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My Mach 1 GTO equatorial mount, which could go for quite a while with counterweights up, used to take about 2-3 minutes for an automated meridian flip after finishing a usually 20-minute long sub, including re-centering on the target to within a few pixels (controlled by SGP). And all of that was happening while I was sleeping peacefully in bed. Fully automated meridian flip was great for dithering the data. I used to lose significantly more time on downloading subs (CCD) throughout the night and temperature compensation (automated refocusing). Counterweights were great to keep me in shape, as I had to set up for each session.
Having said that, the black beauty has gone to a new good home, and now I just use a simple alt-az, so daily chin-ups are a must, since my alt-az does not allow for counterweights.
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