rwiederrich
Goldfinger
   
Reged: 11/17/05
Posts: 5981
Loc: Bremerton Washington
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Quote:
and finally, here it is in use with 12" f5 Reflector and ED80.
Great job of restoration. Can you control the RA drive, and speed for good tracking?
Rob
-------------------- www.goldmtobservingcenter.com
Providing a great place for amateur astronomers, and ATM's to come and enjoy their hobby.
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kent
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/16/06
Posts: 766
Loc: P.E.I. Canada
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Bravo Ken Looks great you must of put some hours in on that project. Does it handle that 12" Skywatcher alright? how does it track, any photos? Way to bring that poor old mount and pier back to life. Great job altogether!
-------------------- Kent
Orion 100mm ED
Skywatcher 8" Newt
Skywatcher 10" Newt
Orion 20X80 Giant Veiw bino's
and a few other goodies
And in my possession(for the time being)
LX200R 14" behemoth
Edited by kent (12/14/06 02:11 PM)
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Mike Clemens
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/26/05
Posts: 3044
Loc: Wasilla, Alaska 61N
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> Hey Mike how is the altitude knob location for > tightening?
They are well thought out both for Az and Alt adjustments. The knobs are a bit tight in there but you can easily get an allen wrench in the center of the knob (and a nice set of allen wrenches is included with the AP1200). The altitude adjuster has a very generous sized knob with a cheater bar for adjusting height.
The Az system is genius. A heavy duty assembly operates on a rotating pier adapter. So you dont have to loosen anything at all to do azimuth adjustments.
-------------------- abysmal clock of despair
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Mike Clemens
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/26/05
Posts: 3044
Loc: Wasilla, Alaska 61N
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> weighs well over 150 lbs,
Rob, I bet it doesnt even flinch with that long tube.
Someone should dig up some pics of Pons huge mounts with the centrifugal speed regulators.
-------------------- abysmal clock of despair
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rwiederrich
Goldfinger
   
Reged: 11/17/05
Posts: 5981
Loc: Bremerton Washington
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Quote:
> Hey Mike how is the altitude knob location for > tightening?
They are well thought out both for Az and Alt adjustments. The knobs are a bit tight in there but you can easily get an allen wrench in the center of the knob (and a nice set of allen wrenches is included with the AP1200). The altitude adjuster has a very generous sized knob with a cheater bar for adjusting height.
The Az system is genius. A heavy duty assembly operates on a rotating pier adapter. So you dont have to loosen anything at all to do azimuth adjustments.
Nifty for sure...
Can you adjust that azymuth by an adjustment knob? Was that it you also posted? Can you dial in the azymuth, then lock it down? Is there a leveling system incorporated in the Azymuth base?
The reason for all the questions, is I try at times to see if similar systems are being made in consumer mounts that are in my custom mount.
Thanks for your time.
Rob
-------------------- www.goldmtobservingcenter.com
Providing a great place for amateur astronomers, and ATM's to come and enjoy their hobby.
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rwiederrich
Goldfinger
   
Reged: 11/17/05
Posts: 5981
Loc: Bremerton Washington
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Quote:
> weighs well over 150 lbs,
Rob, I bet it doesnt even flinch with that long tube.
Someone should dig up some pics of Pons huge mounts with the centrifugal speed regulators.
No flinching...The mount was actually designed for a 10"f/12 in mind. The 6"f/15 is a feather compared to what this mount can handle.
Actually, I think Pon's mounts are Beyers mounts. I think here on CN there are some older pics... 
I kept centripital issues at bay by keeping the counter arm as short as possible, plus having the GEM/gears made of steel the flex that can be seen in other materials is minimal.
What you gonna put on that AP1200? A nice LF Refractor?
Rob
-------------------- www.goldmtobservingcenter.com
Providing a great place for amateur astronomers, and ATM's to come and enjoy their hobby.
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deepskyguru
sage
Reged: 08/26/04
Posts: 245
Loc: Poway Ca. San Diego County
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Here's mine!
-------------------- Orion 8" f/4.9 reflector on LXD75 Mount with Orion 4.5" imaging reflector for guide scope.
Meade LXD55 AR5 AT
Meade DS80
Meade ETX60
Edmond Astroscan (Paid $50.00 at RTMC! one of the original Astroscans Love that little scope!!)
Meade DSI II Color, DSI Pro
http://www.scopehead.com
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Dragon Man
sage
Reged: 03/07/06
Posts: 229
Loc: Snake Valley, Australia
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David,
I decided to take my time restoring the mount so I hand filed everything! The angle grinder stayed locked away for this project.
Rob,
Yes it tracks perfectly in RA via a laptop using 'Stepper control' program. I can alter the tracking speed by thousandths of a second. The Dec is just a small Stepper motor that I control via a hand pad to keep an object in centre of FOV.
Kent,
yes, it handles the 12" with ease. It was originally designed to carry a 16".
Here are pics of the Moon and Trapezium in Orion taken through it.
-------------------- IMAGE EDITING AND COMMENT APPROVED
Ken - 12" Dob on a Restored EQ | 8" EQ Reflector | EQ6 & synscan | ED 80 | Modded 840 Toucam Pro II | 20x80 Triplet Binoculars |
Snake Valley Astronomical Association and my own site Australian Astronomy
Who's the Idiot that invented the Light Bulb!
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FLNightSky
professor emeritus
   
Reged: 03/13/06
Posts: 616
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deepsky
How does the LXD75 mount handle the 10" SN? It looks like you are using that mount to image - is it stable enough?
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bombadil78
sage
Reged: 10/16/06
Posts: 351
Loc: Johnson City, TN
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Now, I don't want to make you guys jealous or anything, but I wanted to show you my one of a kind mount, home made of course, because when you want something quality, you just have to do it yourself! I call this beauty the 'Ghetto Gazer' since I live in the ghetto, and well...gaze with it. You may be surprised, but I've actually seen a very slight hint of nebulosity in Orion, and I've seen Saturn as a tiny speck showing a tiny lil ring...or it could have just been a blurry star, its pretty hard to tell with this rig!
now before I'm bombarded with questions about what German Machine shop did the fabrication work, let me just point out some of the highlights of the Ghetto Gazer, yes, that is a real Meade 60mm refractor with a very nice .965 eyepiece, and those are real American made tie straps holding that light bucket to an authentic Radio Shack camera tripod, and yes, I am gazing from the toilet, only the best for me! haha When my wife saw me sitting in there with the scope she laughed till she cried, who wouldn't? any way, enough of the jabbering and on to the pic!
-------------------- XTI 10 inch
Edited by bombadil78 (12/15/06 10:34 AM)
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JAT Observatory
Space Freak
   
Reged: 02/20/05
Posts: 5649
Loc: Eastern PA
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Who says you can't mix business and pleasure
-------------------- -Marcus
The problem with free speech is even the stupid have a voice.
http://jatobservatory.org
12" LX200R on a Paramount ME
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kent
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/16/06
Posts: 766
Loc: P.E.I. Canada
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Way to go bombadil78 love you review the indepth detail! You beter grab a Pat.# before someone snatches that up. You will most definitly wipe up the competition
Way to make my day!
Edited by kent (12/15/06 02:42 PM)
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deepskyguru
sage
Reged: 08/26/04
Posts: 245
Loc: Poway Ca. San Diego County
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It acuallly does very well. Balance is the key. I also use the quiet slew mode. My only enemy is the wind! Other than that it works well.
-------------------- Orion 8" f/4.9 reflector on LXD75 Mount with Orion 4.5" imaging reflector for guide scope.
Meade LXD55 AR5 AT
Meade DS80
Meade ETX60
Edmond Astroscan (Paid $50.00 at RTMC! one of the original Astroscans Love that little scope!!)
Meade DSI II Color, DSI Pro
http://www.scopehead.com
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bombadil78
sage
Reged: 10/16/06
Posts: 351
Loc: Johnson City, TN
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glad I could help kent!
I do what I can...
-------------------- XTI 10 inch
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PeteH
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/03/05
Posts: 549
Loc: Cypress, Texas
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...and yes, I am gazing from the toilet, only the best for me!
Are there any dewing problems with that setup?
I know..i know...boo... sorry... 
-Pete
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Dubboy
Carpal Tunnel
   
Reged: 07/05/05
Posts: 2147
Loc: Northern Michigan
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Quote:
Quote:
...and yes, I am gazing from the toilet, only the best for me!
Are there any dewing problems with that setup?
I know..i know...boo... sorry... 
-Pete
Forget the dew! What about the wind factor?
-------------------- Don
"Don't worry about what telescope you own, or its quality. Just get out under the night sky and enjoy God's wondrous universe" Thomas Back.
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bombadil78
sage
Reged: 10/16/06
Posts: 351
Loc: Johnson City, TN
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HAHA...I figured ya'll would have a good laugh with that...
wind factor...priceless...haha
-------------------- XTI 10 inch
Edited by bombadil78 (12/16/06 03:55 PM)
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IanMWatson
professor emeritus
   
Reged: 11/07/05
Posts: 683
Loc: Elgin, Bonnie Scotland
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Quote:
Now, I don't want to make you guys jealous or anything, but I wanted to show you my one of a kind mount, home made of course, because when you want something quality, you just have to do it yourself! I call this beauty the 'Ghetto Gazer' since I live in the ghetto, and well...gaze with it.
Whoa, have you had any thoughts of starting up a notification list for that beauty? One question, does the mount have s**ting circles????
-------------------- Ian Watson
Berlebach UNI-18/Super Polaris Driven/Giro II DX
Zenithstar 80 FD
Orion Optics 8" F6
TV Barlow 2x
Ethos 13
350D & EF 70-200mm F4
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JAT Observatory
Space Freak
   
Reged: 02/20/05
Posts: 5649
Loc: Eastern PA
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Boy this topic sure went into the crapper
-------------------- -Marcus
The problem with free speech is even the stupid have a voice.
http://jatobservatory.org
12" LX200R on a Paramount ME
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Sky Captain
Scope Builder
   
Reged: 11/07/04
Posts: 5743
Loc: Seattle Washington
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Here's the one I have been working on for quite a while. I'm sure many have seen it already. EQ6 Losmandy G11 tripod 1.244 SS shaft and SS CW's Losmandy saddle
-------------------- Equipment Overload!
Kerry.
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