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SW AZ GTi for

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#1 paulsky

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 04:58 AM

Hello, 

Can support the SW AZ GTi mount one SW ED80/600 Evostar model? Without vibrations? 

Thanks

Paul


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#2 maxsid

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 05:01 AM

Yes but not perfectly


Edited by maxsid, 13 February 2024 - 05:02 AM.


#3 Tapio

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 05:14 AM

For visual it may work and I suspect there will be vibrations.



#4 AstroApe

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 07:34 AM

The mount and column would work fairly well for visual, but I'd want a better tripod than the factory one. I use a beefy little 70mm f/6 on mine with heavy 2" diagonal & eyepiece and use it for LW with a 2" Herschel Wedge, and although it's pretty solid I wouldn't want to go much bigger.



#5 PKDfan

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 09:54 AM



Hi Paul !!

Yes it does very well with a 7pound load with very minimal vibes. Not perfect but very close and damps out very quickly.

I use the old photographers trick of hanging a weight on it.


Super little mount !!



CS

#6 Oldfracguy

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 12:14 PM

I know of another CN member who uses the SW AZ-GTi to mount an Astro-Tech AT80ED:

 

AT80ED spacers on SW AZ-GTi from sevonofnine on CN.jpg

 

 

The SW 80ED Evostar weighs a little less, so you should be fine.


Edited by Oldfracguy, 13 February 2024 - 12:15 PM.

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#7 rkaufmann87

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 12:29 PM

It will support it but it will shake, I had mine out last night with my AT92EDT and it shook for about 5-10 seconds on each go-to move and then it settled down. If you are using it for visual only then it should be okay, however if you plan on doing any AP then it will work but you need to be ready to set the imaging software for long settle periods and don't expect extremely high accuracy. 



#8 paulsky

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 03:23 PM

It's Only for visual.. 

But 5 ir 10 second maybe is bad, no? 



#9 rkaufmann87

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 04:39 PM

5-10 seconds for settle time isn't horrible, it just depends on your level of patience. Personally I don't love it.


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#10 Oldfracguy

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 06:21 PM

5-10 seconds for settle time isn't horrible, it just depends on your level of patience. Personally I don't love it.

I agree.  3 to 5 seconds of residual shaking is more tolerable, but even that may be too much if you are tracking a target at high mangification.

 

If the SW AZ-GTi mount is the one you want to use, that's OK for one of these 80mm ED refractors.  One way to deal with the residual shaking is to hold the diagonal gently when the scope is tracking after you have acquired a target.



#11 cst4

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 06:23 PM

I recommend buying just the mount head and putting it on a sturdier tripod.  It fits great on my Bogen 475.  Using that combo I've ran 4" F/7 refractors and a 6" SCT w/ 2" accessories just fine.  It can track a planet about 20 min before I need to recenter.  I've even taken 30 seconds pictures with no star trailing in alt az mode w/ those scopes.  It's a very capable mount if it's aligned right and on a good tripod.  


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#12 PKDfan

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 08:22 PM



When optimized my shakes last less than a second.

Need to hold the mount down with extra weight hanging off the centerline then its darn near perfect for such a tiny mount.

BUT: using my 100mm F/9 i might see a precipitous dropoff in performance. IDK yet.


CS

#13 sevenofnine

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Posted 13 February 2024 - 10:11 PM

There are pro's and con's to the S/W AZ-GTi. I've had this mount (see post #6)  3 years and still mostly like it. First the pro's.

1) Very light weight and portable. Literally one hand pickup and carry.

2) Tracking/finding/identifying objects using an app on your cell phone.

3) Sturdy enough for up to an 80mm doublet refractor or 5" Mak/SCT. 

4) Optional hand controller available.

Now the con's.

1) Needs a heavier tripod for 102mm refractors or 6" Mak/SCT.

2) Finding & tracking only work left side mount with objective up.

3) Mount needs a Firmware Update to work right side objective up.

4) Firmware Update has been known to either fail to load (my case) or worst case...

5) Brick the mount shocked.gif

6) Spacers are needed to operate focuser in the normal position.

 

So, it's not a mount for everyone. If the pro's outweigh the con's for you then you will like it borg.gif


Edited by sevenofnine, 13 February 2024 - 10:12 PM.

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#14 Oldfracguy

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Posted 14 February 2024 - 01:11 AM

There are pro's and con's to the S/W AZ-GTi. I've had this mount (see post #6)  3 years and still mostly like it. First the pro's.

1) Very light weight and portable. Literally one hand pickup and carry.

2) Tracking/finding/identifying objects using an app on your cell phone.

3) Sturdy enough for up to an 80mm doublet refractor or 5" Mak/SCT. 

4) Optional hand controller available.

Now the con's.

1) Needs a heavier tripod for 102mm refractors or 6" Mak/SCT.

2) Finding & tracking only work left side mount with objective up.

3) Mount needs a Firmware Update to work right side objective up.

4) Firmware Update has been known to either fail to load (my case) or worst case...

5) Brick the mount shocked.gif

6) Spacers are needed to operate focuser in the normal position.

 

So, it's not a mount for everyone. If the pro's outweigh the con's for you then you will like it borg.gif

Thanks for all that info.

 

If you replaced the lightweight tripod that comes with the SW AZ-GTi with something like a ZWO TC40 carbon fiber tripod, do you think the scope would be more stable, with less time for the vibrations to dampen out?



#15 rkaufmann87

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Posted 14 February 2024 - 11:48 AM

Another possible solution  to the shakes is to buy a sand bag and hang it from the bottom of the tripod for additional weight stability. Less expensive than a new tripod too.



#16 jcj380

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Posted 14 February 2024 - 12:05 PM

I bought an AZ-GTi (mount only) in December, but haven't been able to use it on my carbon fiber RT90C tripod yet (except in my living room).

 

I plan to run all my scopes on it - AT50, AT72ED, ST80, and ST102.  If the weather, etc. cooperate, I'm going to test it out for visual this weekend.



#17 cst4

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Posted 14 February 2024 - 12:37 PM

Thanks for all that info.

 

If you replaced the lightweight tripod that comes with the SW AZ-GTi with something like a ZWO TC40 carbon fiber tripod, do you think the scope would be more stable, with less time for the vibrations to dampen out?

 

Definitely.  The AZ-GTi mount head itself is actually quite sturdy.  I own an SV M2 mount head along with the AZ-GTi and swap the heads back on forth on my various heavy duty photo tripods.  With either mount head, the weak link causing vibrations is still the tripod so the amount of vibration between the two heads remains similar.  I've actually ran a 16lb 8" cass set up on the GTi and vibrations still didn't seem bothersome (you touch everything less when it is tracking).  But the gears just could not handle the load smoothly so I only did that once.  My 6" SCT with rings/handle and 2" accessories is about 13lbs and that is the most the gears can handle without noticeable straining and performance falloff. 

 

I will note that I use a small counterweight with scopes near the capacity limit to better balance the load.  I also keep a pan-head base under the GTi and use that for manual azimuth movements instead of using the frustratingly small GTi clutch.  I just tightened that as much as possible years ago and have been using the panhead ever since instead for horizontal movements.   


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#18 sevenofnine

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Posted 14 February 2024 - 01:23 PM

Another important Pro for this mount is the wireless control of movement. Once you've focused the scope, there's really no need to touch it again. The electronic altazimuth movements vary between 9 ( fast) & 1(x-slow) which are very smooth and vibrationless borg.gif


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#19 rkaufmann87

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Posted 14 February 2024 - 02:28 PM

Another important Pro for this mount is the wireless control of movement. Once you've focused the scope, there's really no need to touch it again. The electronic altazimuth movements vary between 9 ( fast) & 1(x-slow) which are very smooth and vibrationless borg.gif

For most of us we touch the scope when we begin looking through the eyepiece, hence shaking. If you are using it for AP (IMHO not the best solution) you are right, it shouldn't shake once set up.



#20 ronrrm

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Posted 15 February 2024 - 09:23 AM

Screenshot 2024-02-15 081816.png 20240211_172719s.jpg So, I was on the Astronomics website with a AM3 in the cart...then the sky cleared.  I put this little rig out on the deck, ran through my setup (level, polar aligned and focused) and started imaging. 

 

Albeit, not an 80, just a 72 on a AZGTi that I recently stripped down, cleaned, tightened and lubricated.  All-in the payload is around 6lbs +/- (can't recall exactly), painstakingly balanced.

 

Guiding was sub .8 almost all night with pretty good seeing, occasional light clouds ran it up to 1.6ish.  About 4hours in, guiding went to over 4.00...then I realized it's not a good idea to try to guide through tree branches.

 

Needless to say, I cleared the shopping cart and will not be parting with almost 5x the cost of the AZGTi...for now at least.  I'm still believing the AM3 or 5 is going to do better than my AZGTi in many other situations. 

 

 

I'd say for the money, the AZGTi will do the job.

 

rm


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#21 Oldfracguy

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Posted 15 February 2024 - 10:36 AM

One of the actually cool things about the tripod that comes with the Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi, AZ5, AZ Pronto and maybe other SW mounts is that you can take advantage of that black plastic triangular accessory tray / leg brace that "ronrrm" above has left off the tripod in Post #20 above. I used a 1.25" hole saw and made six holes for 1.25" eyepieces in the tripod I got with my SW AZ Pronto:

 

101_2092.JPG

 

101_2093.JPG

 

 

By the way, those AT72EDII scopes rule on small mounts like this:

 

101_2495.JPG

 

 

 


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#22 ronrrm

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Posted 15 February 2024 - 10:43 AM

ah ha...I forgot about that piece...thanks for the heads up.  Probably a good idea to use it to stiffen the tripod and maybe add some weight.



#23 archer1960

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Posted 15 February 2024 - 10:49 AM

That DIY eyepiece holder is a great idea! I'm definitely going to do that; just need to get a hole saw for my drill.


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#24 Oldfracguy

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Posted 15 February 2024 - 10:56 AM

That DIY eyepiece holder is a great idea! I'm definitely going to do that; just need to get a hole saw for my drill.

 

Here is what they look like:

 

101_2091.JPG

 

 

One thing I would have done differently was to have made at least one 2" hole to hold a 2" eyepiece.  I thought I was only going to use 1.25" eyepieces with a 1.25" Diagonal, and a 1.25" 25mm Paradigm I bought a few months ago works really well, but how can you resist using 2" eyepieces when the scope has a 2" focuser?


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#25 Waydeo

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Posted 15 February 2024 - 12:33 PM

How would a tripod like this one work for visual and imaging ?

SIRUI AM-254 Carbon Fiber Camera Tripod • Load up to 12kg/26.5lbs • 10-Layer Carbon Fiber

https://www.amazon.c...214&sr=1-3&th=1




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