Very smart move by Software Bisque - the MyT for $6K USD

[g__day]

Just got this today

http://www.optcorp.com/software-bisque-paramount-myt.html?utm_source=MyT+Announcemen t&utm_campaign=MyT+Announcement&utm_medium=email

Quick Overview



The Software Bisque MyT EQ mount can carry up to 50 lbs of payload (100 total pounds including counterweights) when fully balanced.
A portable version of the renowned Paramount series, weighs just 34 pounds. A perfect choice for the discerning astrophotographer who is looking for a mount that they can easily bring with them into the field.
As smart and accurate as the Bisque Paramount's that have preceded it, fully computerized and capable of full remote control. 6 degree per second maximum slew speed, automated and configurable PEC, precision worms and gears.
Fine mount adjustments and calibrations allow for unparallelled customization and accuracy. All aluminum body is anodized in Bisque's signature red finish. Includes full suite of control software for your mount, telescope and camera.
All software is multi-license and Mac/Windows compatible. Includes a 20 pound stainless steel counterweight and counterweight shaft

Software Bisque Paramount MyT...

The brilliant team at Software Bisque has managed to pack the same brains and perfection in engineering into an ultra compact version of their Paramount: The MyT! For the serious astrophotographer or observing astronomer on the go, the Bisque Paramount Mighty EQ Mount is a feather weight compared to its predecesors. Weighing in at a modest 34 pounds, the MyT can easily carry 50 pounds in equipment, while maintaining the accuracy and tracking precision to be expected from a Software Bisque mount.

Bisque Paramount MyT EQ Mount Features...



Weighs a very portable 34 pounds for the mount head.
Impressive 50 pound weight capacity not including counterweights. With counterweights the total load capacity increases to 100 pounds (cw weight included in total).
As fast, accurate, and stable as it's cousins the ME II and MX+, the MyT includes 11cm (4.3 in.) right acension and declination bearings, 6 degree per second maximum slew speeds and high-torque precision brushless DC servo motors.
All aluminum precision machined body with signature red anodized finish.
MKS 5000 motor control system.
Research-grade brass RA gears with 7 arcseconds or less peak-to-peak periodic error - before PEC (Periodic Error Correction) has been applied by the onboard computer.
Plenty of room for additional accessories and simple but effective cable management. Includes integrated guider port, two USB ports, a 5V 1A max power supply port, one 12V 1A max power supply port, pulse focuser port, and a generic through the mount power supply cabling port.
Includes an integrated wedge for a latitude range of 0 - 64 degrees.
Additional polar axis adjustment extends the effecitve range by plus or minus 7 degrees.

Refined engineering and years of mount development have led to several additional mount features for the Paramount MyT EQ. Through the mount cable management helps keep your set up organized and tangle free. A rotating mount base allows for AZ adjustments to be made without affecting the mount's altitude. Red lights provide a soft glow under the mount to allow for ease of adjustment at any moment. This light can be turned off as well as your viewing or imaging session gets underway. Clutch-free worm block design maintains the mount's physical orientation to increase mount pointing and tracking accuracy while a mechanical switch on each axis will disengage the worm from the the gear while still balancing the payload.


Software plays a major roll in the funcationality of your mount set up and Software Bisque has you covered with a full suite of mount and camera control software. Included with your MyT mount are the TheSkyX Professional Edition; a full featured planetarium style software that offers a beautiful interface for mount control. Camera Add On software allows for camera, focuser, filter wheel and SBIG adaptive optics control. TPoint software with SuperModel and ProTrack provides professional level telescope pointing correction. All softwares included are multi-licence allowing for installation on up to 6 machines, and can be installed on either Mac or Windows operating systems.

[g__day]

Paramount MYT Robotic Telescope Mount




http://www.bisque.com/res/images/Paramount%20MYT/Paramount%20MYT%20Home%20Page.png (http://www.bisque.com/sc/shops/store/ParamountMYT.aspx)
Paramount MYT FAQs

Q: What is the Paramount MYT?
A: The Paramount MYT (pronounced “mighty”) Robotic Telescope Mount is a German equatorial mount designed from the base up to provide unsurpassed stability and performance for portable, semi-portable, or permanent installations. Other than its smaller stature and lower total payload capacity, the Paramount MYT incorporates essentially every feature found in the higher capacity Paramount ME II and Paramount MX+ models.
Q: What is the price of the Paramount MYT?
A: The price of the Paramount MYT is $6,000.
Q: When will the Paramount MYT begin shipping?
A: The Paramount MYT will begin shipping November, 2014.
Features and Specifications

The Paramount MYT has a broad range of exciting features and capabilities that will keep you focused on the stars and not your equipment. Software Bisque urges you to compare the Paramount MYT feature set with every other commercial mount in this price range before buying any mount.
Hardware



German equatorial mount design.
Instrument capacity (not including the counterweights): 50 lb (23 kg). Maximum payload capacity (instruments plus counterweights): 100 lb (46 kg).
Weight of the mount (including the Versa-Plate): 34 lb (15.4 kg)
Every Paramount MYT component is custom machined from 6061 aluminum at Software Bisque's production facility. The precision worms are machined from brass.
Brass worms and aluminum gears that have a maximum ten (10) arcsecond peak-to-peak periodic error before periodic error correction. When periodic error correction is applied, the resulting peak-to-peak periodic error should be approximately one (1) arcsecond or less.
Both the right ascension and declination axes have a simple two position mechanical "switch" to engage the worm during normal operation, disengage the worm from the gear when balancing the payload. A separate knob locks and unlocks each axis for transport.
GEM design allows the right ascension axis to track past the meridian for up to 2 hours (time).
All internal harnesses (cables) and motors are encapsulated inside the body of the mount.
Through the mount access holes allow you to add your own internal cables.
Calibrated polar alignment adjustments.
Paramount homing, tracking and pointing performance.
Research-grade 6.5 in. (16.5 cm) 320 tooth aluminum right ascension gears and brass worms with ten (10) arcseconds or less peak-to-peak periodic error, before applying periodic error correction (PEC).
4.33-inch contact ball bearings in both right ascension and declination.
Periodic error correction curve fitting included with TheSkyX Professional Edition.
45 arcminute bubble level included.
A Paramount-style Versa-Plate for attaching optical tube assemblies is included.
Power supply included. Paramount MYT power supply specifications: Max Power Output: 80W, Input: 100-240VAC ~47-63 Hz 1.9A, Output: 48V 1.66A max.
One (1) 20 lb (9kg) counterweights included. Optional 10 lb (4.5 kg) counterweights sold separately.
33 cm (13 in.) long, 3.81 cm (1.5 in.) wide stainless steel counterweight shaft. Thread-compatible with the Paramount Counterweight Extension Shaft.
Standard Paramount MYT wedge can be adjusted to reach latitudes from zero (0) degrees to sixty-four (64) degrees.
Azimuth axis polar axis adjustment range is plus or minus 3.5 degrees from center position (seven degrees total).
Altitude and azimuth polar alignment knobs are calibrated, so that making adjustments using the TPoint Polar Alignment Report simple and accurate.

Control System and Electronics



The Paramount MYT includes the MKS 5000, Software Bisque's fourth generation dual axis telescope control system. http://www.bisque.com/Res/images/paramountmx/MKS5000.JPG
MKS 5000 Electronics


Integrated USB 2.0 computer to mount communication interface can be controlled via TheSkyX Professional Edition on either Mac OS X and Windows (8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, 32- and 64-bit), out of the box.
Integrated two port USB 2.0 hub at the camera-end of the telescope, right where USB ports are needed most.
The position of the motors is monitored 3333 times each second to ensure optimal tracking accuracy and smooth, consistent slews at all rates and all times.
Tracking and "in progress slews" are immediately stopped in the event the mount's payload encounters a fixed object, such as the side of the pier.
The single board control system electronics requires the minimum number of components and has a small physical size.
Hand controller features an integrated mini-joystick controller and configurable rate, a five position switch that allows single-handed mount control, an integrated bright red LED flashlight, sturdy "hang anywhere" cable loop and 15-foot coiled hand paddle to mount cable.

http://www.bisque.com/res/images/paramountmx/handcontroller.jpg
Hand Controller


Programmable periodic error correction with advanced adperiodic error curve fitting built into TheSkyX Professional Edition.
Built-in autoguider port on the Instrument Panel.
Built-in focuser port on the Instrument Panel.
One 12V and one 5V power port on the Instrument Panel.
An integrated through the mount generic "power source" port on the Instrument Panel backed with 18-gauge wire to supply power to your observing equipment.
Configurable software limits (using TheSkyX Professional Edition) to ensure the mount does not encounter the pier.
Brushless DC servomotors with all moving parts on bearing surfaces. If your mount is used for survey astronomy all night, every clear night, no other type of motor is sufficient. Other commercial mounts use "brushed motors" that don't have nearly the life expectancy of brushless DC servomotors and are not designed to be operated for long periods at the (relatively slow) sidereal rate.
DC servomotors provide fast slew speeds and consistent torque at all slew rates. The maximum slew and tracking rate is six (6) degrees per second in both right ascension axis and declination (the default slew rate is 5.4 degrees per second). The gear-reducer and worm-block design of the Paramount MYT are extremely efficient so that little power is lost between the motor and the telescope drive. Though good balance is always recommended, the Paramount MYT has no problem slewing or tracking when several foot-pounds out of balance. You'll spend less time fiddling with the telescope and more time acquiring data.
AutoHome™ homing capability (to better than one arcsecond resolution) with built-in sensor circuitry on each axis ensure that the mount always knows its orientation (after an initialization process called "homing"), even after power failure.
Configurable park position.
Audible feedback that indicates normal operation and error conditions.
Slew and tracking rates can be configured with 56-bit precision. What does this mean? The right ascension and declination motors can be rotated a 0 to 4000 revolutions per minute and virtually anywhere in between, providing precise tracking and slewing. This gives you the ability to track on comets, asteroids and even fast- or slow-moving objects such as LEO satellites or any object that moves above or below the sidereal rate.
Single-reduced belt-driven worms mean the Paramount MYT has backlash so small it is difficult to measure (typically less than two arcseconds in both axes. Autoguiding calibration is always a snap with this “no-slop” system. Spur gears and other components the may introduce backlash are not used.
Temperature compensated internal oscillator with better than 10 parts per million that ensures accurate tracking rates over a wide temperature range.
Built-in temperature sensor that allows the slew rate to be automatically reduced when the temperature drops.
Soft "reboot" capability. This means that the control system can be restarted through software and does not have to be manually turned off, then on.



Software

The Paramount MYT comes with the world's best and most powerful astronomy suite of astronomy software developed by the same engineers who designed the software. The Paramount MYT includes:

TheSkyX Professional Edition (http://www.bisque.com/sc/pages/TheSkyX-Professional-Edition.aspx) (Mac and Windows)
TPoint Add On (http://www.bisque.com/help/theskyx%20pro%20info/welcome.htm#tpoint_add_on.htm) (including ProTrack and Super Model ) to TheSkyX Professional Edition.
Camera Add On (http://www.bisque.com/help/theskyx%20pro%20info/welcome.htm#camera_add_on.htm) to TheSkyX Professional Edition.

[hobbit]

Considering low end mounts are already $1,500 to $3,000, this should sell like hotcakes.

[Logieberra]

Had to upload this. It's just so cute :)

[g__day]

Back from training (got my Black Belt in Aikido last Saturday BTW :) ). I think this is a brilliant idea - to have a ultra high quality, robotic mount - at the USD $6K mark - that can carry 23kgs of gear.

This gives them excellent product at multiple gear range weights - brilliant idea in my mind!

[Logieberra]

I think it was inevitable, with high quality, portable mounts like the APMach1GTO on offer and in demand.

[ZeroID]

I see quite a few cheap EQ5's & 6's not to mention other brands suddenly appearing on the second hand market. ;)

Nice, really, really nice ....

[Starlite]

6000 USD quickly turns into 8000 AUD landed in AUST and BYO TRIPOD.;)

[Octane]

Oh, my...

H

[Logieberra]

If you could source the chunky but squatty EQ8 tripod separately (perhaps you can?) it would be a nice, cheaper alternative, with a bit of fiddling/modification of course. G11 tripod also. Easy :)

[h0ughy]

dunno - not too sure on this one -yeah all the write up sounds great, but how fiddly will this thing be to set up and get going for a single viewing night, sometimes simple can be better?

[DavidTrap]

A Mach 1 with homing for the same dollars...

Guess my Mach 1 just lost a bit of value...

DT

[GOTO]

It looks good but is $8,000AUD without a tripod such great value?
Geoff