Bintel displaying a PME in ther window - big isn't it?
I had to drop off SWMBO and my daughter to star city today, so I thought I pop in to see Bintel - haven't been there in ages. Blow me down they have a PME on a tripod holding a 12" newt on top. It looked beautiful!
I hadn't fully realised how large these mounts were, nor how small even a 12" newt looks on one. The red sure does look attractive - though touching the mount the casing seems quite thin, it flexs slightly when I expected it to be firm.
Can't wait until they have a PMX in stock. They posited the EQ7 or 8 will come out this year. After this the next big thing is they expec to see mounts with belt drives and / or much higher quality encoders - good enough to give sub arc second tracking capabilities within two years.
They already have belt and direct drive motors for scopes, as well as the good encoders...the prices at present are a little steep for most amateurs. But you can get add-ons for various mounts which will do much the same thing....TDM by Explore Scientific
The square housing of the gear behind the (enormous) RA gear in the middle of its squarish case (the closest vertical side in its centre). I didn't push hard - say 2-3 kgs of force on one or two fingers. It definitely flexed - like very thin aluminium - which surprised me.
I'm sure its built like a precision tank - but the casing itself seemed alot thinner than say the aluminium sheets of my Rangewood extractor above my stove. I was expecting it to be solid - like say 1-2mm stainless steel, but it flexed like < 1mm aluminium would. Not that it matters at all to its abilities, just surprised me!
Yes they are quite big and no you cannot flex the panels (you are as they dreaming). These are very rigid, but quite light. You need all the panels on the mount to maintain stability and pointing accuracy. The casing is actually the structure that holds the mount together. Each panel is joined to the next by a lot of screws. Genius in the design.
Are you sure they had a Newtonian on the mount. Michael said something about putting an RC on the mount.
You guys really had me there for a second. I just went out and double checked my PME. I pushed HARD on all the panels and didn't find a single one that flexed, not even slightly. I've had a few of the panels off before, so I'm already familiar with them. They're definitely way too thick to flex. Makes me wonder about that mount in the window though!
You guys really had me there for a second. I just went out and double checked my PME. I pushed HARD on all the panels and didn't find a single one that flexed, not even slightly. I've had a few of the panels off before, so I'm already familiar with them. They're definitely way too thick to flex. Makes me wonder about that mount in the window though!
Maybe when pushing against it the ground moved (because something had to give ) giving the sensation the mount was flexing
I could be mistaken - but I would be very surprised. I ran my hand over the finish - it was beautiful! But putting my thumb on the box behind the RA gear I sensed a slight give so I pushed it slightly - mount of course wouldn't move even a fraction - but it certainly felt like the panel casing over all the electronics flexed slightly. I didn't want to push it harder, it looks too nice even to unintentionally smudge; but I definitely left susprised that the paneling felt - well to be kind far less solid that I expected. I just wondered if the panel casing itself is kept really thin to kep weight down - after all the sides aren't weight bearing at all and don't add to the rigidity of the interal frame at all I guessed. Maybe the panel simply wasn't screwed in all the way and that was what I had felt - don't know?
Put it down as a mystery - I expected it to be rock solid, it felt like a 5 kg weight would definitely bend it in and I didn't want to even minimally risk going there on their brand new, gorgeous looking mount!
I believe Bintel said it was the 12" newt; with the lids on - its just a big white tube - totally dwarfed by the mount itself. I must admit I was more interested in the mount than the OTA. If I had a spare $17K - love to get one!
) giving the sensation the mount was flexing 
