The ZWO uses stepper motors rather than servos like others. Stepper motors lock without power - it's actually quite hard but not impossible to move them. The break on power failure for the RA drive suggests that 13+ kg without counterweights is sufficient to overcome the natural resistance to movement!
Looking forward to some real world reviews!
That is actually not quite the case. Most stepper motors will have an amount of "Detent" torque, which is the amount of torque required to move then when they are unpowered, it is generally not a huge figure. If you take a typical small stepper you will rotate it pretty easily by hand with "Cogging" felt at each point the motor would stop. When they are powered but not being stepped they then produce "Holding" torque, proportional to the current supplied.
The high PE is not really an issue. On Cloudy nights, most users are getting between 0.4-0.6RMS for guiding and good star shapes. There's not much else that matters really. There are occasional spikes, but really the mount seems to be performing very well from what everyone has experienced so far.
My one will be here end of September unfortunately. Still a long wait to get my hands on one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gbeal
Had mine a while now, and absolutely love it. So much that my humongous CEM70 is packed away possibly to sell.
Being able to pick it up and move about the property fully loaded is a boon.
Very happy.
OK, well going by that extra feedback (i havent looked that hard for it really) it sounds promising . I have a small dome im thinking of putting a 12" SCT in at some stage (for DS lucky imaging, very short exposures). An EQ mount for it wouldnt fit, but I think a HD would, so this all becomes doable.
Take a look at the iOptron HEM27EC. The HD systems can have high and fast moving PE (hopefully it is smooth though), the EC system should tame this and the ability to guide out the residual errors l means this could be the ideal portable AP mount. It is on my wish list...but I want to see some real world results before I take the plunge...I have a CEM40EC at the moment and it performs admirably but is just heavy/bulky enough to dissuade me from travel on days when the conditions are 50/50.
I had the pleasure of being at the powering-on of a friends AM5 today and it was a very fine moment. The solidity of that thing is quite amazing and it was so quiet as it threw the Edge 8 around with absolute ease. Want, want, want!
Every bit of this mount oozes class, even the cracking carry case it comes in. ZWO really have been upping their game over the years and this mount shows just how far they have come. BTW the carbon fibre tripod is a bit of alright too!
Looking forward to see how well it performs under a pristine sky.
Received a AM5 mount Thursday and got a chance to do a little visual last night. So far impressed with it , light and compact but solid. Mount seems easily capable with smaller refractors and 8” SCT”s, the tripod probably is a little short for taller people for visual. For larger scopes I’d feel more comfortable with the expected counterweight system Zwo will be releasing installed and a tripod with a wider footprint ( the William Optics Mortar tri-pier would be a option)
I've been so happy with the limited use of my AM5, that I'm almost certainly* going to replace my EQ6-R with the Pegasus mount next year (it can do 20kg without a counterweight).
*I'm not 100% locked in on that idea just yet, as I'll want to do some more comprehensive tests, but for now I'm very happy with the purchase and need to be convinced not to do it
And yes, the carry case is excellent and I love love love the artwork on it (and the mount).
mmm had a look at the Pegasus NYX-101 Harmonic Gear Mount and although it looks very interesting, the PE in the sample at the bottom of the add ( and this is a promotional pic....), shows RMS PE of RA 3.74 and DEC 4.91. Its not flash. Not saying this is a show stopper, but does require home work to see if this is best case. The graph doesnt look that bad actually, it looks like the spikes upped the RMS, mmm, those spikes...
Took delivery of my AM5 mount last week and last night I used it to look at Saturn, which was close to zenith. I normally mount my AAP on the scope. Whilst awaiting for an adapter from Bintel, I chose to temporarily use the adapter on the mount for my ASI Air Plus. Big mistake
Whilst in the middle of focussing I crushed the USB cables going into the AAP and the mount was unable to be parked back to the home position.
I had to dismantle the entire OTA and mount from the tripod in order to retrieve the AAP. I then used the hand controller to park the mount back to home.
Fortunately, no damage done to any of the equipment but a warning not to use the mounting bracket on the mount. It will be removed today.
agree with that 100%. Nearly destroyed my AA+ on the first run with this machine, because of the cables. The torque on these strain-wave mounts is incredibly high. You don't want to get your fingers caught in there either.
I too recieved my AM5 last week. As previously stated, it feels like a very premium and well built bit of kit. The CF tripod is alot sturdier than i was expecting, which was a nice surprise.
I've managed first light with it for a few hours on Friday night before the clouds rolled in, and was pleasantly surprised at its performance in slinging around the 4" refractor. The strain-wave drives are quiet, quick, and smooth. I think i'll need to work out a way to weigh down the entire setup, as i'm still a bit uncomfortable with how top heavy the setup is, and how off centre that weight can be when pointing straight up
Guiding was as good as could be expected given the conditions (even better than I expected, TBH).
I had second light on Saturday night, but the sky conditions were atrocious and my guiding RMS barely reached 1 arc-second.
All in all, I'm very impressed and looking forward to a future of better imaging.
I am thinking about an AM5 and wondering how tricky it might be to mount on my existing obs pier. ATM it hold a EQ6R Pro which you all probably know has a recessed centre hole and a removable azimuth adjustment pillar in the front.
Hi Peter.
I’m asking Joshua Bunn to build me an adapter. I’m a bit behind on some measurements he’s after but I can share it all’s when we’ve worked out what it’s going to look like
Hi Peter.
I’m asking Joshua Bunn to build me an adapter. I’m a bit behind on some measurements he’s after but I can share it all’s when we’ve worked out what it’s going to look like
I am thinking about an AM5 and wondering how tricky it might be to mount on my existing obs pier. ATM it hold a EQ6R Pro which you all probably know has a recessed centre hole and a removable azimuth adjustment pillar in the front.
Seems to hold the mount securely to the tripod
works with azeq6 pier extension
can stay attached to either the mount or the tripod
Cons
Even though it has a slot for the pin the pin still needs to be removed so you can rotate the adaptor to screw it on tightly. Of course you no longer need the pin for adjustment.
The base of the adaptor is higher than the recessed lip of the azeq6 tripod, see photo, so there is less area connecting adaptor to tripod. Still seems a solid enough connection, but have not used it much yet with my c9.25.
NOTE, be sure to order the one with the m12 tripod connector thread. I made a mistake and ordered the m8 one for the eq5 and had to drill and tap out the thread to m12 to fit the azeq6.
NOTE, I ordered from ALIExpress because cost and shipping (AUD 71 plus AUD 16 shipping) was much cheaper than from Telescop Express ( EUR 75 plus EUR 38 shipping).
NOTE, Image shows it connected to the azeq6 pier extension.
NOTE, YMMV as I have not used it extensively, but on the face of it, it does connect the two.
Okay thanks to Josh for letting me share screenshots of what he's been designing.
This is the EQ6 adapter (I presume no one will want to see the EQ8 Tri-pier adapter so I'll leave that out).
First image shows the adapter from the bottom. This part sits in the EQ6 Tripod. There are two additional holes which I thought could be used to anchor the adapter in place with the azimuth holes on the tripod. This will prevent any rotation of the adapter
Second image shows the adapter at the top. It has the central column for the locking screw plus 3 additional screws to again prevent rotation.
What do you all think? At first blush the only thing I might ask to be changed it to align the three holes on the top plate so that the forward weight will sit over one of the legs.
Hey Adam,
I thought I aligned the 3 top holes so the AM5 when mounted, it's south facing part was over the correct part on the skywatcher tripod, if this is not the case, I will deffinetly change that
You're probably right. I haven't looked at it in depth yet, it was just a first impression. I'll check it out in detail today and measure everything up.
. I have a small dome im thinking of putting a 12" SCT in at some stage (for DS lucky imaging, very short exposures). An EQ mount for it wouldnt fit, but I think a HD would, so this all becomes doable.
