SkyTee alt/az mount - capacity?

[Mark at Beaufort]

I love refractors and alt/az mounts so I thought I would show what can be done with the Skywatcher SkyTee dual alt/az mount. I bought this mount mainly for my 4" APO frac but last Autumn I obtained a S/H Meade 6" Achro frac. The literature for the mount states that its capacity is an Equinox 80 OTA on both sides. Well see the attach photo which shows the 6" frac mounted on the SkyTee with a pillar extension. The scope is well balanced and the handle allows easy movement making star hopping a joy .

Tonight, if it stays clear, I will be seeking out double stars. The 6" scope carries a WO RDF and an Orion 9x50 correct image finder. The focuser is 2" and the views through the 35mm Panoptic is wonderful. The 13mm and 8mm Ethos EPs are not bad either!!

Mark

[brianb]

Wow ... I think the breeze in my part of the world would demand a counterweight ... my WO EZTouch (a similar device) is pretty marginal bearing a FLT 110.

[John]

Really nice Mark - I share your taste in scopes / mounts

I must think about getting one of those pillar extenders for my alt-az mount - I'm still having stoop a bit too much. Trouble is I've blown this months astro budget on a 6" F/8 Synta refractor OTA now !.

[Mark at Beaufort]

John the pillar extension makes a wonderful difference and the extra weight makes the scope more stable. Last night I was going to view double stars with the 6" frac but the sky was so clear in the end I went DSO hopping including low objects in Cetus, Sculptor and Fornax.

Mark

[oceanheadted]

Mark,

thanks for putting up that post. That's a pretty impressive telescope for the SkyTee to

handle is there much wobble?

cheers

Alan

[Mark at Beaufort]

Alan

No the SkyTee seems very stable. I was worried when I first mounted the 6" so did it over a grassed area - just in case. I did not attach the diagonal, EP, or any finders in the event of a disaster happening. I checked the dovetail connection, balanced the scope by moving the OTA within the rings and everything seemed ok.

The scope is f8 so its long and reasonably heavy but the height and weight of the pillar extension makes it a very useable alt/az mount for this 6".

If I changed anything I would use the heavier legs from my CG5 mount but its not really necessary.

Mark

[Macavity]

Who knows? I see some websites claiming (only!) 2x80mm APO as the limit. Even with my Giro III, the "official" specification is not in particularly CLEAR English. <G> My feeling re. the Giro III is that it's OK... until it breaks down - Metal grinds on metal etc. LOL. I do know that the mount benefits CONSIDERABLY from good balance though. As little as 4lb of imbalance quite spoils the "Giro experience" for me. Always worth risking a few counterweights?

As others have commented, a lot of this is down to what's sitting UNDERNEATH the mount. I do know I've never looked back after replacing a (variety of indifferent?) Tripods with the Skywatcher Pillar. I've even just made an ad-hoc "adaptor" to fit my SynScan Alt-Az head to the pillar as well! I still have hopes re. getting it to consistently "GoTo" stuff, and within the canonical "degree or so", over the whole sky.

I think Alt-Az mounts are like Marmite. If you LIKE them, there's really no substitute.