Takahashi or Losmandy

[gbeal]

Ha, explain the to Marc Multiweb, his G11 Horse, LOL.
Sacre Bleu?
Gary

[Terry B]

Originally Posted by gbeal

Ha, explain the to Marc Multiweb, his G11 Horse, LOL.
Sacre Bleu?
Gary

I think it is a very apt translation. The mount has a saddle on it so what else would you call it other than a horse.

[adman (Adam)]

Originally Posted by Outbackmanyep

Hi Terry,
The links are great, i just have to laugh at the French translation of "mount" it comes out as "horse"

the main difference being that there is a lot more than 10 arcsecs of PE when you put your scope on a horse!

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

The modified G11 is definitely the most dependable steed in its class/price range.

So I'm seriously considering a used and cared for modified G11. This is the most expeditious route for now. Alternatively a competitively priced unmodified version - and I will add the Ovision mod.

[Jeffkop (Jeff)]

Originally Posted by rcheshire

The modified G11 is definitely the most dependable steed in its class/price range.

So I'm seriously considering a used and cared for modified G11. This is the most expeditious route for now. Alternatively a competitively priced unmodified version - and I will add the Ovision mod.

Before you go and order an Ovision Roland, just use the mount guided and see how it performs. If its 2nd hand it will most likely have had PE correction saved already but you could go thru that exercise too I guess ... My point is you may very well not have to spend any more money than purchasing the mount. Ive looked and cant see anywhere what focal length your going to be using. I guess it must be long to warrant this ovision consideration point blank.

Hope it all comes together for you.

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

Thanks Jeff. That's excellent advice. I will be using an 80mm refractor to start with and work my way up from there.

[rat156]

Hi,

I have a G11 with the Ovision mod. I used Pempro to correct the remaining PE of the mount and it is now <2" p-p, which is what you get from a very high end mount. I image at around 1600 mm FL and find that I still use AO/guiding. I have mounted my 80 mm scope on the mount and used it for AP, the AO takes care of the seeing, but it didn't need guiding. For your setup look at the Ovision and Pempro as an alternative to a guider. If I could properly balance the mount/camera/scope combination (I move things around which upsets the balance a little) and spent a bit more time polar aligning the scope and got rid of the 6" PVC waterpipe pier adapter and used something proper, I probably wouldn't need to guide the 8" RC either as the AO would smooth out the remaining PE.

But, I just tend to use the scope now for AP, so it's just like a Tak now. Cloudfree nights are so rare I don't want to spend them stuffing around with the mount.

Cheers
Stuart

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

Thanks Stuart. 2" peak-to-peak is outstanding. I will have a look at Pempro. I hadn't heard of it until now. Set up is definitely and issue for me also.

Thinking about it, I think the Ovision mod is better applied to a new mount than a used one which has seen wear to the RA gear - maybe just replace it.

[rat156]

Mine was a used mount and still responded well to the Ovision mod.

Cheers
Stuart

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

That's good news, I did wonder about that.

If I haven't driven everyone nuts with my questions. I am thinking of buying the head only - but a horse without legs is not much use - and look around for a heavy duty wooden tripod. Alternatively, steel with 2" legs, or a portable pier - probably make that myself.

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

Just following up, I finished up buying a 10 yo EM 200B at a very very reasonable price. I had almost committed to a Losmandy with the Ovision mod installed, plus newly fitted precision bearings, shipped from the states - then the dollar took a plunge and the cost including shipping just escalated.

GOTO is hand-i-ball, but it is a lovely old bit of equipment with tree trunks for tripod legs - I know that I will enjoy using it - couldn't be happier and well within budget. Later this year I will look at argo-navis, they offer a mod for around 1100, which is considerably less than the FS2, but I don't have too many problems finding stuff with an atlas - I'll just have to learn setting circles.

I had intended buying a TMB80SS, but they were on back order and the dollar dropped. I settled on an Explore Scientific 80mm triplet which I bought after careful consideration. It seems to be quite a nice telescope - time and use will tell.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Terry B

Take a look at these pages.
They have error graphs for lots of mounts. The original is in French but hopefully the links have translated the pages.
I think you will find that the tak has much smoother errors.
G11...

The data there is rather out of date.

Scott Losmandy has been making evolutionary changes to his G-11 for years..and continues to do so.

The current series with bronze worms are very smooth, and even smoother if you go fo the new monolithic bearing housing. Some users have neen reporting +/- 2 arc seconds PE....not bad for a just under 6" gear

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by gbeal

Ha, explain the to Marc Multiweb, his G11 Horse, LOL.Sacre Bleu?Gary

Yep - mine galops in the dark when I'm not watching
On a more serious note I get +/-2.5 arcsec out of the box if I spend a bit of time on the meshing and alignment without PEC. And that's the standard two blocks arrangement. But the one block worm is the way to go because it's very easy to set. Also as Peter pointed out the bronze worms are very smooth.

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

Peter and Marc. It was the price. The G11 is a great mount - I was in the second hand market, and the Tak was too attractive to turn down.

So! IIS members ~ takes deep breath ~ my apologies for my foot in mouth approach to this issue - no offense intended.

Anyway, I took your advice Marc, and got a good mount instead of going for portability, and I'm really looking forward to doing some serious AP. You can put the bit in the horses mouth...