New DiscMount under the stars...

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I am pleased to write that I was able to get my new DiscMount DM6 out under the stars, actually the moon and planets last night.

I set the mount up last weekend after picking it up at NEAF last weekend.
My schedule and weather kept me from putting it to good use before last night.

I mounted my APM 130/780 refractor and after adjusting the "firmness" of the movements to my liking, I was ready to go.

What can I say about this mount?

It is well made and looks great. The solid wooden tripod legs combined with the optional shelf establish a solid platform for the mount head to be attached. Everything went together nicely and set-up was a snap.

The scope fit nicely and snugly and the mount held the scope with no effort at all.

What is another description for rock solid?

Under the night sky the movement was super smooth and allowed me to hand track objects in excess of 275x (the limit of my eyepiece collection on hand) with no problem. No wobbles at all (I do mean bedrock solid) and any vibrations from the movement were only noticable at high power and only briefly (like a second)...adjusting the fine focus caused no noticable vibration at all!

To achieve this level of magnification I needed to add my 2.5X Powermate combined with my 7 mm Pentax XW...which the mount held without any adjustment, rebalancing or slip...and I mean none at all.

I was viewing with a mixed group of experienced and inexperienced viewers and experience level (or lack of it) had no impact on anyone's ability to use the mount and scope at that magnification...and keep it on target. A shove of the mount handle was all it took.

Combined with a "Stellar Seat" and some clear dark skies, this combination is a dream to use.

Wow, what a great mount!

While we were dodging the clouds last night and trying to show people how to use their scopes (telescope clinic) to find the moon and planets I did not get a chance to play around with the Sky Commander digital setting circles.

I've got to read the manual for the Sky Commander but I'm sure that the combination will be a good one...

Clear Skies!

[gb_astro]

Congratulations on the DM6 Scott.
Heard so many good reports about them.
Casstony had us worried for awhile.

gb.

[casstony]

Hi guys, I had my mount out for it's first run with the recently purchased C11; disassembly and cleaning the discs appears to have brought performance up to par, with small AZ movements now free of striction/stickiness. I'll post more about that in my 'DM-6 disassembly' thread.

I have read about other instances of striction in the AZ axis, with one guy putting grease between the discs and almost giving Tom a corronary. Developing striction appears to be about the only defect the mount could develop over time; cleaning will probably solve the issue or at absolute worst you might need to replace the white disc material.

I'm glad you like the mount Scott. My attraction to the DM-6 was it's simplicity and that it's a relatively light mount in comparison to it's carrying capacity; it handles the C11 and balance weights with ease.