33 replies to this topic

[Rasfahan]

I‘m currently using a RST-135 for imaging and visual with up to a 130mm apo and it works well. A 8“ f/6 Newtonian is marginal. I have a 12“ motorized Dob but that‘s a beast to move over the stairs. I do crave more aperture in a rather portable package for visual and planetary imaging. I have a remote setup for DSO imaging and for travel to southern skies I‘ll use the RST. The RST-135 while overall very nice has a few small nitpicks I‘ld like to overcome at the same time. Budget is of secondary concern. So, here‘s a list of requirements:

• Carry a C11 or 6“ refractor well, preferably without counterweights
• Alt/AZ and EQ-mode
• Stable and easy-to-use polar wedge/alignment
• Hand controller with multi-star pointing model so no leveling necessary for alt/az visual (really spoiled by the RST)
• weight < 15kg
• break for power failure

Currently my list includes the RST-300 (which has no break), the Ioptron HAE69 (that needs leveling) and the Nyx-101 (where I couldn‘t find any review of the hand controller for visual). Have I missed anything that ticks all boxes?

[Jim Waters]

I have seen old posts saying the NYX-101 is or was problematic.  I don't recall the issues.  FYI - I had several Pegasus Astro products and I found their support marginal.

 

EDIT

RST-300 - Built-in brake (RA Axis). From their website.

Edited by Jim Waters, 22 March 2025 - 01:47 AM.

[Vince_VdB]

I have seen old posts saying the NYX-101 is or was problematic.  I don't recall the issues.  FYI - I had several Pegasus Astro products and I found their support marginal.

 

EDIT

RST-300 - Built-in brake (RA Axis). From their website.

I have a totally different experience with their support service. I get my answer within 24 hours, mostly on the same day and now twice on a Sunday that I got my answer.

With the NYX-101 do I get throughout the night 0.31 arc sec on guiding, not bad at all. The scope has a Pegasus Focuscube V3 and are all devices connected to the Pegasus Powerbox Ultimate V3 with a Mele Quieter 4c running NINA.

[iamstickman]

I purchased the Rainbow Astro RST-300 last fall and have been very pleased with it's performance. It's a beast !!
My biggest rig is the Askar 130PHQ, all in it's about 37lbs. I guide typically around .4 to .6 all without a counterweight.

I have ambitions on purchasing a RASA 11 later this year, so I figure I'm future proofed with this mount though I may need a counter weight with the RASA for my own personal comfort level. 

It sits in a Avalon T-Pod 110, which with the legs fully extended is extremely stable.

As Jim noted above, it does have RA dynamic braking. 

Expensive...YES. But I'm hoping it's the last mount I'll need for the scopes I currently own and hope to purchase in the future.....but who really can say. 

[psandelle]

I purchased the Rainbow Astro RST-300 last fall and have been very pleased with it's performance. It's a beast !!
My biggest rig is the Askar 130PHQ, all in it's about 37lbs. I guide typically around .4 to .6 all without a counterweight.

I have ambitions on purchasing a RASA 11 later this year, so I figure I'm future proofed with this mount though I may need a counter weight with the RASA for my own personal comfort level. 

It sits in a Avalon T-Pod 110, which with the legs fully extended is extremely stable.

As Jim noted above, it does have RA dynamic braking. 

Expensive...YES. But I'm hoping it's the last mount I'll need for the scopes I currently own and hope to purchase in the future.....but who really can say. 

The key for me with my RST-135 was an Avalon T-Pod (the 70) as well. Makes things still light but OOOOO so much more stable. (Granted, I have an Avalon UPAS betwixt mount and tripod, which is a big ol' hunk of metal, too.)

The one RST-300 I played with was GREAT! My choice if I ever wanted to move up in size with a SWG mount, but I have my 10Micron in that spot, which is superior to any of the SWG mounts of the moment, so I'm not doing that. Yet. (When I had and reviewed the first Rainbow Astro SWG mount, the RST-150, the first thing I did was get in touch with 10Micron to see if they'd ever use a SWG for their mounts. It was not to be, though.)

Paul

Edited by psandelle, 22 March 2025 - 05:39 PM.

[calypsob]

Ive been looking close at a jtw trident but I think a harmonic drive for my focal lengths under 1200mm is doable. It would be nice not yo require s 66lb head.

The Hobym Crux 200 can do 66lbs with a weight
There seems to be some bugs that need ironing with its control

The ioptron supposedly does up to 69lbs but I have not witnessed a non ec in stock for many months. Its price also is high for a chinese import. The one review of it for imaging on youtube concluded with the buyer returning it and getting another mount.

The rst300 is rated 66lbs just like hobym but priced so high id rather go with an ap mach 2 or 1100. Ive heard great thing about this and regret not buying a used one for almost half off

[iamstickman]

The key for me with my RST-135 was an Avalon T-Pod (the 70) as well. Makes things still light but OOOOO so much more stable. (Granted, I have an Avalon UPAS betwixt mount and tripod, which is a big ol' hunk of metal, too.)

The one RST-300 I played with was GREAT! My choice if I ever wanted to move up in size with a SWG mount, but I have my 10Micron in that spot, which is superior to any of the SWG mounts of the moment, so I'm not doing that. Yet. (When I had and reviewed the first Rainbow Astro SWG mount, the RST-150, the first thing I did was get in touch with 10Micron to see if they'd ever use a SWG for their mounts. It was not to be, though.)

Paul

I would love to see Rainbow Astro release an RST-300E. I had the RST-135E prior to buying the 300, and was really impressed with its guiding.

A GREAT mount for the money.
The 10Micron is a beautiful mount, but I really wanted some portability. If I every build the observatory of my dreams, that would be mount.

 

-Michael

Edited by iamstickman, 22 March 2025 - 06:44 PM.

[Rasfahan]

Maybe I should clarify again: I am not interested in DSO imaging for this mount. I have a GM2000 for that. I want a portable-as-can-be setup for visual and planetary. The break in RA of the RST-300 won’t be much help when I use it in ALT/AZ mode (RA is AZ then).

Edited by Rasfahan, 22 March 2025 - 07:00 PM.

[astrohamp]

If purely visual therefore attending the mount, why is an axis break critical? 

 

Else balance OTA, add a pier, and be mindful of the OTA length that could impact a tripod leg.

 

I added a pier extension to my 135e tripod, and put an extension ring between the mount head and saddle plate in order to reduce leg contact potential.

[psandelle]

Maybe I should clarify again: I am not interested in DSO imaging for this mount. I have a GM2000 for that. I want a portable-as-can-be setup for visual and planetary. The break in RA of the RST-300 won’t be much help when I use it in ALT/AZ mode (RA is AZ then).

Ooooooooooooooooh. In that case, I'd go for one of the larger iOptron HAZ mounts. Fantastic for visual and you can do some nice planetary with them. Love my HAZ31 to death. The only particular is you REALLY have to level them well if you want to do super-accurate slewings away from the quadrant they're in.

Paul

[slavicek]

Maybe I should clarify again: I am not interested in DSO imaging for this mount. I have a GM2000 for that. I want a portable-as-can-be setup for visual and planetary. The break in RA of the RST-300 won’t be much help when I use it in ALT/AZ mode (RA is AZ then).

That is why I got mine, portable and for visual. It handles my TEC-180 with no problem. I use it in Alt-Az. The lack of a break is not real issue, especially if you have your scope "sort of/ball park" balanced.

[Kenb196006]

 

Currently my list includes the RST-300 (which has no break), the Ioptron HAE69 (that needs leveling) and the Nyx-101 (where I couldn‘t find any review of the hand controller for visual). Have I missed anything that ticks all boxes?

Regarding the Nyx-101 hand controller, my experience with it is that at best it is hit-and-miss. Sometimes it connects, and sometimes it doesn't. I have never been able to determine why sometimes it won't connect. The cable provided for it is too short for most use. If your eyepiece placement is such that it is close to the mount, the cable is OK, but if you are using something like a 30" or longer focal length refractor, the cable is too short. It is also difficult to center objects with the hand controller when slewing at a high rate of speed (e.g., 128X or more) since when you remove your finger from the directional buttons, the telescope continues to slew a short ways before it finally stops. Finally, if you are interested in daytime observing, the hand controller is useless unless you already have your target within your field of view, you are happy with the slewing speed, and only press the directional buttons. If you try to do anything else, the screen is simply too dim to read under bright daylight. I found it was necessary to hold the hand controller in some kind of box in order to read the screen. This was true even when maximum contrast (brightness) was selected for the hand controller screen. 

 

So, my view of the Nyx-101 is that it is really best controlled by an actual computer. That has been the only thing I've found reasonably reliable (I have had a small number of connection issues even with the computer). The hand controller is iffy, and even using a smart phone can be challenging as well if you have a number of other wireless networks in range.

 

I have issues with the Nyx mount itself, but those issues have been discussed in past threads, so no need to repeat what's been said.

 

Ken

[Rasfahan]

If purely visual therefore attending the mount, why is an axis break critical? 

 

Else balance OTA, add a pier, and be mindful of the OTA length that could impact a tripod leg.

 

I added a pier extension to my 135e tripod, and put an extension ring between the mount head and saddle plate in order to reduce leg contact potential.

Because I don’t want to tear down everything when I’m taking a break and want the option to keep it set up for a bit longer under a cover. I’ve found it needs very little imbalance for the RST-135 to back drive - enough that changing eyepieces would result in needing to rebalance. I’m just lazy that way.

[w7ay]

Currently my list includes the RST-300 (which has no break), the Ioptron HAE69 (that needs leveling) and the Nyx-101 (where I couldn‘t find any review of the hand controller for visual). Have I missed anything that ticks all boxes?

I won't be able to handle any scope that needs the load capacity beyond the RST-135/RST-135e.   But if I did, I would pick the RST-300 over the others.  At least you get real Harmonic Drive LLC strain wave gears, and not Chinese copies.

 

And yes, the RST-300 has an RA brake, in case of power loss.

 

My only reservation with the RST-300 is the lack of an encoder model.  With the RST-135e, I get a worthwhile improvement not just with holding planets inside a smaller ROI than my RST-135 when not autoguiding, but the "e" also autoguides better.

 

Does a WarpAstron WD-20 have the load capacity that you need?  It at least, like the RainbowAstros, use servo motors instead of stepper motors.  The other mount to consider are the Hobym (like RainbowAstro, also Korean). They have models that go all the way to 100 kg load capacity.

 

Chen

Edited by w7ay, 22 March 2025 - 11:44 PM.

[Rasfahan]

I won't be able to handle any scope that needs the load capacity beyond the RST-135/RST-135e.   But if I did, I would pick the RST-300 over the others.  At least you get real Harmonic Drive LLC strain wave gears, and not Chinese copies.

 

And yes, the RST-300 has an RA brake, in case of power loss.

 

My only reservation with the RST-300 is the lack of an encoder model.  With the RST-135e, I get a worthwhile improvement not just with holding planets inside a smaller ROI than my RST-135 when not autoguiding, but the "e" also autoguides better.

 

Does a WarpAstron WD-20 have the load capacity that you need?  It at least, like the RainbowAstros, use servo motors instead of stepper motors.  The other mount to consider are the Hobym (like RainbowAstro, also Korean). They have models that go all the way to 100 kg load capacity.

 

Chen

Visual and planetary only, so no encoders needed. In alt/az, the RA break is no help.

 

The WarpAstron seems marginal. I imagine it‘s about the same capacity/stability as the RST-135, just overstated. Also, no break on DEC/ALT.

 

I can‘t find a EU vendor for HobyM. 
 

Also, I just looked up the RST-300 again after a few months. I said budget was secondary, but it‘s €12k here now. That‘s firmly out of budget. I can buy 3 iOptron mounts for that.

Edited by Rasfahan, 23 March 2025 - 12:11 AM.

[mayhem13]

Sky Watcher wave 150i guides my C 9.25 with full imaging payload and no CW just fine…….Capacity without CW is 33 lbs…..C11 is 27.5 lbs. add a diag and eyepieces…..you’re all good.

[Rasfahan]

Sky Watcher wave 150i guides my C 9.25 with full imaging payload and no CW just fine…….Capacity without CW is 33 lbs…..C11 is 27.5 lbs. add a diag and eyepieces…..you’re all good.

No break in DEC. How is the hand controller for visual? Can it do multi-star-align for goto without exact leveling? How is the polar wedge?

[w7ay]

In alt/az, the RA break is no help.

 

Few strain wave mounts have a brake on both axes.

 

But there is a simple solution for that.  The usual reason for backdriving is because of loss of power from either (1) power connector coming loose, or (2) a power outage.

 

On the RST-135, I had solved the first problem by clamping the power cable down:

 

 

I solved the power outage issue by building my own DC uninterrutable supply because I could not find a suitable (DC) one in the market back then.  But nowadays, you can use an LiFePO4 power bank that has a "pass through" mode, for example, this one:  

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DB1S36YP

 

Basically, the 12V input keeps the battery charged (if the temperature is over freezing) and also passes the 12V input to the output, so the battery is not drained.  When there is a loss of 12V input, the battery takes over (in less than 20 msec in the case of the above, which is fast enough to prevent any practical backdriving).

 

And since you won't be fast slewing back and forth much during a power outage, the mount will barely drain the battery.

 

Best of all, both RA and declination motors remain activated, so no problem with backdriving an Alt-Az configuration.

 

I have actually bought one of these power stations, to one day replace my current homebrewed uninterruptable supply.

 

You can also nowadays find 12V uniniterruptable supplies for modems and routers, but with more limited battery capacity than the large power banks.  But still enough capacity if you are awake during a power outage, and can have a chance to home the mount safely.

 

Chen

Edited by w7ay, 23 March 2025 - 12:52 AM.

[Rasfahan]

Few strain wave mounts have a brake on both axes.

 

But there is a simple solution for that.  The usual reason for backdriving is because of loss of power from either (1) power connector coming loose, or (2) a power outage.

 

On the RST-135, I had solved the first problem by clamping the power cable down:

 

clamp.jpg

 

I solved the power outage issue by building my own DC uninterrutable supply because I could not find a suitable (DC) one in the market back then.  But nowadays, you can use an LiFePO4 power bank that has a "pass through" mode, for example, this one:  

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DB1S36YP

 

Basically, the 12V input keeps the battery charged (if the temperature is over freezing) and also passes the 12V input to the output, so the battery is not drained.  When there is a loss of 12V input, the battery takes over (in less than 20 msec in the case of the above, which is fast enough to prevent any practical backdriving).

 

And since you won't be fast slewing back and forth much during a power outage, the mount will barely drain the battery.

 

Best of all, both RA and declination motors remain activated, so no problem with backdriving an Alt-Az configuration.

 

I have actually bought one of these power stations, to one day replace my current homebrewed uninterruptable supply.

 

You can also nowadays find 12V uniniterruptable supplies for modems and routers, but with more limited battery capacity than the large power banks.  But still enough capacity if you are awake during a power outage, and can have a chance to home the mount safely.

 

Chen

I want the break so I can leave things set up for a longer time under a cover if weather is decent.

[Rasfahan]

Thanks everyone for your input. I was basically asking if I‘m overlooking some option, which doesn‘t seem the case. I‘m now contemplating going all-out ALT/AZ which will widen the options somewhat to include a HAZ or a TTS-160. 

 

On another note I just had a spectacularly bad experience trying to put my main DSO setup into remote hosting - so the GM2000 will still be home for some time. Bad skies notwithstanding I might just build a permanent obs to house the GM2000 which can carry anything I‘m willing to heave up.

[PIEJr]

Thanks everyone for your input. I was basically asking if I‘m overlooking some option, which doesn‘t seem the case. I‘m now contemplating going all-out ALT/AZ which will widen the options somewhat to include a HAZ or a TTS-160. 

 

On another note I just had a spectacularly bad experience trying to put my main DSO setup into remote hosting - so the GM2000 will still be home for some time. Bad skies notwithstanding I might just build a permanent obs to house the GM2000 which can carry anything I‘m willing to heave up.

Yeah, about that "Willing to heave up"...

My arthritis in my shoulders and everywhere else is just to painful for me to do the assembly and disassembly that I use too.

I decided it wasn't worth all the Tylenol I had to eat afterwards. (Link provided for informational purposes only.)

 

So, my equipment stays setup and covered at my "Outdoor Observatory". 

 

 

Bar-B-Que plastic cover, and a homemade sun cloth shield, and my homemade ventilation system.

 

If I'd have known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself. 

[slavicek]

Thanks everyone for your input. I was basically asking if I‘m overlooking some option, which doesn‘t seem the case. I‘m now contemplating going all-out ALT/AZ which will widen the options somewhat to include a HAZ or a TTS-160. 

 

On another note I just had a spectacularly bad experience trying to put my main DSO setup into remote hosting - so the GM2000 will still be home for some time. Bad skies notwithstanding I might just build a permanent obs to house the GM2000 which can carry anything I‘m willing to heave up.

Permanent observatory is best solution, unless you want to sometimes take you scope to dark(er) location.

I also considered TTS mounts but the problem with their lay out is that the effective eyepieces vertical travel is more then with other mounts. That, for example of my longer refractor, adds up.

[Rasfahan]

So, thank you everyone for your input. After weighing my apo setup I came to the conclusion that even a C11 Edge with a binoviewer will be somewhat (1lb) lighter than what I currently put on my mount. The lever arm is slightly bigger but the total load is still well below capacity. So I‘ll get a bigger Cassegrain and just try it out on the RST-135. Which Cassegrain isn‘t decided yet, though. If it‘s too marginal, the Haz 71 is the most likely candidate currently and will then have to carry two scopes at once.

[Markp910]

Good info here. 

[Wildetelescope]

I‘m currently using a RST-135 for imaging and visual with up to a 130mm apo and it works well. A 8“ f/6 Newtonian is marginal. I have a 12“ motorized Dob but that‘s a beast to move over the stairs. I do crave more aperture in a rather portable package for visual and planetary imaging. I have a remote setup for DSO imaging and for travel to southern skies I‘ll use the RST. The RST-135 while overall very nice has a few small nitpicks I‘ld like to overcome at the same time. Budget is of secondary concern. So, here‘s a list of requirements:

• Carry a C11 or 6“ refractor well, preferably without counterweights
• Alt/AZ and EQ-mode
• Stable and easy-to-use polar wedge/alignment
• Hand controller with multi-star pointing model so no leveling necessary for alt/az visual (really spoiled by the RST)
• weight < 15kg
• break for power failure

Currently my list includes the RST-300 (which has no break), the Ioptron HAE69 (that needs leveling) and the Nyx-101 (where I couldn‘t find any review of the hand controller for visual). Have I missed anything that ticks all boxes?

 

 

late to the party, but here is my solution.   6 inch F9 AP Starfire on a WD 20.   Spent the evening looking at planets at ~300X. Mount moves the scope around with no counterweights effortlessly.   Vibration during focusing damps in ~1 second.   NO vibration during tracking, even at 300X.  Mount is on Losmandy HD tripod.  Warp Astron recommends a counter wt for a C11 in alt az mode for TRIPOD stability.  Not necessary for the mount to function.  I am sure this mount will swing my C11 around with no problem either.   Below is a link to a video of the mount in action with the F9 Triplet. 

 

JMD

 

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