Quote:
Originally Posted by JA
Hi Greg,
How's it all going?
I wouldn't go for either the Skywatcher AZ-GTi or the EQ35M, but rather the Skywatcher Star Adventurer GTI, given that you mentioned it's for long exposure camera lens imaging and not so much visual on heavier (>5kg) scopes.
I had the AZ-GTi and it was great for lens imaging and super light for its 5 kg payload, but it required a wedge and the commercially available ones were dinky toys. Enter the Star Adventure which had an integrated precisely adjustable in altitude and azimuth wedge. It was a god send and for only an extra few hundred. Infact there's now one in the classifieds for 600 which is a steal and would be great mated with an ASI Air device for very precise polar alignment.
I would not contemplate the EQ35M despite its attractive 10kg payload capabilities for 2 reasons: the altitude adjustment 2 screw system it uses makes for cumbersome PRECISE altitude adjustment and the cables all over the place to its outboard mounted motors in probably plastic shells.
Good luck on your selection.
Best
JA
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Thanks JA for your writeup. I did indeed buy the Star Adventurer that was listed in the classifieds.
I hope to be back imaging within a couple of weeks.
The home observatory is near completion and my dark site mount has it's new controller electronics ready to be installed so I can use it again.
I also ordered a SWAT 330 star tracker from Japan. It's a high end tracker unit with 6.5 arc secs periodic error and has some nice accessories. Been wanting one for some time. It's payload is 13kgs despite being quite small.
Greg.