Telescope Reviews: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ?

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Equipment Discussions >> Mounts

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Keith Howlett
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 03/06/07

Loc: Northumberland, UK

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: dothead]
#4420254 - 03/01/11 10:05 PM

Quote:

The question is, can we take the manufacturer's stated capacity as gospel ?
In the light that some are more conservative than others with their specs.

Don't want to stir a hornet's nest, but are there opinions if the Pm ME ("150lbs cap.") is as beefy as the AP1200 ("140lbs cap.) ?

As a purely visual guy, I don't like to use a labtop in the field (like the Pm ME requires).

Regards,

Ralph

Hi Ralph,

You see quite a few 20 inch RCOS mounted on Paramounts and these weigh 163 lbs without cameras and accessories. I don't think I would get away with that on my AP1200 but I think it would cope with the advertised cat/cass type 140 lbs load. (It was loaded to this level by the previous owner with no ill effects.)

Cheers,

Keith

Post Extras:

skybsd
Post Laureate

Reged: 02/01/08

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: Alph]
#4420656 - 03/02/11 03:16 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

It is right now on sale for $12,500. It is a steal for anyone from the euro zone.

Errr., Nope, nope , and..., no

Regards,

skybsd

Sure, but he does not have to use an european dealer.

Indeed - I don't disagree with you..,

But unless such a buyer is willing to be creative - they're stuck with SB's EU distributorship's pricing

Regards,

skybsd

Post Extras:

dothead
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/13/08

Loc: Heidelberg, Germany

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: Keith Howlett]
#4420706 - 03/02/11 04:58 AM

Keith,

many thanks for your reply.

The question is how a mount will handle not a heavy, compact, but a "lightweight", but extremely long OTA.

While going lightweight with a long OTA (I'll use Carbon Fibre as material) sounds a good idea as far as portability of it is concerned, this also decreases the OTA's inertia against torque forces, like wind - talk about surface to mass ratio.

Guess I have to do real sound calculations to get a better idea of the matter - or better still, mount the 8" f/20 CFK refractor OTA on an AP1200 of someone else's first and see how the setup behaves...

Regards,

Ralph

Post Extras:

Keith Howlett
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 03/06/07

Loc: Northumberland, UK

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: dothead]
#4422208 - 03/02/11 07:15 PM

Hi Ralph,

That's understood and it's a question for the good people at Astro-Physics. They are very helpful, it would be worth a phone call.

Cheers,

Keith

Post Extras:

Duncan Kitchin
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 12/16/04

Loc: Beaverton, OR, USA

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: Alph]
#4422674 - 03/02/11 11:10 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

It is right now on sale for $12,500. It is a steal for anyone from the euro zone.

Errr., Nope, nope , and..., no

Regards,

skybsd

Sure, but he does not have to use an european dealer.

I'm not so sure about that - buying from outside of Europe and having it shipped can be expensive - particularly if customs stop the package in transit (becomes more likely with large packages) and demand the payment of 20% VAT...

Regards & Clear Skies
Duncan

Post Extras:

RogerRZ
Whatta you lookin' at?

Reged: 01/09/06

Loc: West Collette, NB, Canada

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: Duncan Kitchin]
#4423402 - 03/03/11 09:49 AM

One also has to put himself in a mount manufacturer's shoes.

Is there a market for a mount that can handle an 8" f/20 refractor. I don't know how many are actually out there, and of them how many of them would spring for a $20000 mount?

Post Extras:

dothead
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/13/08

Loc: Heidelberg, Germany

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: RogerRZ]
#4423818 - 03/03/11 12:53 PM

yes of course, nothing to be said against this.

But let's consider you own a CDK 20 at a private observatory.

The AP 1200 (capacity 140lbs) would struggle with this scope (140lbs OTA) and auxilliary equipment.

The AP 3600 (capacity 300+lbs) would seem to somehow be "overkill" for this setup.

The "AP2400" (capacity 200ish lbs) would be the ideal mount for this scope, and cost less than the 3600.

Regards,

Ralph

Post Extras:

wz2
Most Boring Astronomer...

Reged: 07/30/10

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: dothead]
#4424572 - 03/03/11 07:12 PM

I don't think any manufacturer wants to proliferate mounts in this price/capacity range. There's just not a big enough market.

Plus you're talking "private observatory" and CDK20 class instruments. A CDK20 is $32k for the scope alone. What's a comparable aperture RCOS go for, $50k? With scope, mount, dome, etc you're easily looking at rigs in the $100k range +.

I suspect the price difference between a hypothetical "AP2400" and the AP3600 would be relatively immaterial to a player in this range. Hence, not much motivation for AP to market one.

Just my opinion.

Chris

Post Extras:

dothead
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/13/08

Loc: Heidelberg, Germany

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: wz2]
#4424694 - 03/03/11 07:58 PM

so, the poor ol' 8" f/20 refractor...

Post Extras:

wz2
Most Boring Astronomer...

Reged: 07/30/10

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: dothead]
#4424780 - 03/03/11 08:36 PM

Ralph,

Won't this 8" f/20 scope create quite the torque moment arm across your broad German shoulders as well? It will be at least 14' long I'm assuming. You're looking for a portable mount so I'm thinking the whole set up will be portable, including scope?

Chris

ps Been to Munich - drank beer at Oktoberfest (lots) - it was fun

Post Extras:

dothead
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/13/08

Loc: Heidelberg, Germany

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: wz2]
#4424818 - 03/03/11 08:57 PM

will transport tube and lens separately... (get modular!)

shall be "movable" until I'll manage to build a home for it...

it can be done (see Ziggy's 9" f/15 Clark).

done too many tracks in Nepal and have seen the Sherpas strut their stuff...

Ralph

Edited by dothead (03/03/11 08:59 PM)

Post Extras:

wz2
Most Boring Astronomer...

Reged: 07/30/10

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? new

[Re: dothead]
#4424853 - 03/03/11 09:21 PM

Ralph,

Won't this thing also need a rather large (tall) tripod or pier to keep the focuser / eyepiece from scraping the ground?

Chris

Trekked Nepal myself. Flew into Lukla (before they paved the runway). I'm dating myself.

Post Extras:

dothead
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/13/08

Loc: Heidelberg, Germany

Re: Ultimate capacity yet portable mount: AP 2400GTO ? [Re: wz2]
#4425915 - 03/04/11 01:39 PM

yes - I'll go for a height-adjustable pier (ala Pier-Tech), offered by a local company (normally for industrial applications):

minimum height: 60"
maximum height: 100"

With the additional 15" height of the mount, the eyepice will be about 25" above the ground when OTA is pointed at zenith.

Regards,

Ralph

Edited by dothead (03/04/11 01:43 PM)

Post Extras:

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