Sightron Japan alt/az

[cajen2]

As some of you may have seen, I took delivery of one of these recently (it's not like me to be an early adopter!). The Scopetech Zero is no longer available and the Sightron seems to be similar:

I bought it for grab & go for my Starfield 102ED. Here they are married up:

The mount weighs just 1.45 kg and has a max payload of 7kg. When fully loaded, the Starfield is about five and a half kg. 

Last night, I was able to try it out for the first time. Here are some reactions for anyone considering the same mount.

Notes:

1. The vertical arm is adjustable for rake. Make VERY sure this is firmly fixed before adding the scope. I didn't and the arm slipped, giving me a near heart attack! I would also suggest having it as vertical as possible to keep the CG above the azimuth pivot.

2. There are two options for the locations of the slow motion screws. I assume long dangly ones could also be fitted, though I felt no need for them. 

3. The slo-mos are very smooth and make it very easy to centre and track a target, even at high mags. I found a "null" between (e.g.) left and right turns, a little like a car with a dead- ahead null in the steering. Once I found it, I had no problems with it - it's considerably better than having backlash....

4. There were vibrations at higher mags when focusing, which I'd expected as my scope is quite long and approaching the mount's payload capacity. These dampened very quickly, however, and didn't cause me any undue difficulty.

Conclusions:

For my G&G purposes, the Sightron is absolutely ideal, being light, easy to fold up and transport and sturdy enough. I can now pick up and carry scope, mount and tripod very easily. I would probably go for something with a higher payload as a permanent mount for my scope.

For people with small f/l fracs of 50-90mm apertures, or smaller Maks, I'd have thought the mount would be perfect even for permanent use.

Edited September 11, 2023 by cajen2

[cajen2]

Additional: I had a little trouble getting the scope near vertical. I didn't want to rake the vertical arm backwards any further but with adjustments to the scope's rings and dovetail position, it's now fine. Not totally vertical but I never observe at the zenith anyway if I can help it!

Edited September 10, 2023 by cajen2

[cajen2]

As I mentioned in the Postman thread, the Sightron is designed so that it can easily be used as an EQ mount with a wedge if you need one of those. It can accommodate a counterweight arm.

Edited September 10, 2023 by cajen2

[The60mmKid]

Thanks for posting about this mount.

I had a ScopeTech Zero, which was an excellent match for a Takahashi FC100DC. I'm considering getting one of these Sightron versions for my small refractor. I'm not so confident, though, that it would work well with a wider/shorter scope (e.g., C6) given that the vertical arm is rather short and might not provide enough clearance to tilt a wider OTA toward zenith before the tube hits the bottom of the mount. Do you, by chance, have a wider OTA that you could plop on the mount just for experimentation/demonstration purposes?

Edited September 10, 2023 by The60mmKid

[cajen2]

40 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

Thanks for posting about this mount.

I had a ScopeTech Zero, which was an excellent match for a Takahashi FC100DC. I'm considering getting one of these Sightron versions for my small refractor. I'm not so confident, though, that it would work well with a wider/shorter scope (e.g., C6) given that the vertical arm is rather short and might not provide enough clearance to tilt a wider OTA toward zenith before the tube hits the bottom of the mount. Do you, by chance, have a wider OTA that you could plop on the mount just for experimentation/demonstration purposes?

I'm afraid I haven't.....except for a Heritage 150p which might be a bit too wide. I'll try it for you if you like.

[The60mmKid]

Just now, cajen2 said:

except for a Heritage 150p which might be a bit too wide. I'll try it for you if you like.

That would be basically perfect, actually.

[cajen2]

Ok, just having lunch. I'll let you know.

[cajen2]

There you go @The60mmKid

Very awkward because of the Heritage exterior secondary struts but by altering the rake of the arm, it's possible.

Edited September 10, 2023 by cajen2

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

There you go @The60mmKid

Very awkward because of the Heritage exterior secondary struts but by altering the rake of the arm, it's possible.

So how is the mount and tripod coping with that? 

[cajen2]

Both coped just fine but the Heritage, though bigger, is much lighter than the Starfield.

[cajen2]

To mount the Heritage properly, I'd have had to reverse the mount and thus have the fouser facing upwards! 😜

[bosun21]

Why did you buy it when you had the relatively light GTIx which has go to as well? With the addition of a wedge, what would the benefit be as you would ideally need a tracking motor fitted to its Az axis (RA). It’s an ideal lightweight mount for a little frac or Mak though as a G&G. I’m considering a Castor for this very purpose.

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

Why did you buy it when you had the relatively light GTIx which has go to as well? With the addition of a wedge, what would the benefit be as you would ideally need a tracking motor fitted to its Az axis (RA). It’s an ideal lightweight mount for a little frac or Mak though as a G&G. I’m considering a Castor for this very purpose.

Simple. The AX GTIX is NOT a manual mount. Apart from being significantly heavier, it takes time to sort out the power supply, app, cables and alignment before I can even switch it on. The Sightron allows me (literally) to spot a hole in the clouds, pick up scope, mount and tripod, plonk it down and observe.

By the way, I'm told motors for the Sightron are on the way, though I don't know about encoders.

I'm keeping the AZGTIX for when I have darker skies and the leisure to set it up properly. Ok, call me lazy....😜y

Edited September 10, 2023 by cajen2

[Elp]

I was looking for something like this with slowmo control not dissimilar to a vixen porta, It'd be useful for manual AP tracking of planets, but ended up with the Tecnosky Cubo which has no such issue with fat scopes as you attach the saddle to the outside. Works fine for my C6 and Starfield though for the latter I'd have to mount to the same pier for high up targets. Doesn't have slowmo but can tighten the clutches enough to move and it keeps fairly still without rebalancing (depending on eyepiece).

Edited September 10, 2023 by Elp

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Simple. The AX GTIX is NOT a manual mount. Apart from being significantly heavier, it takes time to sort out the power supply, app, cables and alignment before I can even switch it on. The Sightron allows me (literally) to spot a hole in the clouds, pick up scope, mount and tripod, plonk it down and observe.

By the way, I'm told motors for the Sightron are on the way, though I don't know about encoders.

I'm keeping the AZGTIX for when I have darker skies and the leisure to set it up properly. Ok, call me lazy....😜y

I was going to but i just let it pass lol

[bosun21]

53 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Simple. The AX GTIX is NOT a manual mount. Apart from being significantly heavier, it takes time to sort out the power supply, app, cables and alignment before I can even switch it on. The Sightron allows me (literally) to spot a hole in the clouds, pick up scope, mount and tripod, plonk it down and observe.

By the way, I'm told motors for the Sightron are on the way, though I don't know about encoders.

I'm keeping the AZGTIX for when I have darker skies and the leisure to set it up properly. Ok, call me lazy....😜y

Makes perfect sense to me. Exactly why I am looking for a lightweight mount and scope myself. Probably go for a 70-80 mm ED frac for wide field. I’ll have a look at the Sightron myself.

[John]

55 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

.... The Sightron allows me (literally) to spot a hole in the clouds, pick up scope, mount and tripod, plonk it down and observe....

 

Exactly the way that I like to observe so all my mounts have similar characteristics 👍

It's also the best way to get more astronomy done under UK skies !

[cajen2]

If anyone here has a ever tried to use the AZGTiX unpowered, you'll know what I mean! 😆

[cajen2]

16 minutes ago, Elp said:

I was looking for something like this with slowmo control not dissimilar to a vixen porta, It'd be useful for manual AP tracking of planets, but ended up with the Tecnosky Cubo which has no such issue with fat scopes as you attach the saddle to the outside. Works fine for my C6 and Starfield though for the latter I'd have to mount to the same pier for high up targets. Doesn't have slowmo but can tighten the clutches enough to move and it keeps fairly still without rebalancing (depending on eyepiece).

I don't see any reason why the mount couldn't be arranged with the scope on the outside except for the extra twisting moment on the az mounting.

[Elp]

The slowmo is certainly a plus, and it seems like a nice light weight.

[RobertI]

14 hours ago, cajen2 said:

4. There were vibrations at higher mags when focusing, which I'd expected as my scope is quite long and approaching the mount's payload capacity. These dampened very quickly, however, and didn't cause me any undue difficulty.

Just out of interest, do you think the pillar extension increases the vibration? Im wondering how it would perform if bolted directly to my 1.75” steel tripod for example. 

[cajen2]

10 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Just out of interest, do you think the pillar extension increases the vibration? Im wondering how it would perform if bolted directly to my 1.75” steel tripod for example. 

Hmmmm.....I haven't tried a with or without comparison on the Sightron. I got the extension for my AZ GTiX more for length than anything else: it puts the scope at an ideal height so that I don't need to extend the tripod legs (I sit to observe). I didn't notice any difference in the vibrations when used with the GTiX.

[paulastro]

13 hours ago, John said:

Exactly the way that I like to observe so all my mounts have similar characteristics 👍

It's also the best way to get more astronomy done under UK skies !

Totally agree John.  If a mount needs power to use it and time to set it up, it's no good as a grab and go mount for me.  Observing time is at a premium.

Hence I have a dob and use my other scopes on my AZ4, AZ5 or Scopetech Zero mounts.

The latter is a great mount, but I would say I've been irritated at times when for want of the arm being an inch (or even less) longer, I've been unable to use a small scope well within its load capability.  

[cajen2]

2 hours ago, paulastro said:

Totally agree John.  If a mount needs power to use it and time to set it up, it's no good as a grab and go mount for me.  Observing time is at a premium.

Hence I have a dob and use my other scopes on my AZ4, AZ5 or Scopetech Zero mounts.

The latter is a great mount, but I would say I've been irritated at times when for want of the arm being an inch (or even less) longer, I've been unable to use a small scope well within its load capability.  

Does the vertical arm on the SZ not adjust for rake?

[Stu]

Just had a look at this on FLO’s website. It’s great to see another option taking up from where the ScopeTech Zero left off; seems to be just as good but with a few extra options built in like being able to put the scope on the outside, and the threaded hole for either a CW in Alt Az mode or EQ mode. Price is higher than other options but I never regretted my Zero mount at a similar price, it’s had so much use.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with it. I would buy one if I didn’t have the Zero 👍