Losmandy G11

[radinsky41]

Hi everyone.

I'm just about to buy Losmandy G11 mount.

I would like to here from people who own this mount what they think about it.

I will be using Vixen refactor NA 140ssf with it and in the future I'm aiming to get Takahashi Mewlon 250 for it.

At this time I'm visual observer.


Thanks for any reviews.

Rado

[LightningNZ]

Well, I can't speak from personal experience but Rolf Olsen uses one his imaging work is pretty amazing. I'd have thought that for visual use with scopes of the size you mention that it'd absolutely fine.

-Cam

[JohnH]

There are many G11 owners here, do you have specific questions? What options are you specifying? Gemini2? Maxon motors? Tripod or pier mount? Will you want to use it for AP later?

I am very happy with mine - but I did upgrade to the Ovision worm on the RA axis to reduce PE - but then I use mine for AP almost exclusively..

I think imaging with the 250 might be a stretch for the G11, close to the limit.

[wasyoungonce]

Actually that's interesting in that the C11 was first launched on the G11, CG11 (http://www.company7.com/celestron/products/sch12.html), and the C11 OTA is very similar sized and almost exact weight, 27.5lb, of Tak Mewlon 250.

The Mewlon does have a longer native FL though but for visual I suspect it would be ok.

All depends upon if you want to load it up with cameras later? I also suspect that the OPs requirements and needs would change rapidly once using said scopes. Once you start you change your mind!;)

[icytailmark]

its a great mount but losmandy gives very poor support

[Larryp]

I had one back in the early 1990s and used to do astrophotography through a 6" f9 AP Starfire (a big, heavy scope)-no problems.

[Peter Ward]

Having known Scott Losmandy, and used his mounts over about 25 years, happy to answer any PM questions..;)

[White Rabbit]

I bought one back in March. One piece of advice I would give you is that at the very least upgrade to the high precision worm on the RA axis, if you can afford it get the ovasion one piece worm from France. I didn't and and my mount arrived with a PE of 25 peak to peak, to say I was gutted was an understatement. The HEQPRO 5 that I just upgraded from performed better and I'd been dreaming of this mount since I got into this hobby. The place I bought it from took the mount back and upgraded the worm for me and whilst my PE is still around 12 I can guide it out pretty well at my 741mm focal length but if I increase my focal length I'll get the ovasion worm.

There is a yahoo group for tech support that is run by a Losmandy GII user, and he also has a website for the Gemini II. This is all the support there is, you don't even get a manual for the mount or the gemini but people being people there is plenty of info on the web from other users.
I've read plenty of posts saying that losmandy are impossible to get a hold of and people urging patience because making telescope mounts is not losmandys primary business, they apparently build things for the movie industry as ther primary source of income. Um, excuse me???
Then we finally get to the Gemini II, and Rene. His primary source of income also is not in the astronomy world. He is a doctor of engineering I think it is and a university lecturer. He will occasionally chime into the yahoo group whith comments like "sorry I haven't been able to spend much time on this as my work schedule as been very busy of late".
The Gemini II is pretty stable now but there are still a lot of bugs to iron out. I've all but given up on pec as it seems to erase the pec file I upload every time I restart the gemini. Also default for pec is off, so even if It doesn't erase my pec file I need to remember to enable it every session. It's little thing like this that are easily fixed but arant that bring down the user experience from what could be a stellar piece of gear.

Now, having ranted on for three paragraphs of negatives I'll leave you with a few positives.

It points really well, if my target isn't in the centre it's pretty close, every time all over the sky. And for visual as you will be doing you'll enjoy that aspect. Nothing worse than slewing to a target and looking into the eye piece and it's not there.
The mount is fully upgradable with better worms, gearboxes, and bigger motors. If you fully upgrade this mount it will be quite awesome.

Whilst support from the manufactures may not be the best, the user community have filled that gap really well so ther is plenty of help available.

The mount itself is really solid and is designed in such a way that the user can take it apart and resemble it pretty easily. So you can service the mount yourself which is great.
With the precision worm worm adjustment is really easy and quite ingenuousness. You basically push the worm up hard against the gear the turn a little screw that pushes the worm back until you hit the sweet spot then tighten the worm block in place, really easy and practically impossible to stuff up. When I think back to the mess I made of my gear meshing on my HEQPRO 5 when I messed around with it I shudder lol.

The tripod is excellent and solid as a rock. You could hit it with a wrecking ball and it still wouldn't budge.

It looks amazing, it's an impressive looking piece of kit and one you iron out a few creases it is an impressive piece of kit.

All in all I'm happy with the mount now, it has taken me a while to get to this place, but I'm here now and I'm happy. There is room to grow if in the future I want to and there are a few upgrades I'll get for sure like the ovasion worm and the RA spacer also from ovasion. The spacer gives you a few more hours of tracking past the meridian, or a few more hours before the mount grinds my camera into the tripod ;).

Cheers
Sandy

[scagman]

Hi Rado,

Hi and:welcome: to IIS. A great place to learn and get your questions answered.


I'v had my G11 with gemini II for about 3 yrs and I am very happy with it.

As has been said before, its doesn't come with a manual but Rene has put together a great online manual here. http://www.gemini-2.com/

The G11 was my first foray into this hobby and found it fairly easy to get to understand how to work it.

[mithrandir]

If you don't have manuals for your G8/G11/Titan, go to www.losmandy.com and they are all on the "technical support" page.

[Camelopardalis]

G11 is a bit of a dream mount for me and my C11 tbh, but after reading some of these comments it sounds like I'd need to become an engineer :sadeyes:

The EQ6 will park more soundly now :lol:

[UniPol]

Be aware that the new heavy duty motors are pretty noisy if you are thinking of buying new. The tiny gearboxes also have somewhat of a whine as well. There have been some second hand G11 bargains here on IIS in the past but I think people are keeping them because the monetary loss is too great if they had bought new. EQ8's have probably had an effect on G11 sales as they are similarly priced. The Gemini 2 is great in comparison to Gemini 1 so if you decide to buy second hand keep this in mind.

[el_draco]

Astheticallly speaking, they are beautiful to look at, machined to a very high standard. Mechanically, they can provide amazing performance. Customisability wise, you can do a lot; the dovetail system is excellent.

Drawbacks, if you can call them that is that they require fiddling with for high performance work. Gemini 2 is also a work in progress and requires updating periodically.

Having said that, I sold my G11/G2 when I bought my new mount, then promptly bought it back... Go figure :shrug: I like quality, and Losmandy is in a league of its own for mid size mounts. You've just gotta be prepared to fiddle a bit. ;)

[multiweb]

The first and only mount I've ever used. :)

[White Rabbit]

You arnt kidding about the new motors being noisy. I have to run mine at half speed and I can still hear it from in the house 15m away. A lot of the noise believe it or not comes from the worm and not the motors. The one piece is a lot quieter than the standard worm block.

[mill]

That is weird because my new motors are not that loud and comparable with the old motors.
Did anyone of you flash the servo controllers with the high torque mode ?
I flashed my G2 with it when beta testing and the motors don't sound bad at all.
Not recommended for the faint hearted :)

[leinad]

What's the slew speed like though on the newer motors.
High slew on old motors; tends to bind the worm now and then in cold conditions.

[mill]

The new motors are very high torque and slew on high speed perfectly.
I just wish they would have stayed with the stepper motors because when the mount is at the limit and hits the legs or pier, the stepper will just click over without damage.
When beta testing i had 7 old type motors burn out and now i have the high torque motors i have had no problems at all.
Even when i have some lag the motors dont heat up much.

[White Rabbit]

How do you do that?

[lazjen]

The G11/Gemini2 is my first and only mount too (bought earlier this year). I have wondered about the noise when slewing, but it's only a minor bother for me (might be more of a bother for my neighbours though :P ).

I've found it to be quite sturdy and easy to setup. I like the Gemini 2 panel, in particular the USB and ethernet connections. It makes it very easy to control remotely. The hand controller is ok, but I'm always forgetting what button controls which direction - however I mostly drive it via the computer so it's not a big deal.

I've yet to do any firmware updates, but I've noticed there's some recent stuff available that I should grab. I've reviewed the instructions and they seem comprehensive.

I've found the websites/wiki to contain all the material I've need wrt to manuals, FAQs, etc.

One thing I would change is the Az adjustment - to have some form of visible markers on the thread or "feel-able" tics as it's rotated by the knobs - it would be useful when adjusting while doing the PA routine in AstroTortilla.

[mill]

You have to get a Mplab programmer from Ebay and then flash the new servo firmware.
This firmware is not available on the normal gemini user group and not advised to flash because of the risk (no warranty when it goes wrong).
Some of us were testing this with the old motors to have more torque.

[el_draco]

The current update is a little tricky in that you can't use the wizzard typ program that normally applies. However, if you follow the steps EXACTLY. Did this process a couple of weeks back with minimal drama and apparently, its a one off.

Rom

[Poita]

I have one, want to borrow mine before you pull the trigger?
IMHO they are not worth it without the ovision worm, and there are often some manufacturing issues that need addressing. (e.g. http://www.helixgate.net/g11.html)

I have both the original worm and the ovision, you could try it both ways. More than happy for you to borrow it for a month or so.

[radinsky41]

Thanks everyone for your input about Losmandy G11 mount.

For what I'm doing the mount will be good for me and I think I'll keep it for long time.



Rado

[radinsky41]

Thanks a lot Peter for offering to lend the mount.

I will buy it anyway, and if i need to upgrade to Ovisoin, I will do.

I don't do AP yet, the mount should be more than enough for me and it's something I had my eye on for some time.

[WingnutR32]

I have been in the background following this thread due to my consideration of purchasing a G11 with Gemini 2 myself, but didn't want to derail the thread until it was nearing its end.

I have a question in regards to Gemini users, is anyone using ACP with the Gemini mounts? Does it work?

[Poita]

You are welcome to borrow my G11 if you want to see if it works for you before laying down the clams. They are a bit of an odd beast. I don't have a scope to put on it at the moment, so it is just gathering dust.

[WingnutR32]

Thanks for the offer, Peter. I will keep that in the back of my mind. I am also highly considering an EQ8, as I know my way around EQMOD pretty well.