Bintel Alt-Azimuth Mount

[Renato1]

Hi to Everyone,
I bought a Bintel Alt-Azimuth Mount off Ebay yesterday, from a chap who it turned out was a member here. The Bintel mount looks pretty much the same as the GSO Skyview one.

I got home and mounted my 5" Skywatcher MAK to it, and I must say that it worked much better than what I had expected for the half hour or so before I got clouded out.

I had tried putting the 5" MAK on an AZ3 mount, and it didn't work, as the MAK was way too heavy for it. (The AZ3 has a bit of struggle with my 4" f/5 refractor too, but is fine with my 80mm refractor).

Anyhow, I'm delighted. My only problem is that I have to get used to the 6X30 finderscope being on the right hand side, rather than on the left - I keep fogging up the eyepiece by breathing on it.

Anybody else as happy with the Bintel/GSO mount as me, or have you found something better?
Regards,
Renato

[omegacrux]

I'm happy with mine now
I swapped the standard legs for a surveyors tripod
Gives a lot more hight , I have an SW ed80 on mine
I like the ease of use good grab n go

David

[Renato1]

Thanks David,
Can I take it that you are viewing in a standing position? I use a high and a low fold out stool for my viewing, and I always do it sitting down, swapping between the two stools depending on where I'm pointing. So I found the height fine.
Regards,
Renato

[omegacrux]

Yes I just prefer standing
Same with my dob I have that on a small , 400mm high strong table I made painted white .

David

[dennisjames1]

Just ordered one today from Bintel,have the AZ3, terrible with anything near the Zenith.I was planning to use a Skywatcher 120mm x 600mm short focus Refractor on it and the orion ED80 triplet. just handy for a grab and go setup, although it looks like it's much more capable mount and study .

cheers

Dennis

[LewisM]

The Bintel mount IS GSO - just rebadged.

I found mine OK...tended to slip sometimes, and shakes a fair bit. The Vixen Portamount and the Tak Teegul are much better, which is what these are copied from

[brian nordstrom]

:) Of course the Vixen and Takahashi ones are better , at 2-3 times the price they should be but I found mine perfect for my now sold ED80 , solid with nice smooth movements and slow mo controls .

After I sold the ED80 here is what mine morphed into , the 25x100 binos were a joy to use on this set up .
Great mounts if you don't overload them and take your time getting the balance right .

Brian.

[LewisM]

Not so Brian - Bintel's is $299, the Vixen is $399. $100 buys a LOT more quality.

In fact, the mini Vixen - good for ED80's etc is cheaper, at $289

[dennisjames1]

Too late i AM SURE the Bintel will be fine, i know it's a GSO all Bintel is GSO i think..big step up from that AZ3 anyone what to buy two.

Also anytime i wanted Vixen stuff it's wasn't in stock or coming in the next shipment,I just deal with The Binocular and Telescope Shop, so that solves that argument :)

cheers

[LewisM]

IT will be fine, just be prepared to tinker a bit as it loosens somewhat with use.