it up the same day.

A couple of months later, I saw a review in Sky at Night Magazine (link below) and wondered if it might be one and the same. Then I noticed something rather odd about the one in the photograph. The mount for the finderscope was fitted back to front, so a finder could not actually be fitted. When I checked mine, it was exactly the same. If you look carefully at all the photos that show the shoe, you will see the notch is in the wrong place.

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes/ioptron-photron-rc6-ritchey-chretien/

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40 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

Nice shot Mandy. Glad the mount is a step up for you from what you were using before. Look forward to some more lunar and planetary shots when you get a chance to take some more. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thank you. It really is a big improvement and is ideal for current circumstances. Thank you for delivering it to my door. It was a pleasure meeting you. I've put my first photo of Mars up, which was taken using the mount.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/399834-mars-with-an-rc6-dslr/#comment-4289675

 

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Just now, Laurieast said:

@Mandy D Great story thanks for sharing! 

There was a thread recently showing a telescope ad that actually had the finder fitted the wrong way, and they were looking through it, with the main OTA pointed downward 🤦‍♂️

I saw that!

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