Losmany Titan

[Neil]

G'day everyone, I know there are a few Losmany Titan Mount owners out there, and I would like your honest appraisal of this mount. I,m thinking about putting a LX90 12" OTA with guide scope ect on one of these mounts. I'm told the OTA will weigh 38 pounds with dovetail plate, I believe that will leave about 62 pounds until I reach the limit.( I don't know why I'm talking in Pounds, but that was the language the information came to me in) thanks for any help with this, clear skies.:D:):P

[kermit]

HI,
I have got a Titan and it has never worked properly ever since I got it. I had better results with an EQ6.
Here is a link of the Titan tracking and that is the best I can manage.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/61128796@N08/15962786703/
All the best.
Vince

[Logieberra]

Consider the Skywatcher EQ8.

[jenchris]

I think Titan is a dirty word at the moment...

[h0ughy]

I have both mounts, each has pluses and minuses but I have to say they both do a great job. To be honest the quality of the titan is slightly better than the EQ8. The performance of the titan running Gemini 1 level4 has been brilliant. The eq8 I must admit is a great performer and well worth the money for what you get. If I were coming into the market now I would get the EQ8 without hesitation. That said I hope to have the titan for many years to come. For me the plan was to have a travel mount (the eq8) and a permanent observatory mount (the titan). One of the first things I noted at Qld astrofest when 3 of us were using the EQ8 for the first time was the guiding and tracking were excellent.

[Neil]

Thanks for that David,Jennifer,Logan and Vince, so what can you tell me about the Skywatcher EQ8, I have a Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro now which I'm very happy with, clear skies.:D:D

[Peter Ward]

Why?

[Logieberra]

Plenty of Skywatcher EQ8 vids on YouTube. Lots said about it on this and US forums. Have a good search. My only experience - a mate has one and loves it. Great value mount IMHO.

Also, re Titan, I'm pretty sure there is a solid review in the Equipment Reviews section of this site. Check it out.

[RobF]

I think Jen was speaking of local football club woes rather than discrediting Losmandy...... :)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-24/nrl-takes-over-control-of-gold-coast-titans-amid-drugs-scandal/6247574

[Tandum]

I had my scopes and cameras on pmrid's Titan a couple of times and it was flawless.
Some of the best one night images I've ever collected.
I believe his gemini 1 controller was recently blown apart in a lightning strike and he has to replace it with a gemini 2 system.
Time will tell what that's like.

[jenchris]

Footy scandals.
Losmandy is beyond reproach.

[pmrid]

As Tandum says - I've had a Titan for 5 years or so and it has been an absolute gem. I also have an EQ8 and it too runs very well, without any glitches and has similar carrying capacity. The Titan is probably simpler in engineering terms, much more easily stripped and serviced, and the overall build quality is probably a shade better as well. But I won't try to split them. I like the EQ8 auto-home mechanism and am not a great fan of the Gemini system but that is largely a matter of taste I think.
Peter

[Neil]

Well I'm getting mixed feedback for the Losmandy, but all positive responces for the EQ8. I'm definately leaning towards the Skywatcher, thanks everyone, clear skies.;):D

[wasyoungonce]

Neil...just a thought.

Titian....made in USA ...every part, nut bolt, washer, available off the shelf (http://www.losmandy.com/) from the maker. And they make very nice stuff indeed.

The Titan is a very good mount and Gemini 2 is very good with great support forums. (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Gemini-II/info) as well as a general Losmandy support forum (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Losmandy_users/conversations/messages). and Gemini ASCOM forum (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Gemini_ASCOM_Driver/info). All these are great repository's.

My 2c worth.

[Logieberra]

Titan @ current Bintel price $8600 or
EQ8 @ Bintel $5680.
An extra 3K.

[blink138]

............... or AP1200 S/H right now on iis for 8.5k? game over if quick!........... no contest methinks!
my2c
pat

[DaveNZ]

I've been using a Titan for several years now. Firstly with a LX200 12", mostly for visual work and now with a 10" newtonian for imaging.

I find the mount very good. Well built (like a brick sh...house)and well designed. The Gemini 2 took a little getting use to after the Meade but now I'm happy with that too.

Tracking and pointing works as per spec. They say for best tracking you should clean and regrease the worms every year or so which is what I've been doing.

The mount works well via Gemini ascom and Maxim DL etc.

The reason I bought the mount is that you can buy individual parts right down to the washers from Losmandy. None of this sending the mount back to the US to be serviced as per Meade etc.

I think for the price it's good value.

I have never used a EQ8 so I cant comment on that.

The Titan Yahoo group is a good source for info.

[Star Hunter]

With all this BS floating around re the Titan 50 mount, let me tell you that for past two years I've been using this mount with no regrets. It swings a C14 OTA.

I also have an EQ8 and G11 (retrofitted with a Gem II system and French Overian RA worm).

While the Losmandy mounts are built to a standard, the EQ8 was built to a price. So don't start comparing a Great Wall to a Rolls.

My Titan 50 can track for 10mins unguided with scope up to 1000mm F/Land is a solid hunk of superb workmanship. The only down side of the Losmandy mounts is the damn Gemini II software., as it's one real PITA. While the Gem II has its good points, nothing in my mind is better than TSX.

Overall the Titan 50 is bees knees ft those who want quality and superb performance.