7331Peg
Sirius Observer
Reged: 09/01/08
Loc: North coast of Oregon
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3040807 - 04/13/09 01:15 AM
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Starlighter,
Yes, you can mount a scope pointing in the opposite direction on the DM-6, or the DM-4. You can slew the scope by grabbing it, or you can buy a handle from DiscMounts which attaches to the bottom of the saddle plate, and it also can be attached for either right or left mounting. The handle is a bit expensive, although it's pretty darn long. You can also get a $25 dollar handle from Stellarvue and drill a second hole to match the dovetail and save some money. The SV handle is quite a bit shorter. I've found that was actually an advantage, however, because the longer DM handle was preventing me from reaching the zenith.
John
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GShaffer
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/28/09
Loc: Bogart, Ga USA
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: ngc2289]
#3040836 - 04/13/09 01:45 AM
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Figured out how to get a response from Vic.....after 8 days of waiting I sent this
"Just wanted to say thanks for the fast and professional response I never got to the message below sent a week ago from a formerly very impressed and satisfied owner of one of your products. While the way I feel about the scope has not changed I have to say I do feel less inclined to purchase another as a result."
I followed up with my original inquiry and had an apology and a answer on the same day  Wrote back and told him that the warm, fuzzy feeling was back and all was peachy........
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Yeah I e-mailed a couple questions 1 month ago and never got an answer. So I called and got my questions answered in 2 minutes. So I know what you are talking about GShaffer. Vic is one person down with his office staff and with NEAF getting near he has been tring to finish several projects at once!
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DennisF
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/03/06
Loc: Northern IL
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3041430 - 04/13/09 12:27 PM
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...Can you mount a scope going in the other direction on that mount? The reason I ask is, right now with my 6" SCT, I cannot use the Portamount or any mount that's restricted to mounting on the right side. With the 6" SCT OTA, the finders would end up on the bottom...
Starlighter, IIRC, when I had the PortaMount, Manny Myles right angle bracket solved that problem by rotating the attachment point 90*.
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Loc: Sunny California
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: DennisF]
#3041450 - 04/13/09 12:36 PM
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You're right Dennis. I had forgotten about that splendid conversion Manny does. Problem is, the Porta isn't up to mounting my C4-R so I'm still looking for a beefier mount, one that I can either mount two scopes at once or do what the DiscMount and conversion of the Porta allows which is to mount my 6" SCT so the finders are on the top. One day I'll find something that works and doesn't cost me more than I paid for my very first car which was a brand new bright red 1966 VW Beetle. It ran me $1,600 plus change out the door, tax, license, everything. I drove it for a year and then sold it for $1,500. Had I not spun it out on 'dead-man's curve' (a section of Sunset Blvd. next to UCLA), I've have kept it. But those bugs were never good in the rain.
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ngc2289
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/13/05
Loc: Some Where Around The Maypole.
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3041514 - 04/13/09 01:02 PM Attachment (48 downloads)
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The second mount isn't a Williams it is a StellarVue. I modified the mounting holes to work on the EZTouch.
Edited by ngc2289 (04/13/09 05:37 PM)
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orbitgeek
newbie
Reged: 06/11/07
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3041980 - 04/13/09 05:20 PM
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Quote:
And the dovetail is shaped so I would need to slide the bar in. Problem is, with my SV102ED, bolts protrude near the ends making it impossible to slide on so I'd have to change out the bar. The Orion SkyView AZ dual head mount had the same problem.
I have the SV102ED with the clamshell and short dovetail. The attachment bolts do not protrude above the bottom surface. Do you have the clamshell or rings with your SV102ED? Is the dovetail from Stellarvue? Are the bolts that protrude used to attach the dovetail to the clamshell or rings? Something just doesn't sound right about this.
I also wanted to let you know that I have the SV heavy duty surveyors tripod. Is it very sturdy and the legs are attached to the tripod head with metal components. I don't think you were shipped the correct tripod either. I don't have the appleply tray but have chains instead, so I can't comment on that problem.
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Herenomore
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/29/04
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3042015 - 04/13/09 05:39 PM
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Tom, I doubt I'd get it with the encoders and the computer.
Can you mount a scope going in the other direction on that mount? The reason I ask is, right now with my 6" SCT, I cannot use the Portamount or any mount that's restricted to mounting on the right side. With the 6" SCT OTA, the finders would end up on the bottom. The dovetail is on the left side. So If I mounted it on the DM4, will it slew all the way if I have the scope pointed in the opposite direction of your scope in the photo? I hope I made myself clear on this. That was one reason I went with the MG mont since I was told I could do it.
Oh, one other item. When you slew using the Discmount, do you do it by grabbing the diagonal?
1. It's your choice on the encoders but I would very highly recommend them. You can get the mount w/o them but it was designed with encoders in mind.
2. You can mount the scope on either side of the mount. You just need to tell Tom Peters which side of the mount you want your scope on and he'll set the mount up that way. This gallery from the DM website shows scopes mounted on the left and right sides:
http://www.discmounts.com/gallery3/DMG3_p1.html
3. When I slew the mount, I have my left hand on the diagonal, my right hand on the focuser, and my eye on the ep. That way I can observe, track, and focus/re-focus, all at the same time.
Tom
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Loc: Sunny California
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: orbitgeek]
#3042017 - 04/13/09 05:40 PM
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OK. Looking at the dovetail bar that came with my SV102ED which is attached to the clamshell, there is a single silver bolt at the end which appears to be just screwed into the center raised rib of the dovetail bar. Using an allen wrench I can remove it. It doesn't appear to be holding anything in place. I thought there were two. Now I remember that with the Orion AZ mount, I was forced to slide the dovetail bar in by one end and out the same way. I guess I should remove that bolt since it serves no useful purpose. The dovetail bar that came with the scope is 7 1/2 inches long.
As far as the SV surveyor's tripod I received, it had no chain, just a cloth strap. The black areas where the aluminum legs fitted were made of what felt like thick black plastic.
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orbitgeek
newbie
Reged: 06/11/07
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3042034 - 04/13/09 05:49 PM
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Quote:
OK. Looking at the dovetail bar that came with my SV102ED which is attached to the clamshell, there is a single silver bolt at the end which appears to be just screwed into the center raised rib of the dovetail bar. Using an allen wrench I can remove it. It doesn't appear to be holding anything in place. I thought there were two. Now I remember that with the Orion AZ mount, I was forced to slide the dovetail bar in by one end and out the same way. I guess I should remove that bolt since it serves no useful purpose. The dovetail bar that came with the scope is 7 1/2 inches long.
Those would be "safety bolts." They are meant to be put in place after the scope is slid into the dovetail base, so that if the dovetail clamp comes loose during an evening of use because of changing temperatures or whatever, the scope cannot slide out of the dovetail.
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Loc: Sunny California
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: orbitgeek]
#3042068 - 04/13/09 06:04 PM
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Well, I don't have such bolts on any of my other dovetail bars so I just removed it. Fortunately where I live, it's pretty temperate. What I like about the Portamount is it uses two bolts to apply pressure to the Dovetail bar. I wish more mounts would use this design. The dovetail mount on the MG used a pressure system where the entire top comes down. Problem with it is, when I unscrewed it to loosen it enough to see how easy it would be to attach a scope, the darned thing came apart. I had springs flying and plastic spacers falling on the floor. The MG mount shown on the SV website doesn't exactly look like the one I received as far as where the dovetail bar attaches.
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Loc: Sunny California
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Herenomore]
#3042075 - 04/13/09 06:10 PM
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Quote:
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Tom, I doubt I'd get it with the encoders and the computer.
Can you mount a scope going in the other direction on that mount? The reason I ask is, right now with my 6" SCT, I cannot use the Portamount or any mount that's restricted to mounting on the right side. With the 6" SCT OTA, the finders would end up on the bottom. The dovetail is on the left side. So If I mounted it on the DM4, will it slew all the way if I have the scope pointed in the opposite direction of your scope in the photo? I hope I made myself clear on this. That was one reason I went with the MG mont since I was told I could do it.
Oh, one other item. When you slew using the Discmount, do you do it by grabbing the diagonal?
1. It's your choice on the encoders but I would very highly recommend them. You can get the mount w/o them but it was designed with encoders in mind.
2. You can mount the scope on either side of the mount. You just need to tell Tom Peters which side of the mount you want your scope on and he'll set the mount up that way. This gallery from the DM website shows scopes mounted on the left and right sides:
http://www.discmounts.com/gallery3/DMG3_p1.html
3. When I slew the mount, I have my left hand on the diagonal, my right hand on the focuser, and my eye on the ep. That way I can observe, track, and focus/re-focus, all at the same time.
Tom
Do you use the computer that much to find objects? Does it work somewhat like the Orion Intelliscope? I've seen that one working. Problem is aligning it. I just want an AZ mount that's beefy enough to handle my biggest scope and can be used in either direction or better yet, a dual head mount. It needs to have the ability to be locked down so when removing a heavy eyepiece, the scope doesn't suddenly pitch forward. And if it doesn't have slow motion controls, it needs to be very smooth operating. The DiscMount sounds like just the ticket. Too bad it costs so much.
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Herenomore
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/29/04
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3042133 - 04/13/09 06:50 PM
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Quote:
Do you use the computer that much to find objects? Does it work somewhat like the Orion Intelliscope? I've seen that one working. Problem is aligning it.
I use it all the time. I've never used the Orion. The Sky Commander uses a 2-star alignment. Takes all of about 1-2 minutes to set-up and with the orthogonality of the DiscMounts, it's dead-on accurate.
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I just want an AZ mount that's beefy enough to handle my biggest scope and can be used in either direction or better yet, a dual head mount. It needs to have the ability to be locked down so when removing a heavy eyepiece, the scope doesn't suddenly pitch forward. And if it doesn't have slow motion controls, it needs to be very smooth operating. The DiscMount sounds like just the ticket.
It is certainly all of that. That's what Tom Peters means when he says "no rebalancing". Take out a heavy ep, put in a light one (or vice versa), and the scope doesn't move (and you don't lose the object) while you're making the switch...no locks, nothing to tighten or adjust...yet its movements are silky smooth.
Tom
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Loc: Sunny California
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Herenomore]
#3042362 - 04/13/09 08:58 PM
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Sound like the ideal mount. I guess I should start saving up for one.
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DennisF
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/03/06
Loc: Northern IL
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3042792 - 04/14/09 04:34 AM
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Starlighter,
FWIW, I found a used AYO EzTouch a while back that works well for me. I usually mount my SV80ED on one side and a C6 SE or C8 on the other. So you're talking a total of about 28 lbs. with finders, diagonals, EPs, etc. While I do balance the scopes, the tension control can be cranked up so that the scopes won't move, balanced or not so it makes changing EP, diagonals, filters, etc. a very safe operation. The EzTouch handles those combinations with ease.
Since all my equipment is currently attached using a Vixen-type dovetail, I ordered another Vixen saddle for AYO. It was identical to the WO version. I'm sure they got it from the same Far East manufacturer. Since you don't want to order from overseas, I'd check with ScopeStuff. They have a Vixen-type saddle that I'm pretty sure would work with the EzTouch. Of course, I'd check with them before ordering. One nice thing about their saddle/bracket is that it has the backup set screw.
It's a heck of a lot cheaper than the Disc mounts and does provide a dual mount. Haven't used a Giro (yet) but everyone seems to swear by them. I do believe there are models that can handle more weight although the larger EzTouch may be competitive.
The one downside (?) of the EzTouch is that it doesn't have pan handle. Based on my Porta Mount and M1 experience, it does seem to make movement easier/more accurate although I've managed to adapt to not having one with no problem. I do believe Dave (aka Manny) now makes one for the EzTouch.
BTW, I just bought a used Quickset Hercules tripod which is built like the proverbial tank. It's rated for 150 lbs. and, although I don't plan on using it, the pan/tilt mount that came with it is rated for 80 lbs. I put my 200 lbs. on the tripod and it didn't budge. Tripod weight is 23 lbs. Legs are extendable and, with the center column extended, maximum height is @ 70".
It will be a while before I get it configured to handle my various mounts but when I'm done I expect it to be as solid as a rock. This plus a EzTouch or larger Giro should be able to handle anything up to a AR6.
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Manny Myles
Postmaster
Reged: 11/29/05
Loc: Far South of the flyover city ...
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: DennisF]
#3043170 - 04/14/09 10:33 AM
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Dennis, you are correct that the ScopeStuff saddle will fit the EZT on the flip side of the mount.
And yes I still make the pan handle mounting plate and handle for the EZT.
m2
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Starlighter
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/07
Loc: Sunny California
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: DennisF]
#3043299 - 04/14/09 11:50 AM Attachment (46 downloads)
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WO is being dropped by dealers near me. They had sales to get rid of what inventory they had. I notice that WOs website shows far less products available than before they closed their US office and service center. The new EzTouch is totally made in Asia. If I got one it would need to be the earlier version made in Switzerland with metal knobs. I rarely, if ever, see one of them going used. They must be great mounts since few want to part with them. The new EzTouch was being heavily discounted by a local dealer, but they warned me I wouldn't be happy with it, that it shares the same issues that I had with the Orion.
My next mount will have to meet certain criteria. If it doesn't, I won't buy it. And I'll need to be able to test it before buying it. The DiscMount is out of the question because quite frankly It costs more than I wish to spend at this time. So right now my beefed up Portamount will fill most of my needs. It works well with most of my scopes. Now that I bought a new TV-85 and tend to be using it far more than any of my other scopes, the Porta is the perfect mount for it.
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DennisF
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/03/06
Loc: Northern IL
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Starlighter]
#3043631 - 04/14/09 02:48 PM
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...If I got one it would need to be the earlier version made in Switzerland with metal knobs. I rarely, if ever, see one of them going used. They must be great mounts since few want to part with them...
I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't go with the WO version.
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...The DiscMount is out of the question because quite frankly It costs more than I wish to spend at this time...
I understand completely. The DiscMount, and the Half-Hitch for that matter, must be excellent products. I don't recall any negative comments on either. But they are the top tier for alt/az mounts and are priced accordingly. Too rich for my blood.
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Bradley B
sage
Reged: 05/14/07
Loc: Sacramento, California
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: DennisF]
#3043712 - 04/14/09 03:45 PM
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To be honest, I've had the WO EZTouch in both Swiss- and Taiwan-made versions, and aside from the plastic knobs--which material doesn't really matter in my usage--don't find any difference in operation between the two. In fact the newer version EZT already has an upgrade that I performed on my previous EZT: upgrade of the set screws that hold the non-Vixen side to a larger size that hold better and are less prone to cross-threading.
Your Mileage May Vary, of course, but I currently mount a C8 and the Pentax 105SD on the EZT without issue, and the operation is smooth-as-silk. I have upgraded to JMI encoders and computer to help deal with the light pollution here in the Central Valley of California, but unlike the previous EZT that I sold, I don't think that I'll be selling this one.
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ngc2289
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/13/05
Loc: Some Where Around The Maypole.
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Bradley B]
#3043759 - 04/14/09 04:03 PM Attachment (45 downloads)
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I made a handle for my EZTouch that worked quite well.This is before I put on the second saddle.
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ngc2289
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/13/05
Loc: Some Where Around The Maypole.
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Re: Stellarvue MG mount
[Re: Bradley B]
#3043780 - 04/14/09 04:16 PM
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By the way my EZTouch is the Taiwan version and works very well!
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