SIGHTRON ALTAZIMUTH MOUNT

[paulastro]

I've had this mout for less than a week, but I've had a good session with it at night and tried it in daylight with several other scopes.  These are my first impressions 

WHAT IS IT?  Well, it's listed on FLO, but the important bits are as follows.  An ultra portable altaz mount, weight 1.45Kg, stated load Up to 7Kg, colours black or silver, folded 240x80x90mm, single fork arm design, 3/8inch mounting point, compatable with Vixen type dovetail.  

BUILD QUALITY.  Very good, weighty in the hand and very well machined. Plastic slow motion controls could be better.

SMOOTHNESS OF MOVEMENT.  Excellent, couldn't be much better.  Once the clutches are adjusted, scopes can be pushed in any direction and the slow motions used without further adjustment.  I tested the mount with the following OTAs.  Altair 80 ED-R F7, C5 SC, Askar 103Apo Triplet F7, 130PDS and the StellaMira 125ED F7.8.

 

VERSATILITY. The Sightron is ready to go in three modes.  The arm can be attached to the right or left side of any tube.  Simply rotate the tube clamp and change the angle of the arm  by turning the knob at the bottom of the fork.  There are ratchets on the fork and base which have to be lined up to mesh together before the knob is re-tightened. MAKE SURE THIS IS DONE CORRECTLY.

The third mode is flipping the arm around so that the clamp faces away from the centre of the mount. In effect you're scope is attached to the outside of the fork.  To do this. First undo the bolt which holds the two halves of the arm together. (There is a hex wrench supplied) see pic below.

Then flip the top half around and replace the bolt. It's useful if you have a tube which is too big to fit on the fork in the usual configuration.  Beware though, if the scope is too heavy it may tip the tripod.

The mount can also be used in equatorial mode if you buy a suitable wedge such as the Willuam Optics version.

PROBLEMS WITH THE POSITIONS OF THE SLOW MOTION KNOBS?  Some people have said this is problematic, though using knobs on 'floppies' or rods can help.  Or, depending on your scope, using the mount in a different mode may help.  I have to say, I didn't find it a problem.

THE DOVETAIL CLAMP.  This is a single bolt design, many people may decide to order a replacement along with the scope.  However, in my view think before you do.  First it holds tubes up to at least 7Kg, and there's no need to overtightened it.  If you are concerned about mariing the dovetail, there are solutions. On my scopes I put a length of Heavy Duty Stick On Velcro along the edge if the dovetail.  It prevents caring for some time, and if you need to replace it, it pulls off easily, and can be reused, without leaving any sticky residue.  Below is my StellaMira attached in this way.  Note Starsense phone holder on left.

 

WHAT SCOPES IS THE SIGHTRON SUITABLE FOR?  The things to consider are weight of scope, diameter of scope tube, length of tube a good tripod and balancing the scope. 

Weight wise the theory is 7Kg, but I think it will do better than this. If the tube is too wide it will catch on the top of the mount when attached. This can be overcome my using mode three so it's on the outside of the tube - but careful it's not too heavy and may topple.  If a tube is too long it's more likely to shake, you may need to re-balance a long scope when using it at different altitudes.  Usually this wouldn't matter much. BALANCE the scope at the start of any session as soon as you put it on the mount.  The tripod I use is an Artcise AS88C, CF, weight 2.39Kg/5.2lbs, capacity 35Kg/77lbs, bowl adapter 75mm diam.

My guidelines would be refractors up to at least 100/125mm and no longer than F7, SCs up to 6inches, Maks up to 5inches. Newtonians up to F6 and 6 inches aperture or less. If you can, buy before you try or look online for other people's views.

THE ULTIMATE GRAB AND GO MOUNT?   And by G&G I don't mean any scope you can carry from your house into the garden.  A friend of mine can do this easily with his 14inch Newtonion! To my mind , any G&G rig is one you can take observing on foot, on your bike, on the bus, on a train or on an aeroplane.  I think the answer to my question is possibly yes. 

FIRST LIGHT JULY 27TH  I  chose my StellaMira 125mm F7.8 for this.  On the basis it's the largest scope I have that I might ever want to use it with but rarely will.  Usually its on a StellaMira Dual Altaz on which it's rock solid.  The session lasted from 11.50pm to 2.20am.  Except for Saturn at the very end I only used my Morpheus 17.5mm, giving x56 and 1.3 degrees field.  What a wonderful night, some beautiful views of amazing objects.  Effortlessly pushing the scope around the sky with the aid of Starsense. At the end I looked at Saturn with the SVBony 3-8mm giving x122 to x325, a suitable finale. Yes, it wobbled using the zoom toward the high end, but I was just too tired to rebalanced it.  Up to this time I had forgotten I was testing the Sightron and had just enjoyed the ride.

Enough said I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JeremyS]

So is it any good, Paul? 
 

😊

Seriously, though, great write up. Sounds a super mount.

[paulastro]

Very drole Jeremy 😂

[jjohnson3803]

I have a ScopeTech Zsero which is nearly identical.  The Zero is my most-used, default mount although the max I put on it is an ST102.

Very lightweight and portable.

 

[RobertI]

Nice review Paul, sounds like the perfect lightweight mount for my 102ED! 

[paulastro]

1 hour ago, jjohnson3803 said:

I have a ScopeTech Zsero which is nearly identical.  The Zero is my most-used, default mount although the max I put on it is an ST102.

Very lightweight and portable.

 

I had a Scopetech Zero mount for a while, and thought it was very good. 

From memory, I think the arm was a little shorter than the arm on the Sightron is.  I also can't recall the Scopetech having the facility to flip the arm so that you could mount a scope on the outside of the fork. Being  able to do this means that there is no limit to the diam of the telescope tube you can mount on it. 

As I said, this is facilitated with the Sightron by the arm consisting of two pieces so the top can be reversed.  

I sold the Scopetech as I wasn't able to mount one scope which was a fraction too wide to go the fork.

Unless I missed something with the Scopetech?

 

 

Edited July 31 by paulastro

[Stu]

17 minutes ago, paulastro said:

I had a Scopetech Zero mount for a while, and thought it was very good. 

From memory, I think the arm was a little shorter than the arm on the Sightron is.  I also can't recall the Scopetech having the facility to flip the arm so that you could mount a scope on the outside of the fork. Being  able to do this means that there is no limit to the diam of the telescope tube you can mount on it. 

As I said, this is facilitated with the Sightron by the arm consisting of two pieces so the top can be reversed.  

I sold the Scopetech as I wasn't able to mount one scope which was a fraction too wide to go the fork.

Unless I missed something with the Scopetech?

 

 

No, you are correct Paul. It’s not something I need from the ScopeTech but the Sightron does seem to have a few additional and well thought out features. It’s good that there is an equivalent (or slightly better) replacement available now the ScopeTech has been discontinued 👍

[cajen2]

Your experiences chime with mine, Paul. A good, balanced and detailed review.

[Highburymark]

Great review Paul. I agree with pretty much everything you’ve written. My Sightron performed very nicely throughout a recent holiday in Spain with a 4-5kg load of TV85, heavy TV 55mm plossl and Panoptic 27mm with night vision system most of the time providing quite a long ‘stack’.    
 

My only small gripe is the slo-mo controls. I found the plastic knobs started slipping a little bit after an hour’s use, so I replaced them with metal knobs from the Skytee which are a lot better (attached via two small hex screws rather than just one screw with the stock controls). Also my az control has about a quarter turn before it locks on when reversing direction - it’s only a tiny gripe and is of little consequence under the stars. However, if anyone knows whether such ‘dead’ movement is fixable in these sorts of mounts, I’d appreciate any solutions. I already had a replacement ADM clamp from another mount, so was pleased it fitted the Sightron - but the stock unit is perfectly adequate, as you describe.

The greatest praise for any mount is to forget about it and get on with observing, and my first couple of nights out with the Sightron I did precisely that. M8, M9, M10, M11, M12, M13, M14, M17, M20, M24, M29, M30, M31, M63, M69, M71, M75, M110, Saturn, North American and Pelican, Veil, Heart and Soul and Gamma Cyg nebs, among others, making it a memorable trip astronomically. With Saturn at 200x, it was easy to follow the planet even with 50 degree eyepieces - definitely helps having slo-mo controls over my previous Ercole mini mount. At the end of the holiday, it easily packs away in hold luggage and takes up little room. 
 

All in all, a 4 out of 5 for me - just the movement control issues preventing a perfect 5 for the Sightron.
 

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Great review Paul. I agree with pretty much everything you’ve written. My Sightron performed very nicely throughout a recent holiday in Spain with a 4-5kg load of TV85, heavy TV 55mm plossl and Panoptic 27mm with night vision system most of the time providing quite a long ‘stack’.    
 

My only small gripe is the slo-mo controls. I found the plastic knobs started slipping a little bit after an hour’s use, so I replaced them with metal knobs from the Skytee which are a lot better (attached via two small hex screws rather than just one screw with the stock controls). Also my az control has about a quarter turn before it locks on when reversing direction - it’s only a tiny gripe and is of little consequence under the stars. However, if anyone knows whether such ‘dead’ movement is fixable in these sorts of mounts, I’d appreciate any solutions. I already had a replacement ADM clamp from another mount, so was pleased it fitted the Sightron - but the stock unit is perfectly adequate, as you describe.

The greatest praise for any mount is to forget about it and get on with observing, and my first couple of nights out with the Sightron I did precisely that. M8, M9, M10, M11, M12, M13, M14, M17, M20, M24, M29, M30, M31, M63, M69, M71, M75, M110, Saturn, North American and Pelican, Veil, Heart and Soul and Gamma Cyg nebs, among others, making it a memorable trip astronomically. With Saturn at 200x, it was easy to follow the planet even with 50 degree eyepieces - definitely helps having slo-mo controls over my previous Ercole mini mount. At the end of the holiday, it easily packs away in hold luggage and takes up little room. 
 

All in all, a 4 out of 5 for me - just the movement control issues preventing a perfect 5 for the Sightron.
 

I'm glad you had such a good holiday Mark.  Yes, the slow motions aren't the best, but it's so good in every other aspect I don't mind working round them - though I haven't felt the need to do anything yet.  As you say if you forget a mount and just have a good experience observing,  it  says it all. It was just like that when I had my first session with it using  the StellaMira 125 ED.

[Dave scutt]

Can you buy longer slow mo control's.for the sightron 

My dovetail seems to hit it if facing at zenith which I haven't tried yet 

[paulastro]

I think almost any slow motion controls will fit - they are generally all the same fitting.  If you email FLO they will be able to tell you what they have, I'm sure they will have some that fit -  as will any other good supplier.

[JeremyS]

10 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Great review Paul. I agree with pretty much everything you’ve written. My Sightron performed very nicely throughout a recent holiday in Spain with a 4-5kg load of TV85, heavy TV 55mm plossl and Panoptic 27mm with night vision system most of the time providing quite a long ‘stack’.    
 

My only small gripe is the slo-mo controls. I found the plastic knobs started slipping a little bit after an hour’s use, so I replaced them with metal knobs from the Skytee which are a lot better (attached via two small hex screws rather than just one screw with the stock controls). Also my az control has about a quarter turn before it locks on when reversing direction - it’s only a tiny gripe and is of little consequence under the stars. However, if anyone knows whether such ‘dead’ movement is fixable in these sorts of mounts, I’d appreciate any solutions. I already had a replacement ADM clamp from another mount, so was pleased it fitted the Sightron - but the stock unit is perfectly adequate, as you describe.

The greatest praise for any mount is to forget about it and get on with observing, and my first couple of nights out with the Sightron I did precisely that. M8, M9, M10, M11, M12, M13, M14, M17, M20, M24, M29, M30, M31, M63, M69, M71, M75, M110, Saturn, North American and Pelican, Veil, Heart and Soul and Gamma Cyg nebs, among others, making it a memorable trip astronomically. With Saturn at 200x, it was easy to follow the planet even with 50 degree eyepieces - definitely helps having slo-mo controls over my previous Ercole mini mount. At the end of the holiday, it easily packs away in hold luggage and takes up little room. 
 

All in all, a 4 out of 5 for me - just the movement control issues preventing a perfect 5 for the Sightron.
 

Re the dead movement. I don’t know if exactly the same construction, but my ScopeTech Zero has nuts on the ends of the worms. I seem to recall these can be adjusted to reduce backlash and to adjust tension

Edited August 11 by JeremyS

[Stu]

53 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Re the dead movement. I don’t know if exactly the same construction, but my ScopeTech Zero has nuts on the ends of the worms. I seem to recall these can be adjusted to reduce backlash and to adjust tension

Yep, that’s right. I had to adjust mine when I first got it, hasn’t changed since. Pretty sure the Sightron will be similar. 

[Highburymark]

12 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Re the dead movement. I don’t know if exactly the same construction, but my ScopeTech Zero has nuts on the ends of the worms. I seem to recall these can be adjusted to reduce backlash and to adjust tension

Thanks Jeremy - there were no nuts supplied with the Sightron, and I haven’t been able to track down an English translation of the manual, but it doesn’t seem to show any instructions to adjust the tension. 

[paulastro]

On 12/08/2024 at 09:55, Highburymark said:

Thanks Jeremy - there were no nuts supplied with the Sightron, and I haven’t been able to track down an English translation of the manual, but it doesn’t seem to show any instructions to adjust the tension. 

Mark I meant to test  mine out when I read your comment re the delay when you reversed the slow motion direction.  Sorry!

Anyway, I've tried mine a number of times, and once I've  adjusted the tension on both axis they respond as soon as I change direction.   

If I change altitude markedly I find it is sometimes necessary to increase the tension - or it will not increase the altitude with the slow motion, but still go down.  Mind you, I've found this to be the case on many altaz mounts in the same circumstances, and it makes sense. It only takes a few seconds to  change the tension.

I'm afraid I can't see any way to adjust the end of the shafts where there were two nuts on the Scopetech, or anywhere else for that matter. 

Have you had any joy with fixing it on yours?

Edited August 19 by paulastro
Typo

[Highburymark]

17 hours ago, paulastro said:

Mark I meant to test  mine out when I read your comment re the delay when you reversed the slow motion direction.  Sorry!

Anyway, I've tried mine a number of times, and once I've  adjusted the tension on both axis they respond as soon as I change direction.   

If I change altitude markedly I find it is sometimes necessary to increase the tension - or it will not increase the altitude with the slow motion, but still go down.  Mind you, I've found this to be the case on many altaz mounts in the same circumstances, and it makes sense. It only takes a few seconds to  change the tension.

I'm afraid I can't see any way to adjust the end of the shafts where there were two nuts on the Scopetech, or anywhere else for that matter. 

Have you had any joy with fixing it on yours?

No I haven’t I’m afraid Paul - and I’ve also had the same experience as you with the altitude movement - it sometimes sticks, so a quick change to the main tension control is required. I wonder if other users have had similar issues? 

[paulastro]

5 hours ago, Highburymark said:

No I haven’t I’m afraid Paul - and I’ve also had the same experience as you with the altitude movement - it sometimes sticks, so a quick change to the main tension control is required. I wonder if other users have had similar issues? 

Mark, I don't think the altitude thing is an issue.  It's just because if you move a scope, particularly a long heavy one, from a low altitude to approaching the zenith then it will be out of balance.  So, you then either have to rebalance the scope or try tightening tbe altitude tension adjuster so the slow motion works again.  Or, just push it instead of using the slow motion.

As I  said, this happens with most altazimuth mounts  to some extent.  I don't think it's something you can do a permanent fix for.

With my shorter lighter refractors it hasn't happened with the Sightron so far.

[Travelman]

On 31/07/2024 at 19:11, paulastro said:

I've had this mout for less than a week, but I've had a good session with it at night and tried it in daylight with several other scopes.  These are my first impressions 

WHAT IS IT?  Well, it's listed on FLO, but the important bits are as follows.  An ultra portable altaz mount, weight 1.45Kg, stated load Up to 7Kg, colours black or silver, folded 240x80x90mm, single fork arm design, 3/8inch mounting point, compatable with Vixen type dovetail.  

BUILD QUALITY.  Very good, weighty in the hand and very well machined. Plastic slow motion controls could be better.

SMOOTHNESS OF MOVEMENT.  Excellent, couldn't be much better.  Once the clutches are adjusted, scopes can be pushed in any direction and the slow motions used without further adjustment.  I tested the mount with the following OTAs.  Altair 80 ED-R F7, C5 SC, Askar 103Apo Triplet F7, 130PDS and the StellaMira 125ED F7.8.

 

VERSATILITY. The Sightron is ready to go in three modes.  The arm can be attached to the right or left side of any tube.  Simply rotate the tube clamp and change the angle of the arm  by turning the knob at the bottom of the fork.  There are ratchets on the fork and base which have to be lined up to mesh together before the knob is re-tightened. MAKE SURE THIS IS DONE CORRECTLY.

The third mode is flipping the arm around so that the clamp faces away from the centre of the mount. In effect you're scope is attached to the outside of the fork.  To do this. First undo the bolt which holds the two halves of the arm together. (There is a hex wrench supplied) see pic below.

Then flip the top half around and replace the bolt. It's useful if you have a tube which is too big to fit on the fork in the usual configuration.  Beware though, if the scope is too heavy it may tip the tripod.

The mount can also be used in equatorial mode if you buy a suitable wedge such as the Willuam Optics version.

PROBLEMS WITH THE POSITIONS OF THE SLOW MOTION KNOBS?  Some people have said this is problematic, though using knobs on 'floppies' or rods can help.  Or, depending on your scope, using the mount in a different mode may help.  I have to say, I didn't find it a problem.

THE DOVETAIL CLAMP.  This is a single bolt design, many people may decide to order a replacement along with the scope.  However, in my view think before you do.  First it holds tubes up to at least 7Kg, and there's no need to overtightened it.  If you are concerned about mariing the dovetail, there are solutions. On my scopes I put a length of Heavy Duty Stick On Velcro along the edge if the dovetail.  It prevents caring for some time, and if you need to replace it, it pulls off easily, and can be reused, without leaving any sticky residue.  Below is my StellaMira attached in this way.  Note Starsense phone holder on left.

 

WHAT SCOPES IS THE SIGHTRON SUITABLE FOR?  The things to consider are weight of scope, diameter of scope tube, length of tube a good tripod and balancing the scope. 

Weight wise the theory is 7Kg, but I think it will do better than this. If the tube is too wide it will catch on the top of the mount when attached. This can be overcome my using mode three so it's on the outside of the tube - but careful it's not too heavy and may topple.  If a tube is too long it's more likely to shake, you may need to re-balance a long scope when using it at different altitudes.  Usually this wouldn't matter much. BALANCE the scope at the start of any session as soon as you put it on the mount.  The tripod I use is an Artcise AS88C, CF, weight 2.39Kg/5.2lbs, capacity 35Kg/77lbs, bowl adapter 75mm diam.

My guidelines would be refractors up to at least 100/125mm and no longer than F7, SCs up to 6inches, Maks up to 5inches. Newtonians up to F6 and 6 inches aperture or less. If you can, buy before you try or look online for other people's views.

THE ULTIMATE GRAB AND GO MOUNT?   And by G&G I don't mean any scope you can carry from your house into the garden.  A friend of mine can do this easily with his 14inch Newtonion! To my mind , any G&G rig is one you can take observing on foot, on your bike, on the bus, on a train or on an aeroplane.  I think the answer to my question is possibly yes. 

FIRST LIGHT JULY 27TH  I  chose my StellaMira 125mm F7.8 for this.  On the basis it's the largest scope I have that I might ever want to use it with but rarely will.  Usually its on a StellaMira Dual Altaz on which it's rock solid.  The session lasted from 11.50pm to 2.20am.  Except for Saturn at the very end I only used my Morpheus 17.5mm, giving x56 and 1.3 degrees field.  What a wonderful night, some beautiful views of amazing objects.  Effortlessly pushing the scope around the sky with the aid of Starsense. At the end I looked at Saturn with the SVBony 3-8mm giving x122 to x325, a suitable finale. Yes, it wobbled using the zoom toward the high end, but I was just too tired to rebalanced it.  Up to this time I had forgotten I was testing the Sightron and had just enjoyed the ride.

Enough said I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Paul

Could you by any chance post a pic of the  Starsense phone holder on the StellaMira?

I am very interested to see how you made that (and yes...I too have the Sightron mount - I love it!)

 

Kind regards from Copenhagen

 

Torben

[paulastro]

3 hours ago, Travelman said:

Hi Paul

Could you by any chance post a pic of the  Starsense phone holder on the StellaMira?

I am very interested to see how you made that (and yes...I too have the Sightron mount - I love it!)

 

Kind regards from Copenhagen

 

Torben

Hi Torben.

Yes, here you are.  It's attached to a red Askar handle that the Starsense  can be attached anyway along it's length when fitted to a vixen dovetail.  The other side is a red Askar dovetail.  Tomorrow I'll take a close up and also links to the two items.  Also pic of the bits you need to attach the starsense.

 

 

 

[Travelman]

Hi Paul

It is a beautiful set-up you have made, and I will much appreciate the info you intend to post tomorrow

 

I wish you clear skies!

 

Torben

[paulastro]

On 13/09/2024 at 07:42, Travelman said:

Hi Paul

It is a beautiful set-up you have made, and I will much appreciate the info you intend to post tomorrow

 

I wish you clear skies!

 

Torben

Torben.  Had a few difficulties with car yesterday, out this morning but will send additional info as soon as I'm back.  Many apologies.

[paulastro]

On 13/09/2024 at 07:42, Travelman said:

Hi Paul

It is a beautiful set-up you have made, and I will much appreciate the info you intend to post tomorrow

 

I wish you clear skies!

 

Torben

Torben. The 'handle' is the Askar Multi-Connection Plate 150' and the dovetail is the 'Askar VDP 300' .  The channel on the first item allows you to position any Vixen type finder foot accessory anywhere along it's length. Both are much better than the originals, though I only bought them as the handle allows you to position the Starsense holder near the point of balance of the scope and I chose the long  300 dovetail as it makes it easy to balance the scope, whatever you  put on it.  I chose red as they match the accentsof the telescope!

You need to source the Starsense phone holder from one of the small SS refractors, NOT one that is joined by a 'stalk' to the side of some of the SS scopes.

The orange T shaped adapter was 3D printed by another SGL member.  There is a thread on doing this on SGL somewhere.  The tip of the T piece is bolted onto holes in the bottom of the phone holder when you remove it from the scope.  The bottom of the T piece is shaped like a Vixen finder foot, and this allows the modified phone holder to be positioned anywhere on the Askar 'handle' via the multi - Vixen type finder shoe  - I've added a separate pic of this.  This slides into the Handle first to provide a vertical position for the modified photo  holder.

You could think of other ways to do all this, but the way I've done it is very secure, and no movement.

At first I used the photo ball head modified with a tube clamp and Vixen type foot (pic added) to secure the phone holder (bought from an SGL member along with a phone holder).  It worked, but if knocked could move out of alignement. 

You might be thinking, why not just put the modified phone holder in the Vixen type foot which is found on nearly every telescope.  Well, you can, but most often it is near the focuser on refactors and can cause balance issues when using Starsense, or it just gets in the way of something. 

In theory once you have modified the phone holder you just need to think of a way of9 attaching it to any scope in a convenient position. There are a number of different multi - foot finder devices available which can be used alone or in combination to help with this.  I use my Starsense on two Dobs, one Newtonion tube, three refractors and a SC.

The pics I've added below should make it all a lot clearer than my description!   Search on SGL and Utube and you will find other people's solutions if you need more.

Good luck!

 

 

 

[Travelman]

Hi Paul

Don´t worry aqbout the delay...have been busy all day anyway 🙂

I already did cannibalize a Starsense scope & also have the 3D printed holder.

I can see that the "secret" in your setup is the multi - foot finder - brilliant thinking AND thanks a whole lot

 

Clear skies

 

Torben

[paulastro]

6 hours ago, Travelman said:

Hi Paul

Don´t worry aqbout the delay...have been busy all day anyway 🙂

I already did cannibalize a Starsense scope & also have the 3D printed holder.

I can see that the "secret" in your setup is the multi - foot finder - brilliant thinking AND thanks a whole lot

 

Clear skies

 

Torben

You're  very welcome Torben.  I'm really pleased it's been of some help.  I was concerned my long ramble may have sent you to sleep 😊. 

You might have noticed I also added a second single finder foot near the one already provided with the scope.

Below is a Newt set up with the other, more common, type of muli-finder foot I use.