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I recall reading some criticism of the Porta II's tripod being vibration prone, and that the Vixen Star Guy was an improvement. The specs of the Star Guy (operating height, load capacity, weight) seem similar to the ES I but at $100 more.

I was curious why you want an alt-az mount since your scope came w/ an Orion Astroview EQ mount.

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I've been buying ala carte. First, a CG-4 mount, motorized, ST-4. Then the Orion 120mm 'fractor OTA. In my case, I'd like the ease of panning around with this Orion 120. Might even get binoviewers but not till I've enjoyed that Q70 32 in my signature. You can go swimming in that thing. But the CG-4 is bulky and since it has the motors installed, the slo mo controls are not usable. I've also considered the Desert Sky DSV-1 which I could put onto a Slik CF camera tripod I have. No slo mo controls but reviewing all that is on the web/CN about those slo mo stalks, they sound fracture prone. I just want to enjoy swimming around with that f/5 refractor.

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So witch is a better Alt Az mount.
The Versa Go, The ES Twilight 1, or the Vixen Star Guy?

Steve

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So far I have not had to do anything to the mounts I use the bracket on.
The mounts I use it on include the Porta and Voyager and all these come with clutches to dial up or down the tension should I need to.
When I got all 3 of these mounts I have never had to adjust the tension ever, factory set out of the box, some might need to.
Maybe some other owners could speak up.
m2

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if you leave the tension off and balance the scope in the horizontal, what happens if you move to say 45 degrees alt?

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if you leave the tension off and balance the scope in the horizontal, what happens if you move to say 45 degrees alt?

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Joe, concerning the voyager, I have Manny's bracket and use an Omni 120 on it. If I balance in the horizontal I am good up to about 70 degrees. But I usually tighten up the alt a bit after that just to be safe. (It should be noted that I use a cg4 tripod with extension to add more overall stability)

Eric

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Eric, that's the thing, the bracket should take into account the OTA's diameter to attain proper balance, but i guess tensioning will do if it's close enough. I guess it's ok with scopes in the 3 to 6 inch diameter size. i'm curious though, why not mount it directly to the alt bearing? is it to allow accessories to be mounted on the rings? or is there another benefit? It seems that the mount will be laterally heavier, how does this affect stability... heftier tripod required?

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Is the only place to buy this mount on http://www.telescopes.com/? Going to order it tonight for
Skywatcher pro 100ed. Any thoughts on a red dot finder?

mking

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I got the astro-tech red dot finder from astronomics.com, can't live without it now. great price and quality, as for the ES twilight, you can get it straight from explore scientific or the Orion versaGo III, same mount diff name from telescope.com

clear skies

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i'm curious though, why not mount it directly to the alt bearing? is it to allow accessories to be mounted on the rings? or is there another benefit?

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Yes Joe that is the main reason as well as the panhandle that comes with the bracket. I have recently added JMI's TNT for voyager and therefore no longer need slowmo controls. I actually use a 4" riser most of the time on the Telrad and it is the most comfortable finding position that I have ever had. And yes, that is a heavier tripod underneath the mount extension(CG4) I swap mounts using the same tripod and extension depending on what I want to do. On occasion I use a 60mm with the same Telrad configuation which is a joy to use. The only overmounted situation I have.



Eric

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have you seen the Canadian Telescopes heavy duty duo

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I have heard of it and I think there are a couple of threads on it somewhere. After closer inspection it seems like it would be a perfect fit on my mount extension. No,No I must not think like that

Eric

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Is there a compatible extension tube for this mount? Like this one here for the AT Voyager mount.

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Does anyone know?

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Is there a compatible extension tube for this mount? Like this one here for the AT Voyager mount.

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Does anyone know?

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I suggest you phone ES & ask them if the pier extension for the Twilight II mount will work on the Twilight I. They told me that the Twilight I mount head will fit on the Twilight II tripod (they installed it while I waited on the phone).

Here's the link for the pier extension: http://store.explorescientific.com/explorescientificaccypierextfortwilightmount.aspx


Good luck.

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Anybody get an answer if the pier extension works on the Twilight 1

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I just ordered one! But couldn't find anything on an extension!

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So I finally got a chance to try the Twilight I mount head on my CG-5 tripod and got mixed results....

The alignment peg on the CG-5 tripod had to be removed to fit the Twilight I mount. Other than that it fit perfectly and was much more stable than the tripod it came with but still not ideal for larger scopes.

I was hoping that I could use my 100ED with this mount but it is just too shakey and proper focusing is a real chore. Just to be sure I tightened everything up and placed anitvibration pads under the tripod. Still stoo shakey.

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So I finally got a chance to try the Twilight I mount head on my CG-5 tripod and got mixed results....

The alignment peg on the CG-5 tripod had to be removed to fit the Twilight I mount. Other than that it fit perfectly and was much more stable than the tripod it came with but still not ideal for larger scopes.

I was hoping that I could use my 100ED with this mount but it is just too shakey and proper focusing is a real chore. Just to be sure I tightened everything up and placed anitvibration pads under the tripod. Still stoo shakey.

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At what magnification does the focusing become problematic for both configurations w/ and w/o the CG-5 tripod? On my Meade tripod, there are still shakes when focusing but they damp out quicker than with the ES tripod. I only went as high as 143X on my 100ED scope.

And when you are focusing your scope, are the axial brakes fully clamped down on your mount?

I guess the next step up in alt-az mounts w/ slow motion controls would be something like the Canadian Telescope Heavy Duty Duo T mount that Woodland Hills sells. But I think I can live with what I have now.

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I tried several mags.... highest was 194X then 134X and finally 38X all were pretty much unacceptable for me. But that's with my f/9 100ED. Like I said my ES 80mm rides quite solidly on this mount.

Edited by EdTheEdge (08/21/12 10:00 AM)

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Is there any way you could add weights to the tripod

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Again, let me say that I do get vibrations when I focus my ES 102ED APO (f7), but I can live with this. Tightening down the locks for both the azimuthal and altitude bearings is recommended before focusing to reduce the vibrations.

I also noticed that my ES TWI's azimuthal bearing has some detectable slop or play even after the azimuthal lock has been fully tightened down. The Orion Versago III manual does not indicate how to tighten the bearing. Perhaps this is the main source of the vibrations (?).

I think I'll send an email inquiry to ES and see if they can suggest anything.

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Came across another part that has no home, 3 hole spacing identicle to the 3 holes on altitude head since there are no directions in the box I'm guessing it's a spare cltuch bearing.

m2

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My solution was to add two steel plates and essentially fill the opening in the arm. Vibration and damping time are significantly reduced.

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