Wowzer the AZ4 is a solid bit of kit!!

[Worzsel]

It arrived this morning and I think this might well be the start of a beautiful friendship!

It didn't come with any instructions but putting it together was a breeze and when assembled it is solid as a rock. It all feels really well made and is all shiny and attractive in the way that all new toys should be

The L bracket was missing from the box but I expected that after ringing FLO on Tuesday to check. I got an answerphone message after placing the order online yesterday too which strikes me as cracking customer service!

The bracket will be coming in Jan apparently. Untill then I'm going to have to eat lots of spinach.

I've just put my scope on it and typically it's clouding over so I doubt there will be a first light tonight

If anyone can tell me what I am supposed to do with the set circles (?) as I have no clue what these are for.

[dobbie]

hi sarah glad you like the mount i didnt think you would get the l bracket , iam still waiting of mine from flo..

the setting circles are to used to find objects using the alt/az coords from software like stellarium or pocket universe ( iphone) i use distant suns lite on ipod touch cost nowt... now the circle around the head is printed the wrong way round but you can solve this by undoing the bolt ( be carefull not to lose the washers etc) then take the ring off and turn it upside down , you will then be looking at the degrees upside down but there will then read 0' to 360' as you would read a compass. this may sound confusing and if i can time i will take some pics of mine and post them up but got to dash out now but am sure someone else may answer more clearly then i can ... john.

[John]

I've an AZ-4 and I'm very pleased with mine - is yours the steel tube tripod type ?

I don't use the graduated circles myself but I've heard from others that they are pretty accurate.

[Worzsel]

Yeah it is the steel legged version. It's really chunky! It weighs a ton too, good job I'm not a weakling

I'll have a try will the coordinates. I've got pocket universe on my iPhone.

[GazOC]

Its a great piece of kit. Just the right size to be solid but also easy to move and setup.

The alt/az scales are spot on on my model. The alt scale takes care of its self but the az needs to rotated to the correct setting AFTER you've located a star of a known azimuth and then you are good to go using them to find objects.

[Worzsel]

Ahh so that's why it moves !

[GazOC]

Ahh so that's why it moves !

When I first got it I had a "blonde moment" and thought it was going to be fiddly moving the mount so the az scales pointed in the right direction...

[Worzsel]

The big shiny N made me think the same thing:icon_scratch:

[GazOC]

LOL! Yep, the "N" is a real red herring!!

[gordyb]

What is the limit of the AZ4 Thanks Gordy

[GazOC]

Not sure about the weight limit but I have about 6kgs on it and its fine.