The long run up to a new mount...

[AMcD]

There is a fine line between the enjoyment of tinkering with a mount and that mount starting to obstruct the enjoyment of the hobby.  I fear I have reached that point with my venerable, second hand Losmandy G11 after another moonless evening of problem solving rather than imaging.  I clearly looked downcast because my spouse asked me whether it is time to buy a new mount!

I concentrate on imaging and have a roll off roof observatory that is set up for remote operation over the internet.  I am now looking for a replacement mount for the observatory that (a) I can control, park etc. remotely via NINA, SGPro or similar, (b) that will, subject to seeing, achieve reliable sub-arc second guiding without the need for constant mechanical adjustments and (c) will not completely break the bank, or in any event will come in at around £3,500 (or maybe a little more when I remember I have had the G11 for nearly 15 years).

Not having 'shopped' for a mount for over a decade, I am having trouble seeing the wood for the trees.  Any advice, experiences or recommendations would therefore be very much appreciated. 🙂

[fwm891]

What sort of kit are you wanting the mount to handle?

 

[AMcD]

Very good point Francis!  It will be carrying a TS Optics 130 Photoline APO with a QHY268M camera with a QHYM filter wheel and QHY off-axis guider.  I also have a Pegasus Power box on the scope.  All in all, about 15kg / 34lbs I think.

[Laurin Dave]

There’s a Mesu 200 on Astrobuysell for £3500..  which might interest you .. plenty of happy Mesu owners on here including myself.   

[AMcD]

7 minutes ago, Laurin Dave said:

There’s a Mesu 200 on Astrobuysell for £3500..  which might interest you .. plenty of happy Mesu owners on here including myself.   

Thanks @Laurin Dave.  I have read great things about Mesu mounts and have always remembered @ollypenrice's view that "they just work", which is certainly what I am looking for after this evening.  Am I right in thinking that the firmware for the Sitech box now provides for ASCOM park commands and the like?

[AMcD]

P.S. After giving me a whole evening of inexplicable problems with no obvious cause, the bloody G11 is now guiding along at 0.6 RMS (which it almost never achieves) like nothing happened.🙄

[Budgie1]

5 minutes ago, AMcD said:

P.S. After giving me a whole evening of inexplicable problems with no obvious cause, the bloody G11 is now guiding along at 0.6 RMS (which it almost never achieves) like nothing happened.🙄

There's nothing like the threat of replacement to make an old bit of kit work as it should! 😂

[Laurin Dave]

11 minutes ago, AMcD said:

Thanks @Laurin Dave.  I have read great things about Mesu mounts and have always remembered @ollypenrice's view that "they just work", which is certainly what I am looking for after this evening.  Am I right in thinking that the firmware for the Sitech box now provides for ASCOM park commands and the like?

It certainly does.. mine and others have them set up to control via NInA or SGPro using Sitech as the driver.   Olly had the Argo Navis version used it manually 

[ollypenrice]

9 hours ago, Laurin Dave said:

   Olly had the Argo Navis version used it manually 

I still do!

lly

[fwm891]

Don’t discount the iOptron CEM 70 & 120 mounts great workhorses. I have an older CEM 60 which ( touch wood) is going strong still. iOptron are known more for their mounts.

[AMcD]

8 hours ago, fwm891 said:

Don’t discount the iOptron CEM 70 & 120 mounts great workhorses. I have an older CEM 60 which ( touch wood) is going strong still. iOptron are known more for their mounts.

Well, it was not such a long run up after all.  I am not sure whether I have been canny or stupid, but I decided to purchase the ex-demo Paramount MyT that First Light Optics had available. 

On the plus side, it allowed me to save £2.5K on the new list price for the mount, keeping me closer to my original budget.  I also have the security of a manufactures warranty and the reassurance that comes with buying from an established vendor. 

On the down side, I have done virtually no research, and certainly have done none of the anxious back and forth and scouring of SGL and CN that usually goes with these decisions, although I am finding that strangely liberating! 

The mount arrives at the weekend and I may do a separate post on setting it up, solving the inevitable teething issues etc.  It will also allow me to relate whether this cavalier approach leads to triumph or disaster! 🫣

[Elp]

Hopefully it should be fine, it's hardly a budget brand.

[tomato]

Back in 2014 I nearly purchased a used Paramount from Ian King, but the positive chatter on here about the Mesu 200 took me down that road. You are certainly buying from a trusted source, and that counts for a lot. My brother went after a used Mesu but upon inspection it ahem, had a missing encoder so he rightly IMHO, walked away.

[Stuart1971]

1 hour ago, AMcD said:

Well, it was not such a long run up after all.  I am not sure whether I have been canny or stupid, but I decided to purchase the ex-demo Paramount MyT that First Light Optics had available. 

On the plus side, it allowed me to save £2.5K on the new list price for the mount, keeping me closer to my original budget.  I also have the security of a manufactures warranty and the reassurance that comes with buying from an established vendor. 

On the down side, I have done virtually no research, and certainly have done none of the anxious back and forth and scouring of SGL and CN that usually goes with these decisions, although I am finding that strangely liberating! 

The mount arrives at the weekend and I may do a separate post on setting it up, solving the inevitable teething issues etc.  It will also allow me to relate whether this cavalier approach leads to triumph or disaster! 🫣

Nice, a great mount from what I have read…

 I think you need dedicated software for these mounts, if memory serves, The Sky or something like that, and it has to be used to do the mount modelling…

Edited January 11 by Stuart1971

[AMcD]

26 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Nice, a great mount from what I have read…

 I think you need dedicated software for these mounts, if memory serves, The Sky or something like that, and it has to be used to do the mount modelling…

I have started to read up on the SkyX software and it would appear conceptually similar to the Germini.Net software used with my current Losmandy G11, in that SkyX can be used as the ASCOM driver for the MyT in the same way as the dedicated Germini.Net software is used as the ASCOM driver for the G11.  The need to make the model for the MyT in SkyX would appear similar to the need to make any adjustments to the Losmandy mount settings using Germini.Net.   In the circumstances, I am hoping to be able to continue using SGPro or NINA with SkyX sitting in the background as the driver.🙂 

[Stuart1971]

48 minutes ago, AMcD said:

I have started to read up on the SkyX software and it would appear conceptually similar to the Germini.Net software used with my current Losmandy G11, in that SkyX can be used as the ASCOM driver for the MyT in the same way as the dedicated Germini.Net software is used as the ASCOM driver for the G11.  The need to make the model for the MyT in SkyX would appear similar to the need to make any adjustments to the Losmandy mount settings using Germini.Net.   In the circumstances, I am hoping to be able to continue using SGPro or NINA with SkyX sitting in the background as the driver.🙂 

Yes, that’s the way I understand it works, with NINA anyway…
I considered this mount myself, but then a brand new CEM70 came up for sale, still in case but 1 year old, the guy had never even turned it on, the price was too good to miss really…its been great so far…👍🏻

Edited January 11 by Stuart1971

[tomato]

Do folks still make sky models in the days of rapid and reliable plate solving? It was all the rage when I bought my Mesu back in 2014, the Sitech manual had pages and pages dedicated to it, but now I slew to the target from the park position, then a 10 second plate solve and centre on the object. This assumes you are imaging with the scope of course, not visual.

[AMcD]

2 hours ago, tomato said:

Do folks still make sky models in the days of rapid and reliable plate solving? It was all the rage when I bought my Mesu back in 2014, the Sitech manual had pages and pages dedicated to it, but now I slew to the target from the park position, then a 10 second plate solve and centre on the object. This assumes you are imaging with the scope of course, not visual.

With my G11/Gemini I have not been bothering with a model as, after a solve and sync, plate solving and centring usually gets me within a few pixels of the target.  I suspect I will try T-Point to build a model as I have a permanent set up and am curious to see how it works.

[AMcD]

Oh My(T) 🤗