Briefly, new user of a newly purchased AZMP. I have done nothing to it, and used it for the first time this afternoon after the sun had nearly set and was behind trees. Initializing, the mount revolved, and then asked if I wanted to align. I said yes, and let it find what it wanted (a reasonable first attempt to see if I can have confidence in it, and also if I understand the prompts and 'quick start' guide). It went to the Sun, which it apparently thought was about 5 deg below the western horizon. Not a salutary start.
I managed to get to the point, poking buttons, to where it offered to find Venus. Progress! I accepted the invitation, and it slewed to within 5 or six degrees of Venus, with about the correct altitude on the 127 Mak I had mounted. I couldn't see Venus in the view, and nor could I spot it in the glare of the western horizon at sunset. So I shut off the mount, but not before asking it to find its neutral/zero position. It did that, but was about 6 degrees westerly from where it had started when I began the initializing procedure (I used my phone compass to aim the mount's head due south before powering up the first time).
Hmmm. I picked up the mount, OTA and all, and rotated it due south again. I also touched up the altitude by about two degrees because it was tilted. Lined up the scope's tube with a vertical edge of the mount head. Verified that the mount was level...again. I went inside for a while, waiting for Venus to show up better.
Went out 15 minutes later and saw Venus right away when I looked up. Good. Started up the mount, it rotated, and when I asked it to look for a solar system object, this time it offered the Moon. Good, that is what I had hoped for 20 minutes earlier. It was not offered then. I let the mount find the Moon, which I was relieved to find it do almost correctly, and I aligned it with the direction/arrow buttons (maybe 20 minutes in both alt/az). Pressed enter, and I enjoyed the Moon for several minutes, and even got the missus to come take a look.
With all that reported, did I actually do it some good when the mount had been turned off, zero'd, and I moved the tripod in azimuth, and also did a slight tilt adjustment to get the OTA and its clamp very close to vertical? I was sure the mount would be off by many degrees due to my changes. It seemed, from reading several threads over the past four/five years, that returning the mount to zero is important. Apparently....not quite so much?
Have pretty much all of you purchased the teflon washer from biz and replaced the stock one? I think I'm beginning to appreciate why. There's no give to the metal one, and it will loosen with even the slightest backing off of the ring. BYW, iOptron is including the small pins for that locking knob now. At least, four of them were provided to me. Some of you won't be so happy to see this. 
I didn't bother leveling the tripod. I appreciate that it would need to be leveled mostly, closely, on rocky and uneven terrain, even on gravel, but when I was using it this evening it was on a concrete driveway, pretty close to level. So, I relied on the leveling knobs to do what was needed to level the mount. Also, because I didn't want to do a lot of work or buy anything, I cut out a section of the sliding window-mounting plastic adjustable (telescoping) inserts that one would use for a portable air conditioner...if you follow my description. If you use a portable air conditioner tower, the outflow must be directed out a nearby window, and the large hose mounts on a telescoping insert that you slide the window back against. It has curved sides. I cut out a section of that, unused of course, and laid that atop the mount head, over the GPS cover, curved edges down so that the whole was suspended above the curved cap and the GPS cap. I then used a digital torpedo level at 90 deg, but laid at 45 deg like a crossbuck at a railroad. Might be an idea for some of you.
Another question: I have read that some units would not take a substantial charge, if at all, when their users first got them. Mine charged, with the red LED showing on the wall wart, for about 35 minutes, and then the light went green. That didn't seem right to me, but...what do I know? I waited until the next day and tried again, but this time the red LED turned to green at about the 8 minute mark. In total today, the mount was powered maybe 20 minutes and it didn't have a single hiccup in motion, and the paddle responded to every tap I placed on it. What I don't know, unless you can point out an indicator, whether on the body or on the paddle, how much charge it had, and how much of it is left. ??? How long did yours first charge, if you can recall all this time later?
As a quick report of its performance, I mounted a roughly 10 lb. MAK OTA with Tak 1.25" prism and a 32 mm Televue Plossl on the primary side, and I felt I needed to balance it with the single 10 lb smallish counterweight on the B side. The counterweight was maybe an inch away from the knurled locking collar for the slide-out counterweight tube. Not far at all. I'm happy to report that the mount operated like a champ, no grinding or groaning....gratifyingly quiet!! Both axes.
So far, I like the mount and have confidence in it. I haven't seen anything that makes me feel it's going to be some trouble to get it to operate reliably. It seems very well designed and made. The paddle hangar....maybe it was always meant to be disposable? I think a molded receptacle might have been a better idea, built right into the mount head.
That got a little long and convoluted. Thanks for anything you care to offer.
