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Re: Ap 1200 cp2 bizzare behavior

Roland Christen
 

In a message dated 1/2/2009 1:10:55 PM Central Standard Time,
BROOMALLAUTOBODY@... writes:


I don't know how all these problems could be related, so I'm just
going to list everything.
After a hardrive crash forced a total rebuild of the imaging computer
(all programs and drivers). Nothing has worked right. Not even with
just the hand control alone.
The keypad is totally separate from any external computer. It is not affected
by any computer ills whatsoever.

The keypad has lots of very powerful tools built-in to allow you to
troubleshoot any situation including the one you find yourself in right now. I suspect
that you probably never use the keypad and don't know really how to take
advantage of it. I also suspect that you have set the keypad to EXT mode, which is
a BIG NO-NO (unless you really know how and why to use this feature). DO NOT
set the keypad to EXT, even when you primarily use an external computer to
control the mount. There is no reason to do so under normal circumstances.

Here is how you can make your mount functional:

1) make sure your keypad is set to Autoconnect "No", if not, set it there (DO
NOT USE EXT mode unless you really really know what you are doing!!). Check
to make sure that your time, date and location entries are correct.

2) set your telescope on the west side of the mount pointing to the horizon -
do it manually using the clutches.

3) with the keypad set to Autostart NO, turn on the power and go thru the
startup menu. When you get to the startup choices, press "Resume from Park 1".

4) now slew to any star or object which is up there right now (you can slew
to the sun during the day for a test if you wish). Pick up the star in a wide
field eyepiece, center it and press Rcal. You know what Rcal is on the keypad?
It is probably the most useful tool on the keypad, so please familiarize
yourself with this feature.

5) you can now connect your external computer to the mount servo and link
your planetarium program to the mount.

Roland Christen




**************
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Re: temperature flexure in portable pier?

Norm
 

Tho,

Do you set up your pier while the sun is still up? If you do, then
you may be experiencing the phenomenon I detailed to a manufacturer 3
years ago. In my case I had a permanent pier in my back yard and
kept my scope covered. When I installed the pier originally it was
meticulously leveled. I noticed one afternoon when I went to uncover
the scope the bubble level was off center. As the night wore on I
noticed the bubble in the level returned to it's center location. I
studied this over several nights and noticed it would be out of level
TOWARD the north pole. I was puzzled until one day I had an
epiphany. The sun had been heating the south side of the pier and
thus expanding the metal on that side causing a northerly flexure of
the pier. As the pier cooled down the flexure disappeared. This
accounted for several arcminutes of error in the polar alignment.
Since that time I only do a polar alignment or T-Point when the PIER
is thermally stable!!! Hope this helps. You might want to do your
own study as I did.

Norm

--- In ap-gto@..., "tho" <astro@...> wrote:

I have noticed some issues with changing polar alignment over the
course of the night but might have a clue now as to the cause. My
Mach1 sits on a 6X32PP and I'm pretty meticulous about leveling the
mount prior to running PoleAlignMax to get under 1 arcminute. But
often if I run PAM again many hours later, it's usually 3 or more
arcminutes off the pole. I have wondered if the PAM results were
suspect, but yesterday morning I happened to check the bubble level
and it was quite a bit off. I'm now thinking that perhaps the pier
is
flexing as the temperature drops which can easily throw off polar
alignment by a lot.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I tend to tighten the
turnbuckles pretty good thinking that it increases stability, but
maybe that's causing this problem? How tight should they be?

Thanks for any input on this.

Clear skies,
Tho
Re: temperature flexure in portable pier?

Tho Dinh
 

Drew,

Thanks for the input. My responses are below:

--- In ap-gto@..., "ancient.sull" <ancient.sull@...> wrote:

1) Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think how level the mount is
matters at all. The base can be tilted (I have set up on a slight
slope for example) but once you are polar aligned the RA axis is
pointed at the pole and it doesn't matter how the base is angled.
TD: I agree. But, the point is that the pier itself is moving over the
course of a few hours which invalidates any previous polar alignment.
I'm hoping to figure out why this is happening, especially if it's due
to excessive tightening of the pier turnbuckles. I plan to test this
hypothesis out the next chance I get.


2) Are you off by almost exacly 3 arcminutes by any chance? I think
that PAM actually aligns you on the J2000 pole not the JNow Pole and
they currently differ by about 3 arcmin.

I have is both J2000 CNP and JNow CNP entered in TheSky6 as User
Defined Data (and you have to update JNow every year or so - today is
a good day to do that <G>). Then I look in TheSky and see for example
that when I am setting up the offset is 3 arc min towards 11 O'clock
or whatever. So I don't have PAM put the RA axis at "the CNP" (by
which PAM means "the J2000 CNP") but ~3 arc min towards 11 o'clock
from "the CNP" which is where the JNow CNP lies.

I can go into how to make PAM offset the RA axis and how to make
TheSky "precess backwards" to put the JNow CNP where you want but
that that's really a PAM question, not an AP mount question so if you
want more details ask in the PAM Yahoo forum or ask me by email.
TD: This is the first time I've heard anything about the distinction
between J2000 CNP and JNow CNP. But as long as PAM uses the J2000 CNP
consistently, this should not change after rechecking alignment after
a few hours, right? The polar misalignment that I've seen in the past
over the course of a few hours is not consistent but is usually in the
2-5 arcmin range. Since this is a bit OT I'll take this up on the
FocusMax group as I'm very intrigued now.


3) I am not sure how much a polar alignment error of that size
matters. Using a 6" refractor with about 1100mm FL I can take a 5 min
unguided sub with no visible trailing anywhere within an arc min or
two of the CNP anyway. Just Atmospheric refraction is going to make
small differences anyway.
TD: This is a good point and I have not really figured out how precise
I really need it to be but it seemed like a good goal to try to get
under 2 arcmin if possible. I sometimes shoot 10-20 min subs at 1800mm
FL with an ST8, so I want to avoid any field rotation due to polar
misalignment.

-Tho
Re: Happy New Year

S HEGGIE <stuart.j.heggie@...>
 

Chuck, that is a very worthy goal we hopefully all can share. Thanks for the good words.

Stuart

From: "Divenuts" <divenuts@...>
Reply-To: ap-gto@...
To: <LX200GPS_14@...>,<LX200GPS@...>,<ImagesPlus@...>,<fastar@...>,<digital_astro@...>,<ap-gto@...>
Subject: [ap-gto] Happy New Year
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 16:17:58 -0500

Here's toasting a cold one to 2009.

May it be MUCH better than 2008. Perhaps we can make the world a little 'greener', healthier, skies darker and a much stronger economy with the wealth providing personal security and the opportunity to help the hungry and needy.

Cheers,
Chuck/divenuts
Happy New Year

divenuts
 

Here's toasting a cold one to 2009.

May it be MUCH better than 2008. Perhaps we can make the world a little 'greener', healthier, skies darker and a much stronger economy with the wealth providing personal security and the opportunity to help the hungry and needy.

Cheers,
Chuck/divenuts
Re: temperature flexure in portable pier?

ancient.sull
 

1) Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think how level the mount is
matters at all. The base can be tilted (I have set up on a slight
slope for example) but once you are polar aligned the RA axis is
pointed at the pole and it doesn't matter how the base is angled.

2) Are you off by almost exacly 3 arcminutes by any chance? I think
that PAM actually aligns you on the J2000 pole not the JNow Pole and
they currently differ by about 3 arcmin.

I have is both J2000 CNP and JNow CNP entered in TheSky6 as User
Defined Data (and you have to update JNow every year or so - today is
a good day to do that <G>). Then I look in TheSky and see for example
that when I am setting up the offset is 3 arc min towards 11 O'clock
or whatever. So I don't have PAM put the RA axis at "the CNP" (by
which PAM means "the J2000 CNP") but ~3 arc min towards 11 o'clock
from "the CNP" which is where the JNow CNP lies.

I can go into how to make PAM offset the RA axis and how to make
TheSky "precess backwards" to put the JNow CNP where you want but
that that's really a PAM question, not an AP mount question so if you
want more details ask in the PAM Yahoo forum or ask me by email.

3) I am not sure how much a polar alignment error of that size
matters. Using a 6" refractor with about 1100mm FL I can take a 5 min
unguided sub with no visible trailing anywhere within an arc min or
two of the CNP anyway. Just Atmospheric refraction is going to make
small differences anyway.

Drew Sullivan

--- In ap-gto@..., "tho" <astro@...> wrote:

I have noticed some issues with changing polar alignment over the
course of the night but might have a clue now as to the cause. My
Mach1 sits on a 6X32PP and I'm pretty meticulous about leveling the
mount prior to running PoleAlignMax to get under 1 arcminute. But
often if I run PAM again many hours later, it's usually 3 or more
arcminutes off the pole.
Re: temperature flexure in portable pier?

Jeff Young <jey@...>
 

Tho --

Well, the stainless tensioning rods are evenly dispersed, so any differential temp movement in them (vs the aluminium column) shouldn't change the level. I suppose if the tensioning rods were un-evenly tightened, and the aluminium column grows with respect to the tensioning rods, then they might pull the column in the direction of the tightest tensioning rod. You might try making sure that each rod gives the same tone when tapped at the start of the evening....

(I've never noticed this with my piers, but then being purely visual I'm anything but meticulous in levelling or aligning.)

-- Jeff.


From: ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...] On Behalf Of tho
Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2009 6:56 AM
To: ap-gto@...
Subject: [ap-gto] Re: temperature flexure in portable pier?


Chris, thanks for the input. Most of the time everything is on a JMI
Wheeley Bar on a concrete slab, but I never thought to check the
bubble level after the intial polar alignment. Yesterday morning when
I did happen to check this, it was on a different concrete pad without
the wheeley bar. In either case, I don't think the pier became
un-level due to what it was sitting on.

Could the fact that the portable pier consists of both aluminum and
steel cause the different metals to respond to temperature changes
differently?

Clear skies,
Tho

--- In ap-gto@...<mailto:ap-gto%40yahoogroups.com>, Christopher Vedeler <vedeler@...> wrote:

That seems unlikely to me. Temperature changes should shift things
evenly on the pier (one advantage of a tripod like configuration).
Perhaps heaving of the ground? What kind of surface are you on?

Chris Vedeler

tho wrote:

I have noticed some issues with changing polar alignment over the
course of the night but might have a clue now as to the cause. My
Mach1 sits on a 6X32PP and I'm pretty meticulous about leveling the
mount prior to running PoleAlignMax to get under 1 arcminute. But
often if I run PAM again many hours later, it's usually 3 or more
arcminutes off the pole. I have wondered if the PAM results were
suspect, but yesterday morning I happened to check the bubble level
and it was quite a bit off. I'm now thinking that perhaps the pier is
flexing as the temperature drops which can easily throw off polar
alignment by a lot.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I tend to tighten the
turnbuckles pretty good thinking that it increases stability, but
maybe that's causing this problem? How tight should they be?

Thanks for any input on this.

Clear skies,
Tho


----------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.1/1870 - Release Date:
12/31/2008 8:44 AM
Re: temperature flexure in portable pier?

Tho Dinh
 

Chris, thanks for the input. Most of the time everything is on a JMI
Wheeley Bar on a concrete slab, but I never thought to check the
bubble level after the intial polar alignment. Yesterday morning when
I did happen to check this, it was on a different concrete pad without
the wheeley bar. In either case, I don't think the pier became
un-level due to what it was sitting on.

Could the fact that the portable pier consists of both aluminum and
steel cause the different metals to respond to temperature changes
differently?

Clear skies,
Tho

--- In ap-gto@..., Christopher Vedeler <vedeler@...> wrote:

That seems unlikely to me. Temperature changes should shift things
evenly on the pier (one advantage of a tripod like configuration).
Perhaps heaving of the ground? What kind of surface are you on?

Chris Vedeler

tho wrote:

I have noticed some issues with changing polar alignment over the
course of the night but might have a clue now as to the cause. My
Mach1 sits on a 6X32PP and I'm pretty meticulous about leveling the
mount prior to running PoleAlignMax to get under 1 arcminute. But
often if I run PAM again many hours later, it's usually 3 or more
arcminutes off the pole. I have wondered if the PAM results were
suspect, but yesterday morning I happened to check the bubble level
and it was quite a bit off. I'm now thinking that perhaps the pier is
flexing as the temperature drops which can easily throw off polar
alignment by a lot.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I tend to tighten the
turnbuckles pretty good thinking that it increases stability, but
maybe that's causing this problem? How tight should they be?

Thanks for any input on this.

Clear skies,
Tho


------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.1/1870 - Release Date:
12/31/2008 8:44 AM
Re: temperature flexure in portable pier?

Christopher Vedeler <vedeler@...>
 

That seems unlikely to me. Temperature changes should shift things evenly on the pier (one advantage of a tripod like configuration). Perhaps heaving of the ground? What kind of surface are you on?

Chris Vedeler

tho wrote:


I have noticed some issues with changing polar alignment over the
course of the night but might have a clue now as to the cause. My
Mach1 sits on a 6X32PP and I'm pretty meticulous about leveling the
mount prior to running PoleAlignMax to get under 1 arcminute. But
often if I run PAM again many hours later, it's usually 3 or more
arcminutes off the pole. I have wondered if the PAM results were
suspect, but yesterday morning I happened to check the bubble level
and it was quite a bit off. I'm now thinking that perhaps the pier is
flexing as the temperature drops which can easily throw off polar
alignment by a lot.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I tend to tighten the
turnbuckles pretty good thinking that it increases stability, but
maybe that's causing this problem? How tight should they be?

Thanks for any input on this.

Clear skies,
Tho

------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.1/1870 - Release Date: 12/31/2008 8:44 AM
temperature flexure in portable pier?

Tho Dinh
 

I have noticed some issues with changing polar alignment over the
course of the night but might have a clue now as to the cause. My
Mach1 sits on a 6X32PP and I'm pretty meticulous about leveling the
mount prior to running PoleAlignMax to get under 1 arcminute. But
often if I run PAM again many hours later, it's usually 3 or more
arcminutes off the pole. I have wondered if the PAM results were
suspect, but yesterday morning I happened to check the bubble level
and it was quite a bit off. I'm now thinking that perhaps the pier is
flexing as the temperature drops which can easily throw off polar
alignment by a lot.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I tend to tighten the
turnbuckles pretty good thinking that it increases stability, but
maybe that's causing this problem? How tight should they be?

Thanks for any input on this.

Clear skies,
Tho
Re: Need some info..

Hap Griffin
 

You're not kidding. We have five buildings at the site, each housing two mounts with scopes. Altogether, there are four AP1200's and one AP900 there, plus a Paramount and a few others. There are ten of us in the group, along with others who occasionally set up outside, and we have a great time.

The main site web page is www.machunter.org.

Hap Griffin

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Janusz" <jjanusz@...>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Need some info..


Looks more luxurious than my home. (G) Must be a great place for the guys
to get together and have a few cold ones.....

Jim

----- Original Message -----
From: <chris1011@...>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 8:59 AM
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Need some info..


In a message dated 12/29/2008 9:30:45 AM Central Standard Time,
lgriffin@... writes:


http://www.machunter.org/griffin_hunter_observatory_2.html
The epitome of luxury!

Rolando


**************
One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL
Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now.
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icid=aolcom40vanity&amp;ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)




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Re: SH2-278

Richard Crisp
 

nice image Jim. I really like it.

Do your bias frames from your Apogee look like this, Jim?

www.narrowbandimaging.com/images/apogee_bias.zip

all of the Apogee 16803 bias frames I have seen show this correlated noise problem and am wondering if yours does too?

----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Janusz
To: astroimaginggroup@... ; ap-gto@...
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 2:18 PM
Subject: [ap-gto] SH2-278


Here's SH2-278 an area of Sharpless nebula, dust and reflection nebulosity in Orion. Please check it out.

http://www.astroimager.net/Page-180-CCD-189.html

Jim

Email jjanusz@...
Astro Images http://astroimager.net

You only need two tools in life. WD-40 and Duct Tape.
If it doesn't move and it should, use the WD-40
If it moves and it shouldn't, use the Duct Tape.
Re : SH2-278

gilovision2@...
 

;-)))

Gilles







-----E-mail d'origine-----
De : Jim Janusz <jjanusz@...>
A : ap-gto@...
Envoyé le : Lundi, 29 Décembre 2008 18:45
Sujet : Re: [ap-gto] SH2-278

























Thanks Giles, you have sharp eyes. They are the remnants of Americans

traveling on red eye aircraft because the economy is in the tank and their

bosses make them travel at night, right thru my images. LOL



The SD Mask combine did not quite remove all traces and I'm too lazy to go

back and try again.



Jim

----- Original Message -----

From: <gilovision2@...>

To: <ap-gto@...>

Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 12:58 AM

Subject: Re : [ap-gto] SH2-278



Hi Jim,



very nice image, the 180EDF is an amazing optic!!!

I can see some faint horizontal lines in the top of the image...is it an

artifact?



Regards,



Gilles



-----E-mail d'origine-----

De : Jim Janusz <jjanusz@...>

A : astroimaginggroup@...; ap-gto@...

Envoyé le : Dimanche, 28 Décembre 2008 23:18

Sujet : [ap-gto] SH2-278



Here's SH2-278 an area of Sharpless nebula, dust and reflection nebulosity

in Orion. Please check it out.



http://www.astroimager.net/Page-180-CCD-189.html



Jim



Email jjanusz@...



Astro Images http://astroimager.net



You only need two tools in life. WD-40 and Duct Tape.



If it doesn't=2
0move and it should, use the WD-40



If it moves and it shouldn't, use the Duct Tape.







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------



To UNSUBSCRIBE, or for general information on the ap-gto list

see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ap-gtoYahoo! Groups Links






















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Need some info..

Jim Janusz <jjanusz@...>
 

Looks more luxurious than my home. (G) Must be a great place for the guys to get together and have a few cold ones.....

Jim

----- Original Message -----
From: <chris1011@...>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 8:59 AM
Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Need some info..


In a message dated 12/29/2008 9:30:45 AM Central Standard Time,
lgriffin@... writes:


http://www.machunter.org/griffin_hunter_observatory_2.html
The epitome of luxury!

Rolando


**************
One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL
Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&;
icid=aolcom40vanity&amp;ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)




------------------------------------

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Re: SH2-278

Jim Janusz <jjanusz@...>
 

Thanks Giles, you have sharp eyes. They are the remnants of Americans traveling on red eye aircraft because the economy is in the tank and their bosses make them travel at night, right thru my images. LOL

The SD Mask combine did not quite remove all traces and I'm too lazy to go back and try again.

Jim

----- Original Message -----
From: <gilovision2@...>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 12:58 AM
Subject: Re : [ap-gto] SH2-278



Hi Jim,

very nice image, the 180EDF is an amazing optic!!!
I can see some faint horizontal lines in the top of the image...is it an artifact?

Regards,

Gilles







-----E-mail d'origine-----
De : Jim Janusz <jjanusz@...>
A : astroimaginggroup@...; ap-gto@...
Envoyé le : Dimanche, 28 Décembre 2008 23:18
Sujet : [ap-gto] SH2-278

























Here's SH2-278 an area of Sharpless nebula, dust and reflection nebulosity in Orion. Please check it out.



http://www.astroimager.net/Page-180-CCD-189.html



Jim



Email jjanusz@...

Astro Images http://astroimager.net



You only need two tools in life. WD-40 and Duct Tape.

If it doesn't move and it should, use the WD-40

If it moves and it shouldn't, use the Duct Tape.





























------------------------------------

To UNSUBSCRIBE, or for general information on the ap-gto list
see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ap-gtoYahoo! Groups Links
Re : Need some info..

gilovision2@...
 

Yes, coooool :-))))))

Gillie







-----E-mail d'origine-----
De : chris1011@...
A : ap-gto@...
Envoyé le : Lundi, 29 Décembre 2008 17:59
Sujet : Re: [ap-gto] Need some info..

























In a message dated 12/29/2008 9:30:45 AM Central Standard Time,

lgriffin@... writes:



http://www.machunter.org/griffin_hunter_observatory_2.html


The epitome of luxury!



Rolando



**************

One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL

Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&;

icid=aolcom40vanity&amp;ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Need some info..

Richard Crisp
 

I would recommend side by side mounting of all but the lightest weight scopes with low moments of intertia

I get good guiding results with a 1200mount using an 18" classical cassegrain (f/12.6) at full focal length guiding with an inexpensive Lumicon Giant Easy Guider and an old parallel port ST7E.


here are some results from that:

http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/cbubble_mk1sn2_f12_pl9k_baader_ha_page.htm

http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/dwb111_mk1sn2_pl9k_baader_halpha_page.htm

http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/ngc6888_mk1sn2_f12_pl9k_baader_ha_page.htm

http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/sh2_112_mk1sn2_f12_pl9k_baader_ha_page.htm

http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/sh2_101_mk1sn2_f12_pl9K_baader_ha_page.htm

My imaging load total is over 110# and the scope is longish too so there's a fair moment of intertia too. I can't handle breezes much beyond a light breeze without having guiding problems but usually it is calm where and when I image.

----- Original Message -----
From: alexn_astro
To: ap-gto@...
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 3:22 AM
Subject: [ap-gto] Need some info..


Hi all, This is my first post on the AP Group.

I was wondering... Within the next year, I'll be upgrading to a
serious mount (My current EQ6 pro is not up to the task of what I want
to do)

Currently I frequently image using my C11 OTA, and occasionally with
my Megrez 102mm APO. Around the same time as I move to a serious
mount, I'll likely sell both of those scopes and opt for a 12.5" RCOS.

My question..

What would be the best AP for me? I figure that the 900GTO would hold
the 12.5" RCOS, however I think just to be sure the 1200GTO might be a
better option.

Would the 1200GTO be capable of accurate tracking carrying my current
C11 + M102 + 66mm APO scopes all at the same time? This would be
great if it could, as I'd be able to image both wide and narrow field
at the same time.. (something that I think would be good...) And it
would save my back from always having to swap scopes around etc.

The plan would be to have the M102 with the 66 on top of it, in a side
by side setup with the 11" SCT.. That is, until the 12.5" RC came to
fruition.

Any info on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Alex.
Re: Need some info..

MrGrytt
 

If portability isn't a major concern then go with the 1200 if
there's any question about capacity. For a relatively small increase
in price you get twice the capacity with the 1200. Being over-mounted
is a good thing. Being under-mounted doesn't work at all.
The 1200 is still easily portable too.

Harvey

--- In ap-gto@..., "alexn_astro" <alexn_astro@...> wrote:

Hi all, This is my first post on the AP Group.

I was wondering... Within the next year, I'll be upgrading to a
serious mount (My current EQ6 pro is not up to the task of what I want
to do)

Currently I frequently image using my C11 OTA, and occasionally with
my Megrez 102mm APO. Around the same time as I move to a serious
mount, I'll likely sell both of those scopes and opt for a 12.5" RCOS.


My question..

What would be the best AP for me? I figure that the 900GTO would hold
the 12.5" RCOS, however I think just to be sure the 1200GTO might be a
better option.

Would the 1200GTO be capable of accurate tracking carrying my current
C11 + M102 + 66mm APO scopes all at the same time? This would be
great if it could, as I'd be able to image both wide and narrow field
at the same time.. (something that I think would be good...) And it
would save my back from always having to swap scopes around etc.

The plan would be to have the M102 with the 66 on top of it, in a side
by side setup with the 11" SCT.. That is, until the 12.5" RC came to
fruition.

Any info on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Alex.
Re: Need some info..

Hap Griffin
 

The 1200 is the way to go if you anticipate a large load at all. Check the load that mine has been carrying...

http://www.machunter.org/griffin_hunter_observatory_2.html

It tracks just fine with over 100 pounds of load.

Hap Griffin
DSLR Modifications at www.imaginginfinity.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "alexn_astro" <alexn_astro@...>
To: <ap-gto@...>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 6:22 AM
Subject: [ap-gto] Need some info..


Hi all, This is my first post on the AP Group.

I was wondering... Within the next year, I'll be upgrading to a
serious mount (My current EQ6 pro is not up to the task of what I want
to do)

Currently I frequently image using my C11 OTA, and occasionally with
my Megrez 102mm APO. Around the same time as I move to a serious
mount, I'll likely sell both of those scopes and opt for a 12.5" RCOS.


My question..

What would be the best AP for me? I figure that the 900GTO would hold
the 12.5" RCOS, however I think just to be sure the 1200GTO might be a
better option.

Would the 1200GTO be capable of accurate tracking carrying my current
C11 + M102 + 66mm APO scopes all at the same time? This would be
great if it could, as I'd be able to image both wide and narrow field
at the same time.. (something that I think would be good...) And it
would save my back from always having to swap scopes around etc.

The plan would be to have the M102 with the 66 on top of it, in a side
by side setup with the 11" SCT.. That is, until the 12.5" RC came to
fruition.

Any info on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Alex.


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Re: Need some info..

Roland Christen
 

In a message dated 12/29/2008 9:30:45 AM Central Standard Time,
lgriffin@... writes:


http://www.machunter.org/griffin_hunter_observatory_2.html
The epitome of luxury!

Rolando


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