Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
Gavin,
I have an EM400. Nice mount precision made but some issues that you might want to consider.
- There is no home position on the mount, meaning it cannot be used as a remote mount.
- There is the issue of having to hold down the s2 key to get it to track for the southern hemisphere. It also means it cannot be used in a remote system.
- It does not come with a saddle plate, you need to buy one separately. Nor do the mounts come with a tripod, you need to buy this separately too.
- However, these mounts do produce fantastic images, when combined with the right guiding. Each part of the mount is silky smooth and a real joy to use. Polar alignment is fantastic when the knobs move like skates on ice.
- The mounts need a decent hand controller to be made by Tak. Most high end mounts now have good hand controllers with one exception being the PME (I could be wrong but that is what I am told).
Best of luck with your decision. |
Hi Paul,
How old is your EM400? It sounds like you may have the older version with the old manual hand controller that is no longer sold (unless you get it second hand).
- The newer EM400 manual mount controllers are pre-configured for Southern Hemisphere use so you no longer need to worry about this. Also the manual hand controller is overidden by the Software/Driver for a PC/IPAD/IPHONE setup
- The EM400 still does not have a "native park" but this is also a function provided in particular software drivers that are available to buy or download.
- Yes the EM400 does not come with a saddle plate but the tak mount plate is not terribly expensive and is a rock solid item. Also there are several very well engineered 3rd Party Saddle/Dovetail plates designed for the tak mounts.
http://www.robincasady.com/Astro/index.html
- Yes the tripod needs to be purchased separately but the tak tripods are rock solid and superb (both the wooden and metal) but I would recommend the metal for heavier loads. But they are not the cheapest tripods out there. You can also very easly download to-scale diagrams for putting the mount on a pier
- The manual hand controller is definately improved over the older EM400 hand controller but is a poor effort when other manufacturers offer computerised hand controllers as standard. That being said the IPhone/IPAD/PC apps mentioned in my prior post make this redundant and significantly better than a lot of other controllers out there. Even with the G11 and some of the other mounts the price of the mount is separate to the price of the tripod/software/controller unless you specifically choose the bundled options.
Gavin if you determine that the EM400 is the correct mount for your requirement all you need to do when ordering is specify the mount + the tripod (and the appropriate mount plate if using a tak scope). It will be shipped setup for southern hemisphere with the new manual controller. You can then order the appropriate computerised controllers suited to your purpose and a dovetail/saddle combo as well.
Beware though that the Tak EM400 or EM500 setup is not the cheapest on the planet so you really need to analyse your cost vs benefits to make sure that you are getting what you really need. ( I think that both the Losmandy G11 and Titan with Gemini and Tripod are actually cheaper)
I am trying to get to the IISAC event this year so you are welcome to checkout and use my setup if it helps you get a better idea
.
Cheers