ZWO AM5 Mount Overview: Harmonic vs Traditional Mounts
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ต.ค. 2023
- Are Harmonic Drive Mounts Paving the Way for the Future of Astrophotography? In this video, I unbox the ZWO AM5 mount, providing a comprehensive overview packed with all the essential details. If you feel I've overlooked anything, please don't hesitate to share your thoughts!
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Suggestion for a video idea, along the lines of budget friendly astrobiscuit videos is to upgrade a cheap scope to get closer to a more expensive one. Perhaps do a small series on upgrading the 130pds or even a table top dob with flocking, mirror masks etc and do a before and after? There are lots of simple upgrades you can do to improve things out the box that others might find useful. Just an idea :)
Hey thanks! Now you mention it I have some ideas for my Heritage 100p mini Dob. E.g. I want to see if I can use it for deep sky imaging as a super budget Quattro. I've ordered a low profile adapter so it reaches focus with my ASI585mc (it's fine with the ASI462 but not the larger more sensitive ASi585 for some reason) I could flock it and blacken the mirror edges and do a before and after! Cheers for taking the time to comment :)
Nice tripod working with the AM5. I am trying to do something similar with a similar tripod. Ordered pe200 to adapt to my setup.
Thanks Chris. Looks great.
Nice overview of the mount Chris, hope you get that floor sorted out. What a pain !! Clear skies.
Hey thanks Ollie! Yeah I could have done without that for sure. Clear skies!
Thanks for sharing Chris! And best of luck with your repair job!
Thanks ziggy! 👍I may need some luck with that lol take care mate!
Thanks for the video Chris. Looking forward to see how you get on with the mount.
Thanks John!
Great video Chris mate thanks for sharing your knowledge on this mount, I also enjoy Rorys videos but I'm just as eagerly waiting for your next video notification to pop up your content is excellent too mate , sorry to hear about the water damage to your house hope you get it sorted soon , ps TH-cam has lot of great DIY channels
Hi Tony :) I can't wait to share more about the AM5, and it blows me away to hear such kind feedback. Thanks so much mate, I'm really pleased you enjoy the videos :)
Someone from the insurance is coming out to take pictures of the damage tomorrow, but there are a quite a few hoops to jump through so I'm fully prepared to unleash the power of YT on the situation :D Thank you!
that looks awesome im sure youll get some very nice images with it all and yes biscuit will be hard to follow but give it a try will be fun
Thanks Sean, even if I can inject 5% of Rory's magic into my videos I'll be over the Moon :D The AM5 looks so good!
Off topic, I guess, but doesn't your Wife get miffed that you make vids in the bedroom?
Your vids are interesting, so don't knock yourself mate. You have an excellent understanding off all of the detail around all things astro, which really helps newbies such as myself.
Hey-up, thanks, I'm glad the videos are helpful. My wife is quite laid back although she prefers me making the videos in the bedroom compared to other rooms in the house where I can disrupt the rest of the family. I've made a few videos in the garage but it's cold and full of stuff at the moment : )
What did you do with your iOptron GEM45? I have a C8 SCT. Is GEM45 or CEM40 better for longer focal lengths (1442 and 2032) than AM5? Using NINA on MiniPC Mele. Looking to upgrade from my AVX. Thanks.
Hi! The GEM45 was a loaner from work so it went back last year. The CEM40 and GEM45 are identical in terms of performance and either would be suitable for your C8 . ZWO do recommend to keep the focal length below 900mm with the AM5, but folks do get away with longer focal lengths. The iOptron mounts will have less periodic error, so a better choice for longer focal lengths. Any of the above will be a big upgrade from the AVX. Cheers!
First! (Edit: darn it, second 😅) - excellent video mate, I always learn something from your videos!! :-D
I just wanna say that while I understand the urge to change things up a bit with your content - I really enjoy your work as-is to be honest 👍
I love Rory's work as much as the next guy, but I click on your videos just as eagerly! ❤
Thank you for sharing as always!
P.s - hope that blinking insurance pays out for you!
p.p.s - I'll be taking a look at one of these things soon too, very excited!
Awh Luke mate! you're one up lifting dude! Never change mate :) that's incredibly kind of you to say and it blows my mind to receive such feedback from someone I massively respect on the platform!
I would love to add a bit more in the way of story telling, as it's exciting to see Rory set up challenges, then proceed to smash it out of the park! If I could add 5% of his magic I would be over the Moon, but I now know it's all good if things stay exactly the same, thanks my friend :)
The water damage shocked me to be honest, and I can't believe it took so long for me to notice. The damp membrane and furniture in front of the walls did a good job of hiding things.
The insurance want me to jump through quite a few hoops, they don't make it easy to claim but we'll see. Worse things happen at sea and all that :)
That's fantastic to hear you'll be checking out the AM5 too! How cools that! I can't wait to see what you think mate, take care and clear skies! !
Ah mate I just say it as I see it! - you've got your own brand of magic already! :-D
Re: the water damage & insurance, oh heck mate :-(
I hope they do the right thing!
Hope you've a lovely week ahead buddy 🙏
If the shower taps, pipes or the shower head are leaking into the wall you go into the wall from behind if it's a plaster wall.
It's a lot easier to replace plaster than maybe have to retile the whole shower because the tiles can't be matched.
I had the same problem here in Australia and it cost me some gas and solder, a Gyprock repair panel, plaster filler and paint and patched the floor with yellow-tongue chipboard flooring.
If plaster gets wet it's ruined anyway and it looks like the plaster is distorted so it will probably have to be replaced before it starts to grow some serious mold. Start there first.
Hey thank you for taking the time to advise, I really appreciate that! :) Unfortunately the tiles are already off the wall in the shower as I tracked down the source of the leak at the time. I was saving to refit the bathroom when I discovered the water damage, it's very 90's and really needs modernising. Someone from the insurance is coming out to take more pics tomorrow. They also want a report from a plumber and other bits and bobs. They don't make it easy so I'm fully prepared to unleash DIY by YT video on the situation to save the £500 excess and policy price hike!
love mine... all we need now is some stars
Did I miss the price?
Here you go Woody: www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-mounts/ref/astrolavista/
Nowadays, you can buy used mount for nothing. I have seen that used Paramount MyT with tripod was offered for 5K.
Reason to all these frantic selling is AM5 and AM3.
Now, do people get pictures better on AM5 than Eg6R or Paramount? Definitely not. They are actually slightly worse (judging from eccentricity and FWHM). But AM5 will be used well more; just as 8” dob is used more than 20” dob despite being miles behind in observing power.
yeah, total hype. I deeply regret buying an AM5, should have taken an EQ-6R and spent the saved money on some fancy equipment.
"Guiding will sort that out anyway"...dream on, mate! The AM5 looks great, has great specs, yes. It's expensive, yes.
But most of it all it sucks big time! I'm so disappointed with mine, every cheapo mount for a third of the price or less will give you better guiding results.
On a side note - just by looking at the zoomed PE curve you show in the beginning, I predict that you will have a lot of "fun" with guiding 😞
That sucks, I'm sorry to hear that fella. I take it you've tried the usual suspects like guiding with shorter exposures of 0.5-1 second (apparently that's a think with these mounts), and keeping the focal length sub 900mm? What setup are you using with the AM5?
@@AstroLaVista I'm guiding with 0.5sec (and a high quality 240mm guide scope with a QHY178M). In rare cases 1 sec. The scope is an Askar FRA 400 (400mm). Also tried a 8" f/4 Newton. Does not make much of a difference, but obviously 400mm is easier when the guiding isn't good. But then the Newton is a full stop faster than the Askar which overall yields similar results (due to half of needed exposure time per frame)
Great content, but the camera movement is giving me motion sickness
Sorry about that, I'm down to a GoPro strapped to my head at the moment. I need to be that close for good audio but I was a little worried that the motion would effect some people watching. I'm searching Ebay, MPB etc for a cheap camera with an audio input so I can leave it stationary and mic myself back up as usual.
@@AstroLaVista Thanks, I’m subscribed to your channel so that’d be cool 👌
It is a bit pricey for what you get.
Well harmonic drive mounts are coming down in price. The first one I saw at IAS2019 cost 4k (Rainbow Astro).
I would never purchase a Chinese mount period. NYX-101 from Greece for me.
With Chinese harmonic drives in it 🙃
@@SydneyDunk I was going to say, it's going to be hard to avoid at the component level. You beat me too it ;)
What'up~ thanks!g orgeous . 😮