My original post was here: https://www.cloudyni...4#entry10517016
It turned out that, as one should have expected, the cheap mount from TS was indeed cheap. It developed severe tilting in Az axis which I could not adjust away. Additionally I found out that there were cracks in the cast aluminium part of the mount. So I returned it and TS immediately returned my money. I was again looking for a mount. I went all over and checked small and light, heavy and sturdy and everything in between. Also discussed here in CN and changed a couple of private messages to get my bearings.
As per my original quest "do not spend more than what was gained from selling AP gear" I was trying my best and sold some other hobby stuff (not astro) which I haven't been using for a while. And I finally pulled the trigger: I got Scopetech Mount Zero from FLO in UK and Leofoto LS-364C from Dext in Sweden. Then I re-arranged my transport case to house the arm part of the mount (bottom part is attached to the tripod and carried along with it), digiscoping adapter and a placeholder for the Quark once the sun is again up here in Finland.
The mount is about 1.4 kg (3.1 pounds) and the tripod about 1.8 kg (4 pounds). Yet the combo feels solid enough and is really portable. I can get the setup out from the cases and ready to observe in under 2 minutes. And naturally the mount is at a completely different level than the cheap mount I tried.
So, to but it short, the updated setup is here:
- TS 80 / 480 mm FPL53 triplet APO
- Baader T-2 / 2" nose piece
- Baader T-2 prism diagonal (Baader #2456095)
- Baader 1.7x Glass patch corrector
- Baader Maxbright II binoviewer (Baader #2456460B)
- Baader Hyperion zoom mark IV (Baader #2454826)
- Scopetech Mount Zero Alt-Az (still waiting some slowmotion knobs)
- Leofoto Ranger LS-364C carbon fibre tripod
The last photo has my phone and a mandarin to show the scale.
Edit: By clicking either image, you'll get to see a few more. E.g. inside of the transport case (I did not want to spam this thread by adding too many photos).
Edited by cmas, 12 November 2020 - 09:09 AM.