Due to the extreme current situation, my CEM 60 mount and the TriPier tripod got caught up in the maelstrom of factory closures and work-at-home, etc. I received the mount back on 22 Feb but did not get the TriPier tripod until last Friday. I have a new object to put on the list of "what is the most useless piece of gear", answer, a telescope mount without its tripod. So, finally, we have unity and the two pieces are together and let the fun begin.
I took them both (mount and tripod) out Sunday afternoon because it was clear (finally) for an initial run-through and learning curve "flattening" event. All went well with the setup and getting to know how to engage and disengage the axes. The locks are magnetic and don't really cinch down, they just "engage" (say it the way Picard does). The mount runs very smoothly and very, very quietly even at the fastest slew speed (64x). The mount comes with a 9.5 Kg (21 lb) counterweight. My god that thing is heavy given its size. I initially attached my
ES 80mm to the combo D/v rail saddle and found out rather quickly that that scope was way too light for that monster counterweight. So I switched over to the 6
RC (with a 70mm frac on top) and that was heavy enough to get it into a balanced state. I will say that I have heard that these mounts are very finicky when it comes to being in a balanced state - that it likes. All my previous mounts have had some sort of friction in each axis when you were trying to balance all the gear onboard so you never really knew how close to perfect balance you were. With this mount, the unlocked axes move as if nothing is impeding their rotation so consequently a 1 or 2 mm move with counterweight caused a noticeable difference in the balancing process. Obviously this means I need to get a lighter counterweight, most likely the 5 Kg counterweight. I believe the 2.5 Kg counterweight is too light given the payloads I'll be using. Here are some pictures to prove it really did happen.
This shows the TriPier tripod which in and of itself is pretty cool, the pier portion can move up and down. That case off to the right is the case that houses the mount.
These are my two new pieces of gear joined together. The latitude is still set to 0°
The RC6 and frac are attached with the latitude set at 21°
With the balancing done, on to the alignment. Well while reading the directions (yes, I do that) and getting the scope balanced on the mount, the sun was now far enough below the horizon for it to be dark enough to start the alignment learning process. I looked up to see which star/s I was going to use and NADA! My clear afternoon had turned into a completely overcast early evening. So I stood out on my driveway patiently waiting for some holes to open up. Finally, I got one 20 minutes later, I could see Arcturus. So I quickly selected the 1-star align procedure and told the
HC I was using Arcturus. The initial slew only missed by about 10° so I quickly finished up with a slew and quick press of the "enter" button. Right then, Arcturus disappeared. I stood around for another 20 or 30 minutes and a hole opened up that showed Denebola, so I selected that star, off the mount went and it was in both scopes
FOV. Now, mind you that I only used a compass to guess where North was so the fact that it put the star in the
FOV was very encouraging. At that point, the sky closed down and I had had enough waiting around. I took the OTAs off the mount and moved everything back into the garage and called it an evening. Do I need to tell you that 15 minutes later the half of the sky I was using was completely clear!
Anyway, the initial trial was a success. I have many more features to discover about this potentially amazing mount. It has a built-in illuminated polar scope and there are 4, yes 4, USB sockets on the saddle!
More episodes later, but the clouds will dictate this schedule. Also, go over to the
AP equipment forum and read my post (if you are so inclined) on the new
CMOS camera I just bought today.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=9102
Happy trails and cheers,
JT
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6R, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ AP Gear: ZWO EAF and mini EFW and the Optolong L-eXteme filter
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°
Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."