Zwo harmonic mount release

[Crater101 (Warren)]

Originally Posted by AdamJL

Well it can drive 17kg pretty well!

I'm still iffy on the tripod, which is being stabilised here with a 5kg counterweight in the underside pouch, but otherwise, this is a great mount!

Adam, it looks like you have a pier / extension as well. Not to derail the thread, but has raising the centre of gravity made a significant difference to the rig? Nice setup, by the way.

[AdamJL]

Originally Posted by Crater101

Adam, it looks like you have a pier / extension as well. Not to derail the thread, but has raising the centre of gravity made a significant difference to the rig? Nice setup, by the way.

Hi Warren

Yes I've got both pier extension types, but I feel this one is more solid than the columned version. It's also mandatory on a long OTA setup like mine. For my ASKAR FRA400, the pier isn't so necessary but I'll just use the columned version there.

For the centre of gravity, well not really. Without the counterweight bar extension then yes it's not great when slewing about. There's a lot of weight here. Balancing in Dec I'm sure would help but it's very difficult to do that here (I'd likely pre-balance on a table or something then transfer that to the mount).

Once the counterweight bar and a secondary counterweight was added in the pouch underneath, the setup became very stable. That said, it has yet to be tested it in the field. As soon as these clouds go away (2023?!) maybe I can give it a go.

Originally Posted by Crater101

Nice setup, by the way.

Cheers
I'll be doing cable-management soon. I am just slew testing this afternoon.

[Crater101 (Warren)]

Originally Posted by AdamJL

Hi Warren

Yes I've got both pier extension types, but I feel this one is more solid than the columned version. It's also mandatory on a long OTA setup like mine. For my ASKAR FRA400, the pier isn't so necessary but I'll just use the columned version there.

For the centre of gravity, well not really. Without the counterweight bar extension then yes it's not great when slewing about. There's a lot of weight here. Balancing in Dec I'm sure would help but it's very difficult to do that here (I'd likely pre-balance on a table or something then transfer that to the mount).

Once the counterweight bar and a secondary counterweight was added in the pouch underneath, the setup became very stable. That said, it has yet to be tested it in the field. As soon as these clouds go away (2023?!) maybe I can give it a go.


Cheers
I'll be doing cable-management soon. I am just slew testing this afternoon.

Thank you young man. You've answered a couple of "I wonder..." questions for me. I'd be interested to hear of how it goes in the field. All the best, and yes, some cloud-free evenings would be a welcome change!

[nikanj (Andy)]

Been watching this one. AstroWithRoro did a good video on it. It's a bit pricey though, the iOptron HEM27 looks like a very similar product for consierably less. I guess it'll all come down to PE performance.

[AdamJL]

Originally Posted by nikanj

Been watching this one. AstroWithRoro did a good video on it. It's a bit pricey though, the iOptron HEM27 looks like a very similar product for consierably less. I guess it'll all come down to PE performance.

The HEM27 does look good and I like the weight, but I'm not convinced of the Dec gearing. And I've seen people with a few issues over on CN.

[AdamJL]

Btw. I had my first session with this mount the other night. It's fantastic. Here's 4 hours or so of Ha on the Tarantula, with a very light edit. Guiding was anywhere from 0.4-0.7RMS.
It did spike to 3.5 or thereabouts but that's because it was on a wooden deck and someone was walking around it

[pmrid (Peter)]

I’d be keen to see a feature comparison between the AM5, the iOptron HEM27 and the HEM27EC. The latter is quite a bit dearer so I’d want to be clear about the differences.

Of particular interest to me would be compatibility with ASiair.

[JohnH]

The main difference here is the encoders....so that is why the cost is higher than the non-EC version but that only makes it about the same as the AM5.


Encoders are good for two scenarios - unguided AP are shortish focal lengths and when guiding with an OAG (typical for longer FL setups). Without EC you will need to use guide exposures in the range of 0.5s to keep the PE under control which will make it tricky to find a suitable guidestar with an OAG and may also cause issues if the seeing is not good.


I am very interested in this mount but am in wait an see mode as there is not much real world usage out there yet and my preference is not to go for vsn 1.0 of anything. I also note iOptron are now taking pre-orders for the HEM44 which might also be of interest...



On a side note : does anyone know anything about the BH-17H or 20H mounts?

[JohnH]

Originally Posted by nikanj

Been watching this one. AstroWithRoro did a good video on it. It's a bit pricey though, the iOptron HEM27 looks like a very similar product for consierably less. I guess it'll all come down to PE performance.

Not really, PE is a bit of a furphy when it comes to HD mounts imho. None of the manufacturers make these gears - all are 3rd party and thus are similar in performance. PE of an HD mount is not repeatable like a worm driven mount, it varies with loading, orientation etc. I the HEM27 is lighter and probably better for portable use. AM5 is 5kg and costs $4399, HEM27 is 3.7kg and costs $2999, carrying capacity is the same...

[AdamJL]

Originally Posted by JohnH

AM5 is 5kg and costs $4399, HEM27 is 3.7kg and costs $2999, carrying capacity is the same...

Not entirely accurate. You're comparing a SKU with a tripod (ZWO) to one without (iOptron).
AM5 is $3699 without the tripod.