First Light- Skywatcher AZ4 Mount

[toilandtrouble123]

Hey All,

Well here is my report on the Skywatcher AZ4 Stainless Steel Tripod:

Firstly, despite my whinging about the lack of an assembly instruction leaflet, setting it up was very easy for my other half, who didn't even need the manual links given to me by a couple of members of SGL. Maybe it was because of my general ineptitude regarding putting ANYTHING together without an idiot-proof step-by-step diagram. Once the head was attached to the tripod, for me, carrying it outside was abit of a struggle due to the weight (at least I won't be having to pay for gym membership to get fit!), though I doubt anyone else would have any trouble. I also doubt that anything less than an F5 tornado would shift it, so Russ, your describing it as sturdy is abit of an understatement!

When it came to attaching my scope to the head, getting a good balance was no trouble at all, even with my Skyscout Planetarium on board too. Unfortunately, because of the position of where the dovetail bar is clamped into the head of the mount, meant the screen of my beloved Skyscout was facing straight down towards the ground. This meant for me that I'm not able to use it because of a bad neck, which actually caused some frustrated tears ( I blame PMS- girls you know what it's like)!!

Moving on from that little mishap, I give the handling 10 out of 10. Compared to the mount that came with my Skyscout Scope 90, the movement is buttery smooth. The main problem with my previous mount was that the axis were controlled by twisting the clutch, and once I had tightened the clutch and let go of the panhandle, the scope sagged, resulting in the loss of my view through the eyepiece. With the AZ4, this problem is completely non-existent, and as a bonus, I could detect no vibrations either (bearing in mind I was using a max of 132x tonight, and with not even the slightest breeze where I am).

So first night using the AZ4, well for the first time ever, I was able to get a steady view of Mars, without it dancing about, and despite my Meade 3x barlow not arriving today, I managed to distinguish the slightest difference in colouration (whether or not it was because I WANTED to see it, I don't know) at 132x. But with the light pollution and the constant dewing on all my kit, that was just about it for the night. The best part of this evening however was when I was walking out my backdoor with my beloved Babyliss hairdryer and the extension cable, I caught a beautiful metoer streak across the sky right in front of me, and I was surprised to see a whitish-blue tint to it.

So, all in all, despite the problem with the positioning of my Skyscout Planetarium, I am absolutly estatic about my new tripod, and consider this to be the best £180 I've ever spent!

I hope everyone else has had a good evening, I'm off to bed with a book.

Ciao

Natalie

Edited by Daz: Language. Sorry, some people are easily offended

Edited February 9, 2010 by jgs001

[John]

Sounds great Natalie - thanks for the report.

One of the issues I find with many mounts is that they are rather too short, or at least the tripods are rather too short (I'm 6 foot and my back does not like stooping for too long) - I'm wondering how tall the AZ4 is with the tripod extended - say to the dovetail where you mount the scope ?.

I'm glad you got a successful 1st light with it.

John

[Deneb]

Well, the mount does not seem bad at all especially something that could be portable. mmm, i might look into this mount for traveling. As my EQ6 Pro is going no where .

Cheers

Nadeem.

[toilandtrouble123]

Sounds great Natalie - thanks for the report.

One of the issues I find with many mounts is that they are rather too short, or at least the tripods are rather too short (I'm 6 foot and my back does not like stooping for too long) - I'm wondering how tall the AZ4 is with the tripod extended - say to the dovetail where you mount the scope ?.

I'm glad you got a successful 1st light with it.

John

when i've got outta bed, i'll hunt for a tape measure and find out for you.

p.s. morning everyone!!!

[Jim!]

Its the most frustrating experience when equipment just doesn't work the way it's intended, especially when supplied with the scope.

Glad everything worked out for you in the end. That AZ4 looks a good bit of kit, stainless steel too! I'm going to have to have a fiddle with one.

There were some lovely meteors last night, I caught 2 in the space of 1 cigarette outside the pub and I could only see a 40 degree patch of sky around Taurus

Edit: Oh god my spellings bad....

Edited February 6, 2010 by Jim!

[oceanheadted]

Natalie,

can you get the telescope to point more or less straight up? I looked at the picture of of the AZ04 on the FLO site and it looks like it might have issues going above about 60 degrees.

cheers

Alan

[toilandtrouble123]

Sounds great Natalie - thanks for the report.

One of the issues I find with many mounts is that they are rather too short, or at least the tripods are rather too short (I'm 6 foot and my back does not like stooping for too long) - I'm wondering how tall the AZ4 is with the tripod extended - say to the dovetail where you mount the scope ?.

I'm glad you got a successful 1st light with it.

John

hey sorry took so long to get back to you, wasn't feeling too good yesterday and had work today. I measured it tonight, and its 140mm from the dovetail to the ground when fully extended.

[toilandtrouble123]

Natalie,

can you get the telescope to point more or less straight up? I looked at the picture of of the AZ04 on the FLO site and it looks like it might have issues going above about 60 degrees.

cheers

Alan

hey oceanheadted, I can get my scope pointing up to basically almost the zenith, but what it would be like for other scopes, I wouldn't have a clue.

Cheers

Natalie

[catburglar]

I also have an AZ4 with a WO Zenithstar 80, and can echo pretty much everything that Natalie has said:

• it's substantial without being unwieldy
  
• very smooth motions (at up to 180x)
  
• easy access to the zenith
  

There are a couple of negatives:

• the pan handle is next to useless- there are two positions, but neither are convenient, and one will prevent you reaching the zenith
  
• the dovetail is held with a single screw- it's never come undone, but a safety would be nice
  

As far as access to the zenith goes, it will depend a little on the length and position of the balance point with your scope, but I'd guess that any scope with a tube diameter of less than about 140mm would be able to reach the zenith.

All in, I think this is a top performer and would heartily recommend it. I've not seen a weight limit for it, but from the S&T October review, looks like it will handle the SW 120ED quite nicely.

[John]

hey sorry took so long to get back to you, wasn't feeling too good yesterday and had work today. I measured it tonight, and its 140mm from the dovetail to the ground when fully extended.

Thanks Natalie

Hope you are feeling better now.

[toilandtrouble123]

I am, muc thanks. Starting to get abdominal migraines again (stopped having them after I turned 14), had a splitting headache, and boy did I vom- the Exorcist had nothing on me!! And then I had to drag myself through managing the shop on Sunday, when all I wanted was my bed. But I'm better now thanks, just abit annoyed that my Meade 3x barlow from pulsar optical is out of stock, and is taken them a week to tell me, especially since I've been racing home each day hoping its there waiting for me, onlt to be disappointed that its not there.....hmmm....

[russ]

I am, muc thanks. Starting to get abdominal migraines again (stopped having them after I turned 14), had a splitting headache, and boy did I vom- the Exorcist had nothing on me!! And then I had to drag myself through managing the shop on Sunday, when all I wanted was my bed. But I'm better now thanks, just abit annoyed that my Meade 3x barlow from pulsar optical is out of stock, and is taken them a week to tell me, especially since I've been racing home each day hoping its there waiting for me, onlt to be disappointed that its not there.....hmmm....

Oh blimey that sounds nasty Nat. Glad you are better now.

Word of warning with Pulsar/Scopes'n'skies.......always phone first and check stock. They are not good at admitting they have no stock. When things are in stock they blast it out double quick.

Russ

[toilandtrouble123]

cheers for the heads up, i'm gonna call them in the morn before I leave for work ( doing the 10-3 shift, whoop whoop!) and see when they think they'll get it back in, cos they've got the Meade 3x going for £30 atm and isn't the RRP something like £40?

[russ]

Nat, ask them if they have the Antares 3x in stock. It's the same price but nicer finish and uses Japanese optics. I had one and couldn't really tell the difference from my TV 3x. And it's better than the Tal 3x i have now.

If you want an opinion on the Antares drop Rob a PM. He uese it and loves it.

Regards

Russ

[toilandtrouble123]

i think that the one the woman offered me, (had a voicemail whilst I was at work, but it was very garbled) and she said it was £39.99, but 30 is all i can afford, 35 at an extreme push...im poor again lol, my phone died so had to buy a new one- an unexpected expense which i didnt budget for...meaning less i can spend on my scope setup

[russ]

Tell them that Scopes'n'skies do the Antares for £29 delivered and you wish to swap. They are same company and it's never a problem.

Here's a link:

Antares Antares 1.25" 3x Barlow lens

[toilandtrouble123]

really? cool, i'll do that in the morning then, thanks russ. maaaan... i must like such a muppet, your always helping me out!! geeez....im useless haha!

[russ]

hehe that's what we are here for Nat......to help each other out

[toilandtrouble123]

and i appreciate it, and i hope my report has helped someone else out. well i is off to check out that link u gave me and to do somr web window shopping. i'll probably be on again before bed to check out the new posts. ciao

Nat

xxx

[russ]

and i appreciate it, and i hope my report has helped someone else out. well i is off to check out that link u gave me and to do somr web window shopping. i'll probably be on again before bed to check out the new posts. ciao

Nat

xxx

Dont get too tempted while window shopping

[toilandtrouble123]

ha i wish...only money for my 3x barlow left. shouldnt be too greedy, im buying a celestron eyepiece filter set off paulo at the end of the month, so i got that to look forward to too.

[russ]

All coming together then. A nice little setup you have.

[toilandtrouble123]

why thankyou russ, im quite pleased with it myself i'm gonna phone pulsar optical when i'm on my lunch, cos only got 20mins til I gotta leave the house for work, and makeup and hair not done, so asking about the antares barlow will have to wait... thing is, how do you pronounce it? lol

[lexx]

Sounds great Natalie - thanks for the report.

One of the issues I find with many mounts is that they are rather too short, or at least the tripods are rather too short (I'm 6 foot and my back does not like stooping for too long) - I'm wondering how tall the AZ4 is with the tripod extended - say to the dovetail where you mount the scope ?.

I'm glad you got a successful 1st light with it.

John

I am also tall and do NOT like to bend, I live in canada and we have a store called METAL SUPERMARKETS,,,i believe its a US firm,,,,anyway the extending legs that come with the tripod are only 15" long. so I went to MS and purchased 36" 1 1/4" 1/8" wall aluminum tubes,,,,,,I polished them with 220 sandpaper, and is now shiny like stainless. now the scope is "up there" and stands 6.6' from ground,,,,, I use a 120mm 1000fl scope and I can look strait up without bending, where as others have to bend all night, or break their neck to see something at zenith,,,,,,,,,,,,,hope I helped.

sorry,,,,,,,,,,the cost of the tubes were 3pcs of 38" alum. for @25.00

and the scope is just as solid fully extended as is when short.

[Richard_B]

On 15/07/2011 at 15:49, lexx said:

I am also tall and do NOT like to bend, I live in canada and we have a store called METAL SUPERMARKETS,,,i believe its a US firm,,,,anyway the extending legs that come with the tripod are only 15" long. so I went to MS and purchased 36" 1 1/4" 1/8" wall aluminum tubes,,,,,,I polished them with 220 sandpaper, and is now shiny like stainless. now the scope is "up there" and stands 6.6' from ground,,,,, I use a 120mm 1000fl scope and I can look strait up without bending, where as others have to bend all night, or break their neck to see something at zenith,,,,,,,,,,,,,hope I helped.

sorry,,,,,,,,,,the cost of the tubes were 3pcs of 38" alum. for @25.00

and the scope is just as solid fully extended as is when short.

Really interested in how you did the leg extensions on your AQ4 steel tripod. I could do with between 5" and 7" additional height so was considering your idea of new leg extension options. What did you do about feet for the new extensions? It looks as though the existing ones are fixed so I won't be able to transfer them over to the new extensions.

I would really like to do this rather then by the 16" EQ5 extension which is way more than I need.

Cheers

Richard

Edited July 12, 2020 by Richard_B
typos