Proxisky mounts - plethora of them! -

[GTom]

Still undecided for my travel mount, last night I visited the Proxisky site after a few weeks and noticed several novelties. Servo motors seem to be the buzzword in this season.

I wonder, where they stand in terms of QC and out of the box "beginner friendly" useability? E.g. would a Ragdoll 17 instead of the 600$ more (with customs effectively even more!) expensive AM5N be a sound decision for someone that maybe has zero clear nights to test and fiddle with the mount under the stars before flying away on an astro trip?

Edited August 24 by GTom

[Elp]

Cuiv has reviewed one version on YT.

[GTom]

Yeah, that's part of the point, there are so many versions now... He reviewed the smallest, umi 17 lite that doesn't even have an integrated altitude wedge, bigger, more advanced ones are most likely a different story.

[TiffsAndAstro]

I keep looking at that juwei-17 on Ali express for £800. If it's as decent as it supposed to be it's a good price.

[GTom]

I know about the Juwei. However they are a significantly less established brand, IDK if it is a good idea to deep dive in that with very limited testing and possibly returning options. The thing needs to be working before the end of the year. Quite possibly due to Scottish weather ALL debugging, familiarization with the software bits done indoors. Budget is important, but definitely don't want to risk any show stoppers.

 

Meantime pasting the current Proxisky range here, I know a fellow forum user already got his 17R, I'll try to make an educated decision between that, the Ragdoll 17, a used late-production AM5 or an AM5N. 

Edited August 24 by GTom

[TiffsAndAstro]

Umi had me after reading titanium screws

[GTom]

The 17S, not to mention 20s is a significant jump in price, cost more than the proven OK to work AM5N. Titanium is nice and indicative of quality but I think I'll settle with one of the lower models. Good is good enough principle, control board quality+QC, trouble-free software/driver are next on the list - obviously for those one needs to open up the mounts...

Also unsure about the necessity of servo motors on both drives. Actually question to anyone knowledgeable about motors: which motor type can be expected to live a longer trouble free life? Stepper or Servo? No intention of sacrificing a single year of longevity against 0.1" RMS...

Edited August 24 by GTom

[Elp]

Titanium screws? Even in heavy engineering steel is good enough.

[Elp]

You should be looking at payload and narrow down accordingly. Do not look at max capacity, dial it back 2/3 or 1/2 like with normal mounts. And the tripod makes a world of difference (another reason not to look at max capacity).

[Elp]

Also the prices in that spreadsheet, do they include VAT and import duties and shipping? It's not a comparison without.

[GTom]

33 minutes ago, Elp said:

Also the prices in that spreadsheet, do they include VAT and import duties and shipping? It's not a comparison without.

Those are net Hong Kong prices, VAT, shipping, customs handling and the funny exchange rates used by the UK customs all add on top of those, approx 30%.

Good rule of thumb: imported shipped £ roughly same figures as net China USD.

In comparison: AM5N costs $1999 in China incl shipping, that's approx NET £1540. Imported will be around £2k, still more than 10% cheaper than the UK shop prices. Ragdoll 17 will be around £1400, Umi 17R around £1600, both effectively cheaper than no-warranty second hand AM5's! 

Edited August 24 by GTom

[TiffsAndAstro]

2 hours ago, Elp said:

Titanium screws? Even in heavy engineering steel is good enough.

Only carbotanium beats regular titanium

[GTom]

11 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

Only carbotanium beats regular titanium

IMHO no need for a diamond drill to slice bread. Generations of high end mounts were fine with steel screws for decades. Let's jump to potential real weak points and concentrate on show stoppers.

 

What made me thinking: the Umi 17R/S has a relatively thin "neck" holding the saddle, apparently smaller diameter than the AM5 and the Ragdoll series. Basic mechanical engineering tells me, this could conduct vibrations easier when EG a larger Newtonian is mounted. Is this worry completely unfounded?

Edited August 24 by GTom

[saac]

2 hours ago, Elp said:

Titanium screws? Even in heavy engineering steel is good enough.

It's the next fad in the fashion wars - bright primary colour anodising is so last year! Whoever specified titanum should be sacked for crimes against engineering. But will we buy into, most likely  

Jim 

[GTom]

4 minutes ago, saac said:

It's the next fad in the fashion wars - bright primary colour anodising is so last year! Whoever specified titanum should be sacked for crimes against engineering. But will we buy into, most likely  

Jim 

Pure distraction and PR. Question is actual real life performance, streamlined bug-free software environment and proper QC for the hardware (beyond that screw...). Those are the targets of my research and actually very hard to get independent advice.

Edited August 24 by GTom

[saac]

11 minutes ago, GTom said:

Pure distraction and PR. Question is actual real life performance, streamlined bug-free software environment and proper QC for the hardware (beyond that screw...). Those are the targets of my research and actually very hard to get independent advice.

Of course it is. I'd be inclined to ask why it was necessary to specify that particular alloy. Was there a particular concern over wear, corrosion or did the design lead to unexpected loads. Then again, use of the alloy may well be design practice with strain wave drive mounts. 

Jim 

Edited August 24 by saac

[Deadlake]

On 24/08/2024 at 11:15, GTom said:

Yeah, that's part of the point, there are so many versions now... He reviewed the smallest, umi 17 lite that doesn't even have an integrated altitude wedge, bigger, more advanced ones are most likely a different story.

I think Cuiv made the point that the wedge was included even although on the site it states it is not included.
Confusing...

 @GavStarhas ordered the umi 17 lite, I'm waiiitng for his view on the mount.

I suspect it will be cost + 25% to include any import tariff and VAT. 

Edited August 25 by Deadlake

[GTom]

Included is not the same as integrated. I don't think I'd want to put an 8-10" Newtonian on the 17 lite's wedge.

Edited August 25 by GTom

[Deadlake]

1 hour ago, GTom said:

Included is not the same as integrated. I don't think I'd want to put an 8-10" Newtonian on the 17 lite's wedge.

Missed that.

Note for visual use being able to remove excess weight is ideal for Alt/Az usage.

Removing the wedge saves 1 kg, i.e.

3.8 kg with the wedge
2.8 kg without the wedge

for the umi 17 lite

Handy for a travel scope.

Edited August 25 by Deadlake

[GTom]

If I travel, I'll definitely want AP.

[Elp]

Remind me again why you discredited the ioptron hems?

[TiffsAndAstro]

49 minutes ago, Elp said:

Remind me again why you discredited the ioptron hems?

Discounted, not discredited lol

And I only discounted after a very brief look. There are many, many mounts available and the cem (I think) and 4d balance didn't appeal. Also on step?

Now I know a little more about on step im sure I'd be  fine with it, and it turns out not all ioptron mounts are cem.

I'm just window shopping at the moment, but I think mount has to be next upgrade, probably also tripod.

Having said all that, now my guide scope is pushed in further a quick test showed much reduced coma compared  like effext from I think nose piece slop, will be interesting to see. I think this had a major effect on my guiding. 2sec exp went from 20 snr to 50

 

Edited August 25 by TiffsAndAstro

[Deadlake]

One question I have is how well does OneStep integrate with SkySafari?

Any body used the combination?

[AndrewRrrrrr]

5 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

One question I have is how well does OneStep integrate with SkySafari?

Any body used the combination?

I was just using it earlier, it works fine. Onstep(X) is running on a FYSETC E4 board and skysafari on iphone, communicating with the onstepx smart web server via wifi

[Elp]

53 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

Discounted, not discredited lol

Yes, correct.

Aimed more for OP. At least you know ioptron have been making mounts for a while.