StellaLyra Dual Alt-Az Mount & Wooden Tripod

[Louis D]

On 06/05/2023 at 14:20, bosun21 said:

Be great placed on the underside of your dobsonian for moving it around the sky. Depends how heavy they are.

Edit:- just read the listing and that’s what they are for. Lol.

Unless your Dob tube is a Sonotube or aluminum, then not that useful unless you put a curved steel plate on the inside of the tube.

[bosun21]

5 hours ago, Louis D said:

Unless your Dob tube is a Sonotube or aluminum, then not that useful unless you put a curved steel plate on the inside of the tube.

Good point however the majority of dobsonians that are sold ie:- Skywatcher, Stella Lyra, Orion, Zhumell, Apertura etc are all rolled steel tubes. Orion Optics are aluminium.

[FLO]

On 06/05/2023 at 08:35, FLO said:

The StellaLyra model includes two counterweights. 

We have updated our product title and description to highlight this difference. 

The StellaLyra model includes two 2 lb counterweights. 

Other versions of this mount have a counterweight bar but no counterweights. When you consider the cost of counterweights, the StellaLyra price makes a lot of sense. 

On 06/05/2023 at 19:09, Alan White said:

I do hope the north peg is removable for the AZ75 though….
@FLO?..

I am sure it is but I'll ask then confirm. 

On 07/05/2023 at 17:38, John said:

I have a wooden tripod which, though not exactly the same quality as the new one that FLO are offering, closely mirrors it's design.

I haven't used it for a while but I do recall it being very stable with the mounts that I tried it with which included the Skytee II, the Ercole, a Giro III and a Vixen GP.

The design looks more slender in some ways than the Berlebach Uni but the wide leg / top bracket design gives a lot of stability and better vibration dampening / resistance. More than you would think from the weight / mass of the tripod.

To be honest I'd forgotten that I had this tripod until I re-read the FLO announcement today 🙄

Yours is nearly identical. I am sure it is from the same factory. 

We first encountered the tripod when it was badged by William Optics. Like us, they offered it for use with their Alt-Az mount (the WO EZtouch). When they discontinued the mount, we could no longer source the tripod. 

When looking for a tripod for our StellaLyra Alt-Az mount, a colleague found the factory. 

HTH

[FLO]

On 06/05/2023 at 19:37, Ratlet said:

They've been keeping quiet on the REALLY important new release:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-magnetic-handle.html

Better be quick.  They've only got 96 and knowing the forum, some people are going to end up with scopes that look like hedgehogs.

They raised a few eyebrows here at FLO, too 😁

But. Hey. They work. 

On 08/05/2023 at 03:37, Louis D said:

Unless your Dob tube is a Sonotube or aluminum, then not that useful unless you put a curved steel plate on the inside of the tube.

Good point.

All solid-tube Dobsonians sold at FLO have ferrous metal tubes, but we'll add a note to our product page to make this clear. 

Johninderby would have enjoyed this post. 

HTH, 

Steve

[Alan White]

12 minutes ago, FLO said:

Johninderby would have enjoyed this post. 

Very true 👍

He would have handled it in his usual manner,
I still miss his presence here, but we continue the handle banter in his honor.
 

[FLO]

1 hour ago, FLO said:

I am sure it is, but I'll ask and then confirm. 

My colleague says the tripod's North peg is removable. It is a bit of a faff (five screws involved) but doable. 

HTH

[FLO]

On 05/05/2023 at 19:36, 900SL said:

Tripod looks nice. What is the wood?

I confess we don't know. It's probably ash. We'll ask the manufacturer. 

On 05/05/2023 at 19:43, Louis D said:

Are all the tripod fittings 100% metal with no plastic parts?

Yes. Except for the central spread stopper. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[FLO]

On 05/05/2023 at 19:43, Louis D said:

Are all the tripod fittings 100% metal with no plastic parts?

 

On 09/05/2023 at 16:39, FLO said:

Yes. Except for the central spread stopper. 

We are looking at questions emailed to us. People most want to know how a StellaLyra wooden tripod compares to a more expensive German-made Berlebach tripod. 

The StellaLyra tripod provides the usual benefits of wood and has an affordable 'workmanlike' fit & finish. The Berlebach tripod is a premium product with a premium fit & finish, and a premium price.

We have added some text to our product page to highlight this. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Louis D]

I asked about the metal fittings because I've seen too many of the plastic leg clamps on the the rectangular legged aluminum tripods fail.  Once they crack in two, you can never extend that leg again until you replace or repair that fitting.

That's not to say that all metal is perfect.  I've also seen the top casting holding the three legs crack on some premium photographic tripods after being overloaded with the legs spread wide.

Ideally, CNC machined fittings from high quality billets of metal alloy would be ideal, but expensive.

[FLO]

On 11/05/2023 at 13:08, Louis D said:

I asked about the metal fittings because I've seen too many of the plastic leg clamps on the the rectangular legged aluminum tripods fail.  Once they crack in two, you can never extend that leg again until you replace or repair that fitting.

We have seen that before. The cast metal on those aluminium EQ3 tripods can break if overtightened. The EQ3 mount itself is good for the price, but the tripod is less so. 

[FLO]

On 05/05/2023 at 19:36, 900SL said:

Tripod looks nice. What is the wood?

 

On 09/05/2023 at 16:39, FLO said:

I confess we don't know. It's probably ash. We'll ask the manufacturer. 

The manufacturer has confirmed the legs are White Ash wood. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[900SL]

On 18/05/2023 at 15:04, FLO said:

 

The manufacturer has confirmed the legs are White Ash wood. 

HTH, 

Steve 

Thanks Flo!

[YogSothoth]

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone has used one of these Stellalyra mounts yet? If so, would the saddles still need replacing as seems to to be recommended on the Skytee 2? Thanks.

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, YogSothoth said:

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone has used one of these Stellalyra mounts yet? If so, would the saddles still need replacing as seems to to be recommended on the Skytee 2? Thanks.

The mount sold with the Stella Lyra tripod is actually a Skytee mount. I have been weighing up between a Berlebach and the Stella Lyra tripod myself.

Edited August 5, 2023 by bosun21

[YogSothoth]

6 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The mount sold with the Stella Lyra tripod is actually a Skytee mount. I have been weighing up between a Berlebach and the Stella Lyra tripod myself.

I was thinking more about the saddles that come with the mount. I understand that the saddles supplied with the Skytee aren’t really up to the job, so people replace them with ADM saddles. I was wondering if the same applies to the Stellalyra mount or if it has better saddles as standard.

[bosun21]

2 minutes ago, YogSothoth said:

I was thinking more about the saddles that come with the mount. I understand that the saddles supplied with the Skytee aren’t really up to the job, so people replace them with ADM saddles. I was wondering if the same applies to the Stellalyra mount or if it has better saddles as standard.

As far as I can see it comes with the standard saddles as is supplied with the Skytee. The Stella Lyra does come with the counterweight(s).

[YogSothoth]

3 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

As far as I can see it comes with the standard saddles as is supplied with the Skytee. The Stella Lyra does come with the counterweight(s).

OK thanks and thought that might be the case. Replacing the saddles with ADM saddles adds another £180 to the price 

[bosun21]

3 minutes ago, YogSothoth said:

OK thanks and thought that might be the case. Replacing the saddles with ADM saddles adds another £180 to the price 

There's an almost new Skytee for sale in the classifieds that has an APM saddle fitted. I can also recommend the seller.

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, YogSothoth said:

OK thanks and thought that might be the case. Replacing the saddles with ADM saddles adds another £180 to the price 

The early saddles of the Skytee were not fit for purpose. The issue was the poor quality knob which didn’t thread securely to the bolt of the saddle and was made of soft alloy. I replaced the knobs with higher quality ones and the saddles became perfectly usable, although by that point I had moved them to a different mount. The knobs provided on the current mount saddles look different to the originals so I would hope they are much better and have resolved the issue (perhaps others can advise). FWIW the ADMs saddles are top notch, and a good investment if you have heavier scopes (say 6 kg+) but if you are only mounting lighter scopes then there are cheaper good quality saddles available. 

Edited August 5, 2023 by RobertI

[Mandy D]

56 minutes ago, RobertI said:

The early saddles of the Skytee were not fit for purpose. The issue was the poor quality knob which didn’t thread securely to the bolt of the saddle and was made of soft alloy. I replaced the knobs with higher quality ones and the saddles became perfectly usable, although by that point I had moved them to a different mount. The knobs provided on the current mount saddles look different to the originals so I would hope they are much better and have resolved the issue (perhaps others can advise). FWIW the ADMs saddles are top notch, and a good investment if you have heavier scopes (say 6 kg+) but if you are only mounting lighter scopes then there are cheaper good quality saddles available. 

I bought my Skytee 2 in April this year and the first thing I did was replace the saddles with better ones. I didn't feel I could trust them with a 200P or my RC6. I moved one of them to the top position for a guidescope and put the other one on a tripod to carry smaller OTAs. I used these from RVO as they have two brass wedge clamps and are only £39.99 each.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rvo-mini-vixen-style-clamp.html

Edited August 5, 2023 by Mandy D
added price