alt-azimuth mount

[Phil]

Anyone used a alt-azimuth mount they can recommended just for quick setup to look around the night sky. Just looking at buying something to get out quickly to look at the sun or the moon. Any suggestion would be great. Not looking to spend much money on this mount as i already have a G11. I will be mounting a NP101mm refractor on it.
Phil

[renormalised (Carl)]

Goto/motor driven or just plain push/pull around??

Try Bintel's ALT-AZ mount...$299

[mercedes_sl1970]

I bought a secondhand Telepod mount from here which has been excellent (now being used by a friend). Andrews has a couple or 3 which might suit?

[Phil]

Maybe wait till no cames up hear a secound hand telepod sound like what i need.
Phil

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

GargoyleSteve has the Guan Sheng alt azi mount.
Solid as a rock it is. A joy to use.
$249

[Nightskystargaz (Thomas)]

Phil,

I use a Porta II Mount. It is suppose to hold 20 LBs. And it got slo-mo controls.

Thanks,

Tom

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I've got the Bintel/GSO Alt/Az and it works a treat. It is a Vixen Portamount clone...

I've got an ED80 that sits on it very nicely...

I've also been mounting my APM 130/780...it works but it is pushing the upper bounds and later in the year I'll be getting a more appropriate mount for it.

I do purely visual and the Bintel mount is sturdy and smooth

[gb_astro]

Hi Scott.

I see Bintel is selling two types of these Alt/Azs:
The Sky View and the Sky View II.

Which one did you get?

Thanks,
gb.

[acropolite (Phil)]

IMO the porta mount is a little more sturdy than the GS clone, the GS has quite a long diagonal arm which is a bit prone to flex with 100mm refractors.

I have a mate with a Toa 102, he found the GS mount a little too flexy and ended up modding the GS by replacing the alloy diagonal bit with a steel piece.

I'd be trying the OTA on both if you can before making a decision.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Originally Posted by gb_astro

Hi Scott.

I see Bintel is selling two types of these Alt/Azs:
The Sky View and the Sky View II.

Which one did you get?

Thanks,
gb.

I have the Sky View...

It is a nice little mount for what it is.

The diagonal arm is a bit longer than the Vixen but that has not created any problem for me so far but most of my use with it has been with an ED80. As a quick little grab and go mount I have been happy with it for the price I paid.

As I noted before, I'll be moving to a "better" mount for the APM 130/780 in the future...the current mount works but is not a long term solution for a scope of that size. For the ED80 it works well.

[Wavytone]

See below, this is a lot more robust than the Sky View or Sky View II. The scope on the left is a 4" f/7 refractor, on the right a 7" Mak as well. It is quite solid, free of the wobblies I normally associate with altaz mounts. For "grab & go" occasions I take the 4" f/7.

It appears Bintel have pulled this mount off their website... so I wonder if they still sell it.

I also picked up a used Vixen SXW equatorial for the Mak... however I don't really want equatorial tracking or the GOTO capability of the SXW, but I do want encoders so finally I am thinking about swapping both these mounts for a Half-Hitch III with encoders and Argo Navis or Sky Commander.

[casstony]

Wavytone, last year you had a lot of complaints about the Orion/Skywatcher alt/az mount. Have you been able to rectify the problems or just accepted a lower standard of performance from the mount?

[gb_astro]

Originally Posted by Wavytone

It appears Bintel have pulled this mount off their website... so I wonder if they still sell it.

Andrews still sells this as the SkyTee, $399.

gb.

[Wavytone]

Well... staying with it as it is, as its working, but not happy about the quality for something that was supposed to be new.

The one good thing is that the axes have loosened up at last so its reasonably useable up to 120X magnification. At 200X fine movements are still too jerky.

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Which altaz mount would carry the North Group 127 APO?