SharpCap is now available in Version 4.1 and Autostakkert in Version 4 (2.5x faster then AS3). I hope you can make soon Tutorials about this two Software!
I bought the UMI17 and are very happy with it. 0.30-0.50 guiding precision. Control with the ASIAIR via Wifi saves me one cable and works well. Clear skies
So long as it doesn't start shouting danger, danger Wil Robinson at three o'clock in the morning it should be alright. It's probably a repurposed robotic actuator anyway. But yeah, I find the ZWO more aesthetically pleasing too.
Hello Wido. One overlooked issue with these mounts is the tripod. While the TC-40 is great for travelling and small payloads, it is inadequate for larger ones. I ended up buying a Berlebach for my AM-5, and it made my life much easier with the C8. Unfortunately, it seems here that Sky-Watcher went the TC-40 way and broke the compatibility with the EQ5 tripods. I just hope they will have an adapter available, or that other parties will commercialise sturdier tripods, otherwise these large payload capacities will be vastly under exploited.
I'm looking to buy a SWG mount for traveling with an 81GT refractor to a dark site. I was going to buy an AM 3 but I will now wait to see how the 100i compares on price here in the UK.
I Don't get it, why the controlling USB isn't on the Dec, too... if i mount my mini-PC on the telescope, this woud be the better option with less cable snagging...
Ik ben een beginnende Astrophotographer. Ik zelf heb nu een bresser 150/1400 gekocht. Maar jammer dat je hier in Nederland veel licht vervuiling is, ookal is het in Limburg wat minder.
I don’t see why anyone would pay more for this over the AM3 considering the direct ecosystem asiair support of the AM3? Particularly considering skywatcher’s somewhat dubious reputation for quality control on their mounts. Imo they are priced way out of the market on this one. $1500 for the mount, tripod and pier and maybe. Otherwise no.
Hey. I want to get a telescope for far DSO astrophotography but i don't want to give too much money since im a beginner. Im thinking about getting the sky-watcher virtuoso gti 150, it has motorized alt az mount. Or should i get the Orion 80mm f/5 Refractor and a cheaper eq 3-2 or give more for a motorized eq? Also please tell me what camera should i use for both setups. Thank you
With anything made of metal that flexes, I would be very apprehensive about it in terms of metal fatigue. I would like to see some reports of people that tried these strainwave gears if they showed wear and tear/microcracks over the years. But that is too early to tell I suppose. Ofcourse, your standard worm-gear setup suffers from it's share of wear and tear too.
Valid concern, but over many years materials have been developed that have springiness and fatigue resistance. For example elgiloy was developed for watch springs. Harmonic drives have been used for many years in industry so it’s not like this is a new technology. Hopefully manufacturers put a lot of thought into obtaining the right quality material.
Unfortunately that is the weakness of these drives in industrial applications is early failure rates because the gear flexes a lot. Not sure if that is relevant in an application like this though
Hi Wido, nice review. One overlooked fact is Of the three, only the HAE29 is a pure strain wave mount. The other three are hybrid harmonic/belt. I believe that makes a big difference both in price and tracking. Mine is producing sub 16 error corrections
The AM5 and AM3 have strain wave on both axis. The Ioptron has strain wave only on RA the DEC is traditional gear setup. Not enough info yet for the big question.... will the Skywatcher have some sort of compatibility with other cameras, mounts, etc. The ZWOs tie you into the ZWO world but that also means they are well debugged using their own gear. My AM5 works like a champ (had for year and a half) and I get wonderful images from it as long as I don't push the focal length (I get good results ever with a 8" SCT with .7 focal reducer and also Hyperstar. I also have two Astro Physics (900 and 1100) mounts in my observatory that are superb and more capability and versatile but a LOT more complexity. For portable fast setups AND great results I have no problems with the ZWO AM5 I have.
SharpCap is now available in Version 4.1 and Autostakkert in Version 4 (2.5x faster then AS3). I hope you can make soon Tutorials about this two Software!
Nice review, thanks. I’m waiting for such a mount with proper through-the-mount cabling and with at least one encoder.
iOptron has some strain wave mounts with encoders, the HAE-ec mounts, at higher cost.
I bought the UMI17 and are very happy with it. 0.30-0.50 guiding precision. Control with the ASIAIR via Wifi saves me one cable and works well. Clear skies
I think ZWO wins on aesthetics alone. The Skywatchers remind me of the robot from Lost in Space for some reason :).
So long as it doesn't start shouting danger, danger Wil Robinson at three o'clock in the morning it should be alright.
It's probably a repurposed robotic actuator anyway. But yeah, I find the ZWO more aesthetically pleasing too.
Hello Wido. One overlooked issue with these mounts is the tripod. While the TC-40 is great for travelling and small payloads, it is inadequate for larger ones. I ended up buying a Berlebach for my AM-5, and it made my life much easier with the C8. Unfortunately, it seems here that Sky-Watcher went the TC-40 way and broke the compatibility with the EQ5 tripods. I just hope they will have an adapter available, or that other parties will commercialise sturdier tripods, otherwise these large payload capacities will be vastly under exploited.
I already read that they have an adapter for the standard Skywatcher steel tripods ready to release.
I'm looking to buy a SWG mount for traveling with an 81GT refractor to a dark site. I was going to buy an AM 3 but I will now wait to see how the 100i compares on price here in the UK.
I Don't get it, why the controlling USB isn't on the Dec, too... if i mount my mini-PC on the telescope, this woud be the better option with less cable snagging...
55lbs! Thats pretty impressive for a 2200 dollar mount!
Ik ben een beginnende Astrophotographer. Ik zelf heb nu een bresser 150/1400 gekocht. Maar jammer dat je hier in Nederland veel licht vervuiling is, ookal is het in Limburg wat minder.
Si tuvieses que escoger entre Wave150i Vs AM5, cual te comprarias y por qué??
Definitely like green over red... but black over green... and maybe blue over black.
I don’t see why anyone would pay more for this over the AM3 considering the direct ecosystem asiair support of the AM3? Particularly considering skywatcher’s somewhat dubious reputation for quality control on their mounts. Imo they are priced way out of the market on this one. $1500 for the mount, tripod and pier and maybe. Otherwise no.
Hey. I want to get a telescope for far DSO astrophotography but i don't want to give too much money since im a beginner. Im thinking about getting the sky-watcher virtuoso gti 150, it has motorized alt az mount. Or should i get the Orion 80mm f/5 Refractor and a cheaper eq 3-2 or give more for a motorized eq? Also please tell me what camera should i use for both setups. Thank you
With anything made of metal that flexes, I would be very apprehensive about it in terms of metal fatigue. I would like to see some reports of people that tried these strainwave gears if they showed wear and tear/microcracks over the years. But that is too early to tell I suppose. Ofcourse, your standard worm-gear setup suffers from it's share of wear and tear too.
Valid concern, but over many years materials have been developed that have springiness and fatigue resistance. For example elgiloy was developed for watch springs. Harmonic drives have been used for many years in industry so it’s not like this is a new technology. Hopefully manufacturers put a lot of thought into obtaining the right quality material.
Dude, strain wave gears are a mainstable of robotics. They are as mature as it gets. They were just too expensive so far.
Unfortunately that is the weakness of these drives in industrial applications is early failure rates because the gear flexes a lot. Not sure if that is relevant in an application like this though
Hi Wido, nice review. One overlooked fact is Of the three, only the HAE29 is a pure strain wave mount. The other three are hybrid harmonic/belt. I believe that makes a big difference both in price and tracking. Mine is producing sub 16 error corrections
The AM5 and AM3 have strain wave on both axis. The Ioptron has strain wave only on RA the DEC is traditional gear setup. Not enough info yet for the big question.... will the Skywatcher have some sort of compatibility with other cameras, mounts, etc. The ZWOs tie you into the ZWO world but that also means they are well debugged using their own gear. My AM5 works like a champ (had for year and a half) and I get wonderful images from it as long as I don't push the focal length (I get good results ever with a 8" SCT with .7 focal reducer and also Hyperstar. I also have two Astro Physics (900 and 1100) mounts in my observatory that are superb and more capability and versatile but a LOT more complexity. For portable fast setups AND great results I have no problems with the ZWO AM5 I have.
@@RobertKarlBerta In iOptron HAE the 2 axes RA and DEC are Harmonic, in iOptron HEM the DEC axis is actually the traditional one.
UMI17SE ftw
I see fellow Meow discord member.
The only I worry is quality. It's not german mount you can easily open and tune something. And skywatcher has not perfect reputation.
I don't think it is right to make a review of a mount you not even have seen. Just get "the first to review it".
$$$$$
Skywatcher new mounts are the fugliest mounts I've ever seen. Looks like an old school pencil sharpener.
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