What did the postman bring? V2

[bosun21]

Just received a new Skytee II mount and tripod to accommodate my recently acquired 6” CC. Also a new ADM saddle for it which is now fitted.

 

[Mandy D]

40 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Just received a new Skytee II mount and tripod to accommodate my recently acquired 6” CC. Also a new ADM saddle for it which is now fitted.

 

 

I really do not like the saddles supplied with the Skytee 2 and changed mine to double screw types, like you have. I have had two of these mounts now as the first one had to go back under warranty due to a stripped thread on the azimuth backlash adjustment. How is your azimuth control shaft? On each of the mounts I have had, it arrived bent on one side so one of the knobs wobbles eccentrically and scrapes against the locking lever as it goes past it. Does yours do the same?

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, Mandy D said:

I really do not like the saddles supplied with the Skytee 2 and changed mine to double screw types, like you have. I have had two of these mounts now as the first one had to go back under warranty due to a stripped thread on the azimuth backlash adjustment. How is your azimuth control shaft? On each of the mounts I have had, it arrived bent on one side so one of the knobs wobbles eccentrically and scrapes against the locking lever as it goes past it. Does yours do the same?

When mine arrived the locking clutch knobs were virtually falling off due to not being secured by the fixing screws. I removed both the clutch knobs and repositioned them so that they have a really short distance of travel. They also lock their respective axis more tightly. Regarding the azimuth knobs I just had to loosen the grub screw to slide it out a little as it was rubbing against the body of the mount.

 

 

 

 

 

[The60mmKid]

This beautiful Nikon 18x70 "Astroluxe" arrived yesterday. 

Here it is with its little brother, the EII.

I'm really excited about the Astroluxe... a beautifully made binocular that should provide lovely views of open clusters and bright nebulae from dark skies (whenever I can get to them). This could be my new travel setup.

Edited September 6, 2023 by The60mmKid

[josefk]

Buy a fast f5.3 scope then spend a few more quid to slow it down to f7.9. THAT makes sense. If this needs spacers either before it or after it to reach focus then you will hear the apoplectic explosion where you are (wherever you are)...

[Mandy D]

19 hours ago, bosun21 said:

en mine arrived the locking clutch knobs were virtually falling off due to not being secured by the fixing screws. I removed both the clutch knobs and repositioned them so that they have a really short distance of travel. They also lock their respective axis more tightly. Regarding the azimuth knobs I just had to loosen the grub screw to slide it out a little as it was rubbing against the body of the mount.

That is exactly what I did with the azimuth knob. What I was really interested in was whether the shaft that the azimuth control know fits on was bent on delivery, as they were on both mounts I have had, so the knob wobbles eccentrically. Good idea about the clutch knobs. I will look at that on mine.

[bosun21]

2 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

That is exactly what I did with the azimuth knob. What I was really interested in was whether the shaft that the azimuth control know fits on was bent on delivery, as they were on both mounts I have had, so the knob wobbles eccentrically. Good idea about the clutch knobs. I will look at that on mine.

It looks as though I’ve dodged the off kilter azimuth control knobs you describe. As I said I just had to slide the R/H knob out a little. 
 

 

 

[Mandy D]

31 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

It looks as though I’ve dodged the off kilter azimuth control knobs you describe. As I said I just had to slide the R/H knob out a little.

Hmm, that leaves a possibility I've been sent the same unit back "repaired", when I am supposed to have received a new unit. I will check further with my photographs of the unit. Thanks for your help.

[cajen2]

Just arrived:

 

A Sightron Japan Alt-Azimuth mount. I wanted a light mount with a reasonable payload for G&G and this doesn't disappoint. Looks suspiciously similar to the Scopetech Zero. Weight is only 1.45kg but payload is up to 7kg. Apparently it can be used in EQ mode (with a wedge) or for fork mounting but I just needed common or garden alt/az. It even has slow-mo controls.

Thanks to @FLO  for their usual whiz delivery!

Here it is with my Starfield 102ED and Berlebach Report tripod:

 

I can now pick up and carry the whole shooting match one handed. Happy bunny....

Edited September 7, 2023 by cajen2

[cajen2]

I read on the 'other place' that Sightron owns the patent and sued Scopetech for copying it with the Zero (which is presumably why the Zero is no longer available). I must stress that this is hearsay....

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, cajen2 said:

Looks suspiciously similar to the Scopetech Zero.

Borg do the same one as well, excellent little travel mount.

[cajen2]

16 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Borg do the same one as well, excellent little travel mount.

I'm certainly very happy with it so far. Perhaps I'll be able to do a first light report tonight.

[cajen2]

Oh, FLO have only a few ATM. Also available in black.

[Mandy D]

Having made some good headway with properly collimating my 200P, I decided to get this recommended book, Star Testing Astronomical Telescopes, by Suiter. Someone had linked to it on FLO's website, but it came up as out of stock, so I looked for it secondhand and found ridiculous prices (up to £200+) and astronomical postage as most were in USA. There were also a lot of first edition copies on offer, but I didn't want those. Then someone else noted that it was available direct from the publishers, Willmann-Bell, who seemed to have gone out of business. It turned out that Sky and Telescope had taken over their inventory in 2020 and were in the process of moving it (70 tonnes) to a fulfilment site, but only listed a few titles under Willmann-Bell, which did not include this book when I looked. It is now listed here: https://shopatsky.com/products/star-testing-astronomical-telescopes-2nd-edition

It took me two days to work my way through the above and eventually get a copy ordered. It was due to land at my home on 17 September and turned up yesterday. So far it looks good, although a few of the pages were not properly cut and were joined at the edges.

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Borg do the same one as well, excellent little travel mount.

The Borg is a smaller, lighter duty version but still a very good quality product, much like all the Japanese stuff.

[RobertI]

2 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Just arrived:

 

A Sightron Japan Alt-Azimuth mount. I wanted a light mount with a reasonable payload for G&G and this doesn't disappoint. Looks suspiciously similar to the Scopetech Zero. Weight is only 1.45kg but payload is up to 7kg. Apparently it can be used in EQ mode (with a wedge) or for fork mounting but I just needed common or garden alt/az. It even has slow-mo controls.

Thanks to @FLO  for their usual whiz delivery!

Here it is with my Starfield 102ED and Berlebach Report tripod:

 

I can now pick up and carry the whole shooting match one handed. Happy bunny....

Interesting to see it with the 102ED, makes me realise that it’s quite a beefy mount. Could be something to replace the AZ4 one day. 

[cajen2]

4 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Interesting to see it with the 102ED, makes me realise that it’s quite a beefy mount. Could be something to replace the AZ4 one day. 

As I say, it can hold 7kg. I have no ambitions towards AP, so the 102 should be fine at about 5kg fully loaded.

[cajen2]

2 hours ago, RobertI said:

Interesting to see it with the 102ED, makes me realise that it’s quite a beefy mount. Could be something to replace the AZ4 one day. 

I did look at the AZ4 but the SJ has a slightly higher payload, is made in Japan and most importantly, has slow motion controls. Everything I really wanted in a lightweight mount.

[John]

Looks a nice mount. As long as it can handle the tube length, the weight should be no problem. Tube length creates more stress on mount heads and tripod hubs than the weight of the OTA does. 

[The60mmKid]

44 minutes ago, John said:

Looks a nice mount. As long as it can handle the tube length, the weight should be no problem. Tube length creates more stress on mount heads and tripod hubs than the weight of the OTA does. 

I'd love to hear how you get along with this one. I had the Zero for a while and it paired marvelously with my old FC-100DC. I might pick this mount up for the FOA.

[cajen2]

46 minutes ago, John said:

Looks a nice mount. As long as it can handle the tube length, the weight should be no problem. Tube length creates more stress on mount heads and tripod hubs than the weight of the OTA does. 

We'll see. I was hoping to try it out tonight but of course it's clouded over.....😡

[cajen2]

3 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

I'd love to hear how you get along with this one. I had the Zero for a while and it paired marvelously with my old FC-100DC. I might pick this mount up for the FOA.

That's encouraging. The 100DC is longer than my SF.

[John]

I found the AZ-4 fine for my Vixen ED102SS F/6.5 but it did not handle my Tak FC100-DL F/9 so well, especially as the magnification exceeded 100x or so. Both those scopes are a similar weight - around 4kg fully loaded. 

The Sightron looks to be very nicely made alt-az mount though 🙂

[PatientObserver]

Now I am just missing the Pentax XW 14, 16.5, and 23 (All of which I do not know if I will purchase).

 

 

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, PatientObserver said:

Now I am just missing the Pentax XW 14, 16.5, and 23 (All of which I do not know if I will purchase).

 

 

I have the 5 and 14mil - nice EPs.