113 replies to this topic

[herpmcderpington]

Anyone have thoughts on the new Avalon M-Due? Seems to be a direct competitor to the Mach2: absolute encoders, same price, similar payload. But 90 day wait time vs at least 1 year for the Mach2?

[John Miele]

Just watched their video. Man that mount slews fast! 

[psandelle]

I don't think it has sky-modelling, does it? If not, then the 10Microns/Mach 2's/ASA's have some advantage.

 

Paul

[aneeg]

It has. The X-Solver option includes Sky Model which stores up to 24 stars.

[alphatripleplus]

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look and maybe have another another mount to dream about.

[psandelle]

It has. The X-Solver option includes Sky Model which stores up to 24 stars.

I'm not sure that's the same thing, though, as they have that on the M-Zero's, etc., and they only help with pointing, not with double-axis tracking.

 

Paul

[555aaa]

Does the ASCOM driver for the Avalon mount support variable rate tracking on both axes?

[herpmcderpington]

Does having absolute encoders help with guiding if you don't model?

[psandelle]

Does having absolute encoders help with guiding if you don't model?

In the RA it makes for pretty much zero PE, so there's that. And gusts of wind and bumps get corrected before the guiding has to even correct (at least on my 10Microns it did, never tried it on the APs).

 

Paul

[khursh]

The Mach2 corrects for wind gusts and nudges as well

[psandelle]

The Mach2 corrects for wind gusts and nudges as well

Yes, my phrasing was bad.

 

Paul

[schmeah]

Since the M Due is belt driven like its smaller siblings, correction for wind gusts would be important. Can’t wait to see some user reports on this one. It would be my ideal upgrade, particularly since I’m feeling the need to move to a remote permanent set up due to ever increasing light pollution here.

 

Derek

[psandelle]

Since the M Due is belt driven like its smaller siblings, correction for wind gusts would be important. Can’t wait to see some user reports on this one. It would be my ideal upgrade, particularly since I’m feeling the need to move to a remote permanent set up due to ever increasing light pollution here.

 

Derek

Absolute encoders should do that regardless of the mount mechanics.

 

Paul

[herpmcderpington]

The pre-order special includes a discount of 750 euros, a TPOD 110 and a bunch of accessories, making it a similar price to the Mach2 (if you add the price of a tripod to the Mach2). After the pre-order period it's going to be considerably more expensive with less payload. I would consider it but there are no reviews 

[HxPI]

If this mount could operate in Alt/Az mode I’d consider it over the AP Mach2GTO!

Edited by HxPI, 01 July 2021 - 12:23 PM.

[JethroXP]

If this mount could operate in Alt/Az mode I’d consider it over the AP Mach2GTO!

Can you help me understand why Alt/Az mode would be important?

[HxPI]

Can you help me understand why Alt/Az mode would be important?

It would be nice to have a high quality mount that can work in EQ and Alt/Az mode. Generally speaking, Alt/Az works better for observing while EQ works better for imaging. Best of both works, so to speak. This mount looks like it could be physically oriented to function in Alt/Az mode, with a firmware update to enable such functionality.

 

Other mounts, like the RST-135 and Skywatcher AZ-EQ6, have this capability but they are not really in the same league as the Avalon M-Due!

Edited by HxPI, 11 July 2021 - 06:57 PM.

[JethroXP]

It would be nice to have a high quality mount that can work in EQ and Alt/Az mode. Generally speaking, Alt/Az works better for observing while EQ works better for imaging. Best of both works, so to speak. This mount looks like it could be physically oriented to function in Alt/Az mode, with a firmware update to enable such functionality.

 

Other mounts, like the RST-135 and Skywatcher AZ-EQ6, have this capability but they are not really in the same league as the Avalon M-Due!

Well, I guess I'll find out.  I just placed my pre-order for the M-Due!

[schmeah]

Well, I guess I'll find out.  I just placed my pre-order for the M-Due!

Cool. I’ll be following your progress closely. I was the first here to own an M Uno. Perhaps I’ll be the second to own an M Due

 

Derek

[slee1002]

Hey all,

 

I just received my M-due last week. I pre-ordered it back in Early April so it took a little longer than the estimated 70-90 day delivery date. I'll be replacing my M-uno that I currently have installed in my remote observatory. I'll post more details later after I get some use on it. But so far, I definitely noticed that it's much bigger/beefier than my M-uno. I'm happier with the longer fork arm because it seems like it'll have better clearance for the imaging train on my C11 Edge. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet. But the Stargo2 on the Raspberry Pi 4 is going to take some getting used to. I was previously using the Primalucelab Eagle 3 to control all my imaging sessions on the M-uno.

 

Simon

[JethroXP]

Hey all,

 

I just received my M-due last week. I pre-ordered it back in Early April so it took a little longer than the estimated 70-90 day delivery date. I'll be replacing my M-uno that I currently have installed in my remote observatory. I'll post more details later after I get some use on it. But so far, I definitely noticed that it's much bigger/beefier than my M-uno. I'm happier with the longer fork arm because it seems like it'll have better clearance for the imaging train on my C11 Edge. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet. But the Stargo2 on the Raspberry Pi 4 is going to take some getting used to. I was previously using the Primalucelab Eagle 3 to control all my imaging sessions on the M-uno.

 

Simon

Oh wow!  Very Cool!  Can you post some photos the mount and the StarGo2 controller?

[schmeah]

Hey all,

 

I just received my M-due last week. I pre-ordered it back in Early April so it took a little longer than the estimated 70-90 day delivery date. I'll be replacing my M-uno that I currently have installed in my remote observatory. I'll post more details later after I get some use on it. But so far, I definitely noticed that it's much bigger/beefier than my M-uno. I'm happier with the longer fork arm because it seems like it'll have better clearance for the imaging train on my C11 Edge. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet. But the Stargo2 on the Raspberry Pi 4 is going to take some getting used to. I was previously using the Primalucelab Eagle 3 to control all my imaging sessions on the M-uno.

 

Simon

Nice! Numero Uno with the M-Due! Can’t wait to hear your initial reports and see your images.

 

Derek

[slee1002]

Here's some photos of my M-due. (Ignore the positioning of the C11 and extra counterweights.) I didn't reposition the fork arm to do the rough balancing of the ota. I simply mounted the ota for scaling purposes. I haven't had much time to play around with it except to do some quick test slewing and browse through the menus in the Stargo 2 controller.

 

[JethroXP]

Here's some photos of my M-due. (Ignore the positioning of the C11 and extra counterweights.) I didn't reposition the fork arm to do the rough balancing of the ota. I simply mounted the ota for scaling purposes. I haven't had much time to play around with it except to do some quick test slewing and browse through the menus in the Stargo 2 controller.

 

Very cool!  The StarGo2 is bigger than I was expecting.  Is that meant just to be a mount controller (similar to the Celestron hand controller) or is it meant to control guiding and image sequencing as well?  I was expecting that I would still use a mini-PC with N.I.N.A and PHD2.

[herpmcderpington]

Here's some photos of my M-due. (Ignore the positioning of the C11 and extra counterweights.) I didn't reposition the fork arm to do the rough balancing of the ota. I simply mounted the ota for scaling purposes. I haven't had much time to play around with it except to do some quick test slewing and browse through the menus in the Stargo 2 controller.

Build quality looks amazing. I actually ended up getting the 10micron gm1000hps. Can the stargo2 build mount models to allow for unguided imaging?