[HarryD (Greg)]

Hi
Sorry this is so long but many of you replied to my earlier post so I think you deserve a considered response.
I have collected my new Losmandy G11 from the good folk at Bintel here in Sydney.
After having a quick 3 evenings worth of use, one inside, two outside, here are my thoughts.
By the way I can only do any comparison to other mounts with my belt modded (etc) EQ6, because that's the only other mount I have had.
I also need to remember that the G11 costs almost three times the EQ6.
Anyway here goes.
Unpacking the three boxes it is very apparent that the G11 is more substantial in construction and materials used compared to the EQ6.
The tripod is rigid and reasonably easy to level. Placing the mount on the tripod is very simple, much better than with the EQ6.
No need to change at least one of the azimuth adjustment bolts each time when installing or removing the mount.
Installed the Gemini controller using a Cat5 cable. Installed the ASCOM drivers, Stellarium, Stellariumscope etc on my Win 10 laptop.
Set up the hand controller with my position inspace and got ready for turn on.
Turn on, everything connects. OK lets slew to here. Wow, what a noise, enough to wake the living dead if I slew when outside.
The EQ6 was very quiet after the belt mod. So I adjusted the slew speed from 800 to 400. Still more, much more, noise than the EQ6 but acceptable.
No noise when tracking. Set up my limits, important with the G11 due to the motor positions. Default limits are very scary.
Played around while still inside and went to bed ready for outside next time.
Outside, time to set up and balance etc.
The counter weight shaft is very solid and does not rock about like others I can mention.
First night spent doing it all in the dark and making sure there is no crashes, both hardware and software.
Calibrating with PHD2 no problem. Polar alignment, with PHD2, was much easier than the EQ6 as the adjustment "levers" on the G11 are a joy to use.
Strange that, as I will not have to do much adjusting in the future.
Second night outside.
Polar aligning using PHD2, did not take long. If you can put the tripod back in the same place each time (mark the ground) very little adjustment needs to be made to polar align.
This is important to me as I need to put up and pull down each time.
Now that I am polar aligned let's slew here. Wow, no adjustment required, dead centre, never had that before.
OK how does the G11 track for 10 or 12 minutes straight out of the box. Looks good. See image included.
So, what do I think. Using my limited experience so far, I believe that I made the correct choice in purchasing a G11.
Cost was an issue for me and for what I was able to spend I have got what I was after.
A mount I can put up, use without strange issues, and put away without worrying about what might happen next time.
Thank you for your considered thoughts re my mount dilemma.
Greg