s58y
Postmaster
Reged: 12/12/04
Posts: 5498
Loc: Eastern NY
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1 - Fixed tripod
2 - Hand-powered Barndoor
3 - Motorized Barndoor (standard size)
4 - Mororized Barndoor (double sized)
5 - Losmandy G-11 (terrible 76-second RA problem, great DEC tracking)
6 - Astro-Physics AP900 (Great RA tracking, DEC is worse than RA)
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Hutech 30D, SBIG ST-402 autoguider
SV80S, TV102iis
Old camera lenses: 800mm f/5.6, 180mm f/3.4
AP900, Barndoor tracker
http://www.pbase.com/s58y
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donsinger1
sage
Reged: 10/28/07
Posts: 298
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I now know I am in "good" company..geez, and I thought I was the only one who has been a tad overboard on mounts..here goes:
ASGT...loved it, great pointing, but quite a bit of fiddling to get it "just so"
Sirius-EQG - nice, but hand control primitive and the overall mount too light for my liking.
GM8-excellent pointing, tracking and workmanship. Capacity too light; and, I did not like all of the cabling.
EM11-wonderful mount - did not like having to have the computer drive the scope....
CGEM-great "Chevrolet" of mounts. It works. Not too fussy. And, the hand control unit/Nexstar software is mature. Like the Polar Alignment routine.
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Fun Stuff:)
Portland, OR
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Jim7728
Postmaster
Reged: 04/10/05
Posts: 5063
Loc: Stoop Landing Observatory, NYC
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Orion Paragon XHD
CG-5 with DADs*
Helix 8" fork
Helix one armed fork
WO Easy Touch
HEQ5 Pro
CG-5GT
Telepod with DSC's*
Giro III*
UA Unistar light*
Giro-mini*
* currently own.
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Jim
Genesis SDF-f/5.4 FS-102-f/8
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jason_milani
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/03/04
Posts: 1734
Loc: Northeast Ohio
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Too many to list. Probably at least 40.
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Celestron C-14
Celestron C-8
Celestron C-5
Orion/Vixen ED114SS APO
William Optics Megrez 72mm ED
Celestron CGE mount
Discmount DM-4
Mallincam Hyper Color Plus
Baader UV/IR Modded Canon 40D
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gnowellsct
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/24/09
Posts: 730
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Quote:
I sold my Super Polaris mount around 5 years ago. What a big mistake. Had it for almost 20 years. I certainly do miss it now.
My current mounts are the G11, CG5 and CG4...all non go-to variety.
There's an SP for sale on Astromart with dual axis drives (the Dec motor adapter, as the saying go, is rare as hen's teeth). It's in the auction section even as we write.
I also sold a super polaris some years ago and ended up buying another one. Too much cheap junk out there. These are well made.
Optical Craftsmen GEM (6")
Opticraft drive on Optical Craftsmen GEM
CG5
Super Polaris
G11
Super Polaris (2)
AP900QMD
Optical Craftsmen (10 inch)
It is my considered opinion that of this bunch the two best are the G11 and AP900QMD (is that a surprise?) followed by the SP and the Optical Craftsmen and in last place the CG5 which made me swear never to buy a mount from China.
Greg N
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"Aperture will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no aperture."
featuring selected astrojunk:
bunch o' widefield eyepieces
bunch o' narrowfield eyepieces
couple o' Barlows
couple o' scopes
couple o' mounts
couple o' tripods
and a pier 'n' stuff
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pennyandchris
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/30/07
Posts: 646
Loc: Horsham, England
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Tal 1 on a pillar - manual - nice and solid but slo-mos only worked one way (against a spring) and had restricted range
Orion GEM1 (aka Kenko NES) - once again nice and solid, but both motor gearboxes broke and proved impossible to repair/replace
Losmandy G11 - borrowed from work for a while (I worked at a University, and they sometimes used it for reasearch with a massive solar detector array)- rock solid, but also rock heavy - well OTT for my small 'scopes
LXD75 - my only GEM now, this is plenty of mount for my 5.5" Mak and probably gets the most use - I don't use the GOTO much
Ambermile Alt-Az - Giro copy - very quick and easy to set up, and solid enough for all my 'scopes
Manfrotto 501 - good for quick looks with my Ranger and Ha PST
Velbon photo tripod - only gets used for the Ranger in daytime and PST if I need to carry them somewhere
Both photo tripods get plenty of use with my SLRs
Edited by pennyandchris (10/29/09 05:39 AM)
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nik hodges
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/20/07
Posts: 756
Loc: UK
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1) lx200"r" fork mount
2) AP900gto3
somewhat of an improvement -)
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AP900gto3
Flurostar 110/TAK TOA 0.75 reducer
Megrez 80mm triplet apo/moonlight focuser
8" LX200R/AP CCDT67 reducer/moonlight focuser
StarlightXpress SXVF-H16 camera/trutek filter wheel
DSI Pro II
Maxim DL/Maxpoint/PEMPro/CCDAP4/Sky6Pro/AdobePS3E
http://www.pbase.com/njh542/images2009
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Mike Clemens
Post Laureate
Reged: 11/26/05
Posts: 4262
Loc: Wasilla, Alaska 61N
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I am on #5
Celestron CG5
Losmandy GM8
Losmandy G11
AP900 QMD
AP1200 GTO
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David Pavlich
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/05
Posts: 8652
Loc: Mandeville, LA USA 30.22 X 90....
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Don't want to list them...it makes me woozie. 
David
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Proud Member; PAS NOLA,
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research..."
A. Einstein
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john 127
member
Reged: 01/17/08
Posts: 22
Loc: Napa, CA
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Quote:
Quote:
how do you like your Stellarvue MG vs your Tak Teegul?
John,
I really like them both. The MG is a little heavier and IMO will take a bit more of a load. However, both are very smooth, have excellent slo-mo controls and with the tension properly set, balance really isn't an issue with either one. I usually use the MG on a SV Stablelock tripod and a Teegul on a TV Gibraltar tripod.
Thanks Phil, I have the MGE also. Based on what you've said I think I'll stick with it.
john
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chicot
super member
Reged: 09/30/08
Posts: 189
Loc: Liverpool, UK
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Why is DEC tracking such an issue? Surely if you get a good enough polar alignment DEC adjustments should be few and far between.
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Meade 10-inch LX200 classic
Williams Optics ZII80
Starlight Xpress SXV-H9
Starlight Xpress Lodestar autoguider
Meade DSI III
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 37132
Loc: Frederick, MD
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Meade EQ-2 GoTo (packaged with a 114mm reflector)
Orion EQ3
Celestron CG-4
Celestron CG-5 (older undriven model with wooden legs - great mount)
Orion Atlas
TV Telepod
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   SLAP Observer (TMB130SS, SV102V, SV80ED)
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
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Sarkikos
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/18/07
Posts: 1052
Loc: Suburban Maryland
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Scott,
Aren't the Orion EQ3 and the Celestron CG4 the same mount with different branding? That was my understanding.
Mike
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Celestron 10" f5 Newt on 1stBase (DSO)
Zhumell 8" f6 Newt, Bosma 6" f12 MCT (NSO)
6" f5 Newt, 130ST, 4.5" f4.4 Ball w/GLP, ST80 w/Crayford (RFTs)
C4-R (NSO/DS)
90mm f13 MCT (Luna/DS)
SkyMaster 25x100, 15x70
Zhumell 20x80
Barska XWA 10x50, 8x40
OptiView LPR 10x50
Const View 2.3x40
BV-125C
CG5, 2 drv / CG4, 2 drv, wood legs, ScopeStuff saddle / CG3, 1 drv
SV AZ / 501HDV on Bogen 055XB / P+ on Oberwerk
QuikFinder, Telrad
Orion Dynamo Pro 12, Dew-Not
Have GLP and not afraid to use it!
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LLEEGE
Running out of Oxygen
Reged: 03/03/05
Posts: 9050
Loc: Cloud-chester,NY
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Quote:
Don't want to list them...it makes me woozie.
David
Me too! More then I care to remember but I'm happy with the current stable. For now. 
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"Okay! You draw the straws. I'm-a taking the parachute."
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4115
Loc: Ireland
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Meade ETX fork. Rubber bands and sponge. Junk.
Meade 8" LX200GPS fork. OK.
Meade 16" LX200GPS fork. Lemon. Gave up on forks.
AP1200GTO. Hooked.
AP600EGTO.
AP400QMD.
Still have all the APs and the 8" Meade.
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-100 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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