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Old 18-07-2022, 12:55 PM
AdamJL
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AdamJL is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,100
Okay, very first impressions. I've yet to connect it all and see how it performs, but I've just put the following onto the mount:



Scope: Askar FRA400

Camera: 2600MC

Guide: WO Uniguide 32 + 290MM Mini

Focus: ZWO EAF

Compute: ASI Air Plus

Tripod: Gitzo GT5541LS



All up the scope setup weighs just about 5kg (slightly under) so we'll see how performance goes.



I gave my dad two "spare" PrimaLuceLab vixen bars the other day, not remembering I needed one of them. Luckily I have a few backups, so the setup is currently using the default ASKAR one, but I feel this one is too short. I'll pick up a longer PLL vixen bar soon.



Build quality: what you'd expect from a mount in this price range. The plastic cover at the back for the polar scope is really rather rubbish and is held in with two clips that wobble about a lot. I'm hoping some genius 3D printer comes up with a better solution for this. I like the chunkiness of the dials for the Altitude adjustment. The Azimuth bolts feel a little tight, but also a bit too small. The dials for locking the wedge in place are nice and clamp the altitude in well.

The RA lock as well seems great, but I don't like the entire Dec plate or the Dec lock, which you can see in an image below (RA lock at the bottom). I hope this top plate can be replaced with a more robust vixen clamp. The entire scope is held in with one screw and it doesn't even look nylon tipped so expect some scuffing to your vixen bar over time.

There's a lot of plastic about, but not where it counts which is the important thing.



Mounting it to a photographic tripod is easy as it uses the larger 3/8 photographic standard, but be sure the top plate is wide enough to accept the mount. I've got two tripods that could do it, but my third wouldn't be able to take it.



Here are some images.
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (Dec and RA.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (Ports.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (Mount.jpg)
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Click for full-size image (Mount 2.jpg)
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