On Dec 10, 2020, at 9:13 PM, Roland Christen via groups.io <chris1011@...> wrote:



Hello Astronuts,

Had a couple of clear nights with reasonable seeing and decided to shoot a couple of objects that are well placed right now. First one is M33, which resembles sugar sprinkles tossed on black velvet.

https://www.astrobin.com/full/bovv9h/0/?nc=Uncarollo

I've been working with the Mach2 mount now for almost 2 years and I cannot be more pleased with the way it has worked out as a premium product. It really is a fun mount to work with, starts right up every clear night, points quite accurately even without modeling, tracks beautifully down to the sub-arc second level with nary a burp or hiccup. I have done unguided and guided imaging, both of which are a snap. The Lodestar guider is essentially foolproof, very sensitive in the off-axis guider on the QSI camera. MaximDL6Pro has a few quirks that I haven't figured out yet, but as far as imaging and guiding, it is unbeatable.

Bottom line - I would rate the Mach2 as the perfect beginner mount for the simple reason that it will do exactly what you want and you won't have to mess around with it trying to hyper-tune it, or adjust it. Just point and shoot and it will carry you down that 6 lane Milky way like a turbo-charged Veyron Super Sport.

Rolando