I am curious if AP has any plans to produce a Harmonic Drive mount? I recently purchased a Rainbow Astro RST-135E because I was looking for a light weight portable mount I could use for Solar imaging while I am on the wait list for a Mach2. I like the idea of a Harmonic Drive system, but have to say I was a bit disappointed with the lack of documentation and suppport given the price point of these mounts.They are in a simular price range as the Mach2's, but don't have nearly the support or documentation that you get with an AP Mount. The good news is that there is a groups.io user forum that is very helpful and one of the members has taken on the commendable job of compiling a "supplimental user manual" to help fill in the gaps in the manufacture's documentation. 

I recently saw that other companies like ASI are now jumping on the Harmonic Drive bandwagon, although at a much lower price point. Time will tell if these new mounts are reliable and can produce the advertized guiding accuracy of "0.5 - 0.8 arch seconds" without using encoders. The RST-135E does have Renishaw encoders on the RA Axis. I see on the ASI website that they have just delayed their shipping date to June, I suspect due to supply shortages. 

Anyway, I figured if there was a company who could build a Harmonic Drive Mount and do it right, it would be Astro-Physics. Thus the reason for asking the question. AP may not be willing to discuss future products at this point, but I was just curious if they had any plans to explore these new type of mounts.

Andrew J

Andrew

If you search this forum for

harmonic drive

there are several threads on the topic.

Bryan

On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 08:49 AM, Worsel wrote:

If you search this forum for

harmonic drive

there are several threads on the topic.

Hi Bryan.

Somehow I missed those post. I found a post by Roland back in December that basically explained the Pros and Cons of Harmonic Drive mounts. It does not appear that it would be a cost effective option for AP to pursue at this time. 

Andrew