I've almost pulled the trigger on the am5, but I just heard skywatcher is coming out with multiple new mounts, and a harmonic drive is in the lineup. How exciting. These are great videos. Thank you so much.
Fingers crossed! I have not heard anything about them making harmonic mounts. But I would bet they would be launched during NEAF. Which is about 5 months offf.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel They are expected next month. With better cable-management. That being said, they are slightly more expensive. I would just like you see ZWO doing a version 1.1 whereby cables are on the inside. I may wait for ZWO to come out with that.
What I like the most about you, and there are a lot of things that I do like, is that your videos are not interrupted by any kind of music, except for some natural sounds that I appreciate... Keep in going, it is a pleasure to watch your videos, and greetings from Kosovo 🇽🇰...
AM5 is great ... until it isn't. Then you will face the horror of ZWO Tech Support. My brand new AM5 failed at -11C ambient and 8.62kg of payload -- both well within stated specs. RA stalled during an attempted Meridian Flip. Now it has been sitting in ZWO Tech Support in New Jersey since December 6, 2023. Every time I contact them, I get the same reply: "Sorry. It will be ready next week." Does "next week" mean something different in New Jersey?
well done....enjoy the topics that have not been mentioned before. I just received an AM5 about 5 weeks ago and love it ! I took it to a Bortle 2 area in West Texas and was in Heaven. Guiding was incredible and I had a hard time finding any bad subs due to the mount. keep 'em coming.
Quite possibly one of the best mounts I've ever owned! I had two at the 2023 Winter Star Party holding 90mm refractors dealing with steady 15-20mph winds and I was getting 0.4-0.8 rms error whereas my Redcat51 on a CEM25p was yielding 2.0 rms guiding error. That says it all!!!
And you have had quite a few mounts too. I first started to suspect that these mounts could buck the wind if you will when you told me about the rms you were able to get in Florida with wind. Then i did some testing. Sure enough.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel I got great photos but I need to start dithering. Dealing with Canadian smoke right now but bet the pictures would be 100% better. What are the minimum settings for dithering?
That's a great review! I'm running an almost identical rig - an Orion EON 130 APO (27lbs) on AM5 + PE200 with no counterweight. I love it now, but my immediate first impression was a terrible disappointment! A really bad high frequency vibration was introduced when I moved this OTA over from my massive EQ6 to the AM5 (configured as yours on the TC40 tripod but initially with the counterweight present). The inertial mass of the EQ6 mount head (17kg) and tripod (7kg) acts as a damping reservoir to absorb any trilling that could set up in the OTA (from touching the focusser, wind gusts etc.) and I think the dynamic behaviour of the counterweight with that weak anchor point on a thin plate contributed to the problem. On the EQ6 I was used to a very mild 2-3 Hz vibe that died down pretty much instantly (within about a second after a disturbance), but with the AM5 + TC40 combination these became quite vicious 5-10Hz and lasted about three seconds creating little saturn like star images on the first short exposure. This made PA and hand focusing very tedious and unpleasant experiences (take two shots, throw one away). I spent months on this, and have now taken steps (lots of measures) to manage that problem. It is now at an acceptable level though I still reserve the right to be fussy and grumble about it. So for that reason I can't agree with what you were saying about the AM5 being a windproof mount. You are right about strainwave drives not suffering wind against backlash, but there are often other sources movement (flex). My current AM5 setup uses a losmandy dovetail, no counterweight, and is back on the EQ6 tripod + PE200 with the legs extended to give it a good wide stance. Even with these measures in place it is *still* a lot more sensitive to the wind than the EQ6 ever was. Don't get me wrong. The EQ6 typically guides at 1"-2" and the AM5 figures are 0.5"-1.0" - so even on a gusty night the AM5 is never worse than the EQ6. But so it should be at twice the price. I get it that not everybody necessarily has this same experience, but it happens. Clear skies everybody!
Sorry to hear you have had those issues. Compared to how quiet mine is, given if mine is the norm, yours sounds like a lemon. But at least you are getting good guiding.
"The EQ6 typically guides at 1"-2" " Jikes, is it an older style eq6 or something? If not, then you should easy outperform the AM5 in any way shape or form!
For the cable management, Pegasus astro is coming out with a saddle powerbox with an adapter for it! I’m looking at picking both up once I have the money saved :) in the meantime i live vicariously through others 🤣 Great review! Excited to get my hands on this hopefully soon
I’ve had it since it came out and I’ve used it extensively- it’s the best mount I’ve ever had by far, and I say that while still loving my EQ6-R pro. I honestly don’t have anything negative to say about it. Paired with the ASIAIR it’s just amazingly easy to use. I was actually feeling a little bad because I’m finding fewer and fewer reasons to use my other mounts (I have the SW Star Adventurer GTI as well), so I went ahead and bought another ASIAIR and not I’ll do two rigs when I go to dark sites. It’s worth every penny.
one might consider 3d printing a plastic threaded adapter for steel counterweight bars, to ensure the aluminum can shear off any plastic threads instead. you can always print another adapter.
The guiding port is for external guiders like the MGEN3 which is a very good guider including dithering (and can also do polar alignment by the way). And of course also this kind of mounts have a little bit backlash..
Im convinced RUclipsrs get QC'd versions of the hardware from ZWO. Mine is definitely not windproof or mildly wind resistant. So the swag in error and the average RMS error I hear RUclipsrs say their hardware has vs what I read people including myself encountering is vastly different.
Pretty good review which covered AM5 mount differently from other reviews out there. I am familiar with few iOption mounts. Got my AM5 few months back. When comparing my iEQ45-pro vs AM5, most of my experience/feedback matches up with this video.
Thanks so much for doing this review! I’ve been thinking about getting one but a little skeptical about the technology but from what I just heard, I think I’m sold. Now, if you can just do a video to convince my wife on why her husband really needs one, I’d be forever in your debt. Thanks in advance! 😊
The reason you need guiding to dither is because the way the software is written, not anything to do with the hardware. (As far as the mount is concerned, it just receives a command to nudge it in a particular direction; it doesn't matter if the vector is calculated based on the guide scope or the imaging scope.) Paramounts, for example, can dither unguided. What is needed is zero period error (after correction) and a robust pointing model that takes into account things like flexure of the system. Currently, this is only available on high-end mounts like the Paramounts, but I suspect that in a few years the more mid-range systems will allow for this.
I did not know this. Thanks for sharing. It sounds complicated though to setup. I know one observatory near me with a planewave mount took them two years to get it to work with their camera and computers.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel The imaging/telescope control portions of Bisque's TheSkyX are probably less complex than NINA, but the problems with it are that 1) it is also fully functional planetarium software so the user interface is crammed full of other stuff; 2) has functionality and precision for professional astronomers that amateurs don't need; 3) the documentation is terribly written--the user guide reads like a functional specification, not instructions on use; and 4) poor user interface design (although the newer "light" interface is actually quite good, which is all you need for running a scope and imaging). Once you get used to its quirks, it's superb.
Supposedly, the counter weight is only necessary to prevent the from tipping over when it is at its weight limit, not because the motors can't handle it. The AM5 is the forever mount and on good nights, I've gotten it down to .27rms. Thanks for sharing.
I have the mount. It does well BUT it is a huge lottery. Some folks didn't get so lucky and have harmonic issues coming from poor QC giving big spikes out of nowhere in their guiding. ZWO's support for those folks is non existant. Good luck to all. If I was buying again, I'd go with a Rainbow Astro mount.
Big spikes do not matter. Only the RMS because that is what shows up in the image. I have seen a few complain about them but when I look at their data it is perfect. Like I said int he video. Guid and you won't have a problem. The guiding essentially means you ignore those spikes and pay attention only to the RMS.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel I disagree with you. With an image scale of 1.5 to 2 arcsec and spikes up to 3 and 4, you lose details. Your RMS might still look good with round stars but those end bigger than they should and finer details are lost for a given seeing. Of course those mounts need to be guided, no one argues this. The issue is how fast those problematic mounts jump around. Even guiding at 0.5 sec interval does not prevent this from happening. As I said, I was lucky. My AM5 is fine but if I was to buy again, I'd look at a company that knows more about harmonic drives and does QC on the drives.
I don't know if others have pointed this out but you don't need guiding to dither. You can quite easily dither without guiding. Typically to run unguided you need a mount model that makes micro corrections in real time and that probably can't be done with this because it's error is not periodic, at least over short time scales so guiding is essential with a mount like this but that statement does not generalize to all types of mounts.
Yes it's possible however it is complicated and that is why no one does it that way. Using guiding to dither with PHD2 or the ASIAIR is just so easy. It's like why lift this car with our back muscles when we can get out a jack and use our arms and a LOT of leverage.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel It's not complicated and lots of people do it. I know people that do it. I'm not bashing guiding. I guide on the three scopes I image with regularly but for many with high end mounts (Astro-Physics, Paramount, 10 Micron, Planewave, etc.) they have no need to guide. It removes a possible failure mode and actually simplifies operation for them.
@@lindathomas-fowler6486 Seams though like all those high $$ mounts always are getting sent back for issues.I know Trevor had to send hi back. So did astro works. And Mac observatory. Same with Galactic hunter. Depending on perfect mounts sounds like to much trouble. As a machinist I really appreciate perfect gears but I have simply never seen a high dollar mount that has them. When I talked to Astro physics at NEAF they did not even know how their gears were made because they outsource that.
Great review of a great piece of kit! I bought an AM5 in May and only used it a couple of times (due to all night twilight creeping in here at 53 degrees north) I took shots of M3, the Whirlpool and M101 and I was blown away. I previously had a HEQ5 Pro and, although it’s a great mount, the AM5 is in a different league. So easy to use with the AsiAir Looking forward to getting it out, hopefully in August, when the skies are dark enough again.
You know if you shoot Sii or Ha you can still image in the twilight or astronomical dawn. That is one of the beautiful things about narrowband. :) Heq5 is a great mount. I almost got one once but fell in love with the sound of the iOptron 45Pro. I am a machinist so the sound of a mount matters a lot to me.
The guide port is ESSENTIAL if you want to solar guiding. I do a lot of time-lapse photography on the Sun where you take a 500 frame video every 20 seconds for 2 hours, then process to create a time lapse. This is impossible without an external guide port for the solar guider. You cannot guide the Sun like you do a night time object, it requires a special process.
Just got this mount a few weeks ago but haven't had a chance to use it with all the wildfire smoke. But just heard some nice tips I didn't know like the Dec axis can be turned. Operation of the mount seems very intuitive. I was a bit confused with the 12V input and accessory output jacks which are not labeled as such but which seem to have the same plug size.
I have not been connecting the hand controller when using my AM5, and the WiFi works fine. I do have it in Station Mode, and connected to my home network. Correction! I am using it through the ASI Air Pro, so maybe you are right about needing the hand controller.
Interesting to hear that even a big iOptron acts up now and then to ruin some subs. I’ve had 100% success with the AM5 as well. But that’s almost always true of my Astro-Physics mounts, too. But I agree that the traditional mount makers have blinkers on if they think strain wave mounts aren’t the future, certainly for any mount designed to be portable. There’s little point in designing mounts you don’t need to guide, which had been the Holy Grail of mount design. An autoguider costs a lot less than some super machined worm and wheel gear set, and as you say, has the benefit of dithering. Thanks for the review! Clear skies. Love the fireflies!
Thank you Alan. I am glad someone with some experience found the same results as me. I had questioned a few other people too at Cherry springs about these same issues. They likewise agreed.
My experience with the AM5 parallels yours. I have lost almost no subs, polar alignment is well-behaved, and I always have sub-second guiding. I haven't seen anything but round stars in six months.
What is the purpose of the counter weight on a heavier OTA? Is it to keep the whole thing from falling over. I assume it’s not for balancing in the traditional sense.
Great review. 1 or 2 second exposures? A lot of us are doing say 30 sec, 60 sec, 1 minute, etc. I like your plug for dithering. I've gone and forth whether to use that. You have yellow orbs at 12:50. Can you do a video on just dithering, what's it do for you, why its so important, how to set the parameters.
Glad it was helpful! but you might be confusing guiding exposures with imaging cameras exposures. For the cameras the I use 300s is the norm and sometimes even 600s. But for guid camera that is when 1sec comes into play.
Well, it’s not exactly wind proof. On a windy night, with the carbon tripod and a C8 and dew shield mounted on it, gusts took the guiding to 5-6”. Not shocking.
Nothing wrong with tracking, the mounts that does it well cost a fair bit tho. They will outperform mounts like this with ease even if they guide :P I wouldn't mind an harmonic drive mount, the size / no need for CW is pretty cool. Prices still suck so maybe at a later time!
I could see it go the other way though. If backlash or stiction was too great it might perform poorly compared to one of these. However usually a mount with out periodic error will be made well enough to not have such issues in axes.
What does SWG stand for? iOptrons i am still tempted by. Their hybrid ones look cool and have wiring through the head. They look just like ZWOs AM5 to. I bet they’re made in the same factory.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel SWG is strain wave gear. HAE29 is fully SWG - on both axes, no more hybrid. It's a direct competitor to AM5. Would love to watch you test one of those some day!
Great informative video! Thank you. One question. I’ve had my AM5 for a few months now and truly love it, however, when doing a PA I find that loosing and then tightening the mount adjustments always throws off the PA and I need to redo…and redo. I’ve wondered if keeping some tension on the mount adjustments rather than completely loose…or is it possible to keep significant resistance on the adjustments without damaging the mount??? Any thoughts on this would be most helpful. Keep up the great videos…they are unique.
If it's thrown off a lot when you tighten things it means something is radically off balance. Try to find the center of balance for you scope tube and move it to that spot like I showed in the short clip. For tension I do always leave just a little tension on it. It will not hurt the mount they are designed to be friction points anyway.
7:40 Hand controller. Manual does not provide adequate information. I just purchased an AM5 and using only the hand controller and it is not tracking, why is this? Then download the cell phone app and there is not a user manual for the app. 9:38 polar alignment. I have not seen a video to show how to do this. Everyone just assumes the viewer knows how. I used a compass (with declination mat) and not sure if am doing this correctly. 16:00 dithering? Do you have how to video? I am beginner currently attempting to use a DSLR with the AM5, just the hand controller and Cell phone app, and failing to track. Do I need to purchase a guide camera? What is a “sub?”
I sold both my traditional mounts, I now own an AM5 and guess what an iOptron harmonic mount (HAE43). I agree I’d like to see a premium high capacity version (iOptron has the HAE69 so capacity is growing). Let me put it this way I owned an Astro-physics Mach1 and yes you could go unguided (not perfect but good) but with the weight of all that kit compared to the AM5 my setup time is 75% faster and my images are just as good with guiding that’s comparable. The only advantage to the AP was weight capacity and possibly focal length, though my 9.25 worked just fine on the AM5 with .8 or under guiding with an OAG. I will not sell my AM5 it’s a keeper.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel indeed, though the Mach1 is 65lbs, so the iOptron hae69 is comparable. I guess my point is everyone ooohs and aaahs over mounts like AP, well you aren’t missing as much as you think, for performance with my setups my AM5 matches it and in the end the image is all that matters.
Hi, thanks for this video. I am considering the AM3. Do you reckon it is also as much resilient when it is windy? What is your opinion about theZWO Tripod? TIA.
I like the ZWO tripod because it is easier to carry. Many though prefer more weight and for that there are plenty of other option. I don’t have first hand experience with the am3 but with strain wave gears it will be the same.
Sure are. I am in the country where there are fewer lights so they are still around here. IN the city they have virtually gone extinct because of lights.
Seams like it would be cheeper to just offer an ST4 to USB adapter backwards for that. Yes I am sick of seeing people trying to use the ST4 port. I just creates mistakes.
Thanks for this video. How do you like the height of the tripod, without the pier? I am 6 feet tall, have a bad back and crap knees, and wondering if the tripod, fully extended with pier, might be too low for comfort. Mind you, all I have right now is a star tracker mounted on a conventional photo tripod. I want to enter the world of Go-To mounts, and weight of the rig is important.
4:10 but can it really correct for tiny pushes for wind fast enough ? that would be amazing but I have a hard time believing it. Wind has always been a problem for light mounts
0.4" RMS would be perfect as my image scale can go up to 0.4-0.5. are you using a counterweight with that (eg if using a scope of 6-8kg) ? PHD2 multistar guiding I assume, hysteris or more like PPEC ? 0.5-1.5s guiding step it seems
With mounts that have backlash you have play in the gears that is where they flex. If you are worried about weight just get a pier or iOptron base. Then you will have the same weight.
I bet. At NEAF they said they had received a lot of requests for a larger mount. I know at cherry Springs there were more AM5 mounts than any other brand. And considering they have only been making these for one year that is a giant achievement.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel ZWO is frankly eating every other brands lunch on the mid to lower end. For big capacity mounts or high end imaging setups the high end mounts like AP, Bisque, etc. are better.
Very sorry to hear that. I used default guiding settings. What is your pixel size sample ratio to the scope? Is anything loose? Cables are often a culprit if they can sway or move and are not secured.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel my pixel sample ratio is 1.4 I don’t think any cables are loose but I will recheck. By the way I’m not using a counter weight and I’m using WO FLT91 scope with nearly 6.5kg-7kg total weight including camera and asiair and guide scope/camera
@@magedsyehia That should not be over the weight limit. How close do you get your polar alignment? Check for something loose. Sometimes it's the darndest things that come loose. You could also try stretching your gears a little. Unload the mount of everything and have the head rotate around a bunch of times. Will get the gears to lap themselves in. If noise increase then something mightn't have been assembled correctly inside.
Make sure your triopod is sitting on solid ground and not grass. I cut three plywood squares that the tripod sits one when it isn't on bare dirt or pavement. I use the all sky polar alignment option with my ASI AIR Plus and it gets aligned quickly and accurately.
ioptron HAE 29 is better for the same price. It is something forgotten in this video. Please compare the same technology to be fair. We know the very good choice for a small but strong Goto mount like AM5 thanks to the robotic technology. It is a must for air travel too. My C8 tube and my Strainewave mount are good for international flight as hand luggage because less than 10 kg. No risk to suffer of bad care in the airport, their size are good to stay nicely above my head during the flight. The only true issue with this technology solution is the need of a computer brain to deal with the Error periodic which is 10 times and more higher than a very good classical Equatorial goto mount with backlash and 25 kg extra weight. Once the brain is connecting to the mount the mount free of backlash is becoming a precise mount without any problem up to 1 m focal instrument for deep sky imaging. The better solution with a extra cost is the Ioptron EC strainwave mount version sold for different loads, up to the C14 telescop. From this EC we get 0.1 arc/s precision or less. The baby AM5 is a good choice but the buyer must check to buy everything in ordrer to begin with. What a big step this new decade is offering for this lobby. I wish one day the AI will be suggesting me to organise the night and teach me during the exposures under its control about Astromony.
A lot of the components are made in the same factory by the looks of them. So really almost anything I say about this mount can be applied to iOptorn. Except the polar alignment experience. I found the hardware that they (iOptron) use is inferior there. I also hate the fact that they went with black. I hate black scopes or mounts.
The color taste is personal and ridicoulous . The parts are all from Chinese industry. Please inform us about the inferiority of the hardware used by Ioptron. That is very interresting.
There is nothing personal or ridiculous about it. Most astronomers use red lights at night and so read hardware shows up well under it. I would prefer white but its a good compromise. Also with a red or white mount i can just glance outside to see what is going on. A black mount will be invisible. Also when doing daytime work black is not thermally stable and does all sorts of nasty things to tracking of the sun. So there. Some good scientific reasons ;) I touched a few at NEAF and the knobs for polar alignment were not as smooth. Seams like the joining structures are a little different. The design zwo went with is smoother and make polar alignment faster.
Have you ever seen an aircraft instrument panel illuminated in red? If there is one area where you have to "have the eye" at night, it is this one. All walkways of all recent military buildings are lit green.Why red?Contrary to popular belief, red light should be avoided, as the sensitivity of the eye is very inefficient for this tint. This makes it necessary to use relatively intense lighting to see details. The opposite effect of that hoped for!
Paramount is the only mount that permits this as far as i know. Setting it up is complicated. The observatory at muddy run took them two years to get theirs working.
@@dmccallie Indeed, its called direct mount correction or in this case, dithering. NINA, APT, SGP, Voyager, take your pick. These days, it is very rare that guiding is performed via the ST4 port
7:33 - Sorry, but, what actually is insulting as you presuming the obviousness of your statement for people who have not used the guiding ports. Why is it a bad idea? Rather than laughing at people who would use it please answer the question.
Dylan O'Donnall has a great video on what to do with that old guid cable here. I started it at the important part. I share his sentiment. ruclips.net/video/Mt0luBLaHDw/видео.html
Seems extremely optimistic compared to many that I know actually own it… It’s the opposite of wind proof, because it’s so light… a lot of what is said here is overstated clearly schilling to ZWO without having actually used it… no way it’s going to work with a 44lb long LF scope just ain’t happening… You are way wrong about tracking too, you’ll understand when you are more advanced as an astrophotographer. Astro-Physics knows a lot more than you do…
I'll be putting the newt back on here soon. It's a little above the 44lb limit. AstroPhysics disappointed me when I talked to them at NEAF. I asked them how they skiv their gear and they did not even know what that means. As a machinist from and from my conversation with them they outsource that to a machine shop. Scary if you ask me. They make some big stuff for sure and are the only option with some weight classes. I put that ending in there for them as I hope they do start doing better. Optimism is ok but experience is better. I can tell you backlash free mounts will always do better in the wind. They will punch way above their weight class.
The physics are spot on regarding backlash in the wind. Whether the mount is light is irrelevant. The OTA is a sail. The longer it is the longer the moment arm and the resultant forces from wind gusts get bigger. As he stated in the review, the stiffness of the system is more important. Yes, once the system starts to flex, a heavier tripod will move more slowly. F=ma. But at this point either rig will lose the sub. Can you please elaborate on “way wrong about tracking”?
@@u2fletch Tracking is often used to avoid chasing seeing, with guiding you end up in a feedback loop with worse than atmospheric limitations, not being able to track is a serious limitation, tracking is superior to guiding for this reason. I somewhat agree and disagree with your physics, it’s not a simple harmonic oscillator so just adding mass doesn’t just effect it’s oscillation frequency, it adds rigidity with less flexure on top of a higher moment. I don’t think you could successfully model the behavior of the system in FEA with F=ma…. I have a mount that only has a little more mass but images in 40+ mph wind with zero subs tossed, so there is a massive difference…. These are a couple reasons why you’d invest $19,000 in a solid Astro-Physics or Software-Bisque mount… There are extremely numerous reports of very poor results with this mount in wind, so it’s a real problem and clearly wasn’t tested for the review, I believe it was actually sarcasm honestly stating that it’s less affected by wind….
@@robertw1871 Thanks for the clarification. I agree with your statements about chasing seeing etc. Too many people fiddle with PHD2 settings looking for perfection and make things worse. And there is no substitute for mass and a high dollar mount with precision encoders for sure. Would like to see a comparison though if you bolted the AM5 to a concrete pier along with another traditional head to eliminate tripod issues and see how it truly performs in the wind.
@@u2fletch Yes I think the biggest problem with the AM5 is the ultralight tripod… there’s other issues, but that’s the price we pay for different technology that’s easy to transport. It seems that those who have solved the tripod issue are getting better results… It’s a neat mount for sure, I’m not convinced it’s a direct replacement for an EQ6 or the equivalent offering from iOptron though for someone’s primary mount…
I've almost pulled the trigger on the am5, but I just heard skywatcher is coming out with multiple new mounts, and a harmonic drive is in the lineup. How exciting. These are great videos. Thank you so much.
Fingers crossed! I have not heard anything about them making harmonic mounts. But I would bet they would be launched during NEAF. Which is about 5 months offf.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel They are expected next month. With better cable-management.
That being said, they are slightly more expensive.
I would just like you see ZWO doing a version 1.1 whereby cables are on the inside. I may wait for ZWO to come out with that.
What I like the most about you, and there are a lot of things that I do like, is that your videos are not interrupted by any kind of music, except for some natural sounds that I appreciate... Keep in going, it is a pleasure to watch your videos, and greetings from Kosovo 🇽🇰...
Wow, thank you! I used to try to put in music but got sick of all the licensing crap. No I only use it for slideshows of pictures.
Hands down the best review I have seen on this mount. I love it! Dither or die 😂, great phrase, and sooo true.
I saw the dither or die phrase on cloudy nights.
AM5 is great ... until it isn't. Then you will face the horror of ZWO Tech Support. My brand new AM5 failed at -11C ambient and 8.62kg of payload -- both well within stated specs. RA stalled during an attempted Meridian Flip. Now it has been sitting in ZWO Tech Support in New Jersey since December 6, 2023. Every time I contact them, I get the same reply: "Sorry. It will be ready next week." Does "next week" mean something different in New Jersey?
PS: why are my data figures struck-thru?
well done....enjoy the topics that have not been mentioned before. I just received an AM5 about 5 weeks ago and love it ! I took it to a Bortle 2 area in West Texas and was in Heaven. Guiding was incredible and I had a hard time finding any bad subs due to the mount.
keep 'em coming.
Thank you. Bortle 2 out west has got to be pretty sweet.
Fireflies said it was getting dark! Good job! I was wondering about the AM5 in the wind.
Great review of the AM5 mount. You answered many of my questions. Thanks. I am selling my existing mount and will be getting the AM5 ASAP.
Glad it was helpful!
regarding the backlash in the breeze: don't fully balance your payload on strong enough mounts. They can easily handle plodding along.
Lot's of fireflies how awesome Great review!
Thanks for watching! Everyone seams to like them. I will have to do some more shooting when they are out.
Quite possibly one of the best mounts I've ever owned! I had two at the 2023 Winter Star Party holding 90mm refractors dealing with steady 15-20mph winds and I was getting 0.4-0.8 rms error whereas my Redcat51 on a CEM25p was yielding 2.0 rms guiding error. That says it all!!!
And you have had quite a few mounts too.
I first started to suspect that these mounts could buck the wind if you will when you told me about the rms you were able to get in Florida with wind. Then i did some testing. Sure enough.
Great video. I have a C-11 on it with a 10 lb counter weight. I get the same numbers. Great mount.
Very cool! I bet it could handle more then its rated rate but in astrophotography we have to be reserved lol
@@TheNarrowbandChannel I got great photos but I need to start dithering. Dealing with Canadian smoke right now but bet the pictures would be 100% better. What are the minimum settings for dithering?
Planning to mount my C11/Hyperstar on it. Will see how that goes...🤔
That's a great review! I'm running an almost identical rig - an Orion EON 130 APO (27lbs) on AM5 + PE200 with no counterweight. I love it now, but my immediate first impression was a terrible disappointment! A really bad high frequency vibration was introduced when I moved this OTA over from my massive EQ6 to the AM5 (configured as yours on the TC40 tripod but initially with the counterweight present). The inertial mass of the EQ6 mount head (17kg) and tripod (7kg) acts as a damping reservoir to absorb any trilling that could set up in the OTA (from touching the focusser, wind gusts etc.) and I think the dynamic behaviour of the counterweight with that weak anchor point on a thin plate contributed to the problem.
On the EQ6 I was used to a very mild 2-3 Hz vibe that died down pretty much instantly (within about a second after a disturbance), but with the AM5 + TC40 combination these became quite vicious 5-10Hz and lasted about three seconds creating little saturn like star images on the first short exposure. This made PA and hand focusing very tedious and unpleasant experiences (take two shots, throw one away). I spent months on this, and have now taken steps (lots of measures) to manage that problem. It is now at an acceptable level though I still reserve the right to be fussy and grumble about it.
So for that reason I can't agree with what you were saying about the AM5 being a windproof mount. You are right about strainwave drives not suffering wind against backlash, but there are often other sources movement (flex). My current AM5 setup uses a losmandy dovetail, no counterweight, and is back on the EQ6 tripod + PE200 with the legs extended to give it a good wide stance. Even with these measures in place it is *still* a lot more sensitive to the wind than the EQ6 ever was.
Don't get me wrong. The EQ6 typically guides at 1"-2" and the AM5 figures are 0.5"-1.0" - so even on a gusty night the AM5 is never worse than the EQ6. But so it should be at twice the price. I get it that not everybody necessarily has this same experience, but it happens. Clear skies everybody!
Sorry to hear you have had those issues. Compared to how quiet mine is, given if mine is the norm, yours sounds like a lemon. But at least you are getting good guiding.
"The EQ6 typically guides at 1"-2" " Jikes, is it an older style eq6 or something? If not, then you should easy outperform the AM5 in any way shape or form!
Nice mount, nice review and nice firefly!
Thanks! Its was pretty dark when i did most of this.
From what I understand The ST4 auto guide port is used by some Solar Tracking devices still....
For the cable management, Pegasus astro is coming out with a saddle powerbox with an adapter for it! I’m looking at picking both up once I have the money saved :) in the meantime i live vicariously through others 🤣 Great review! Excited to get my hands on this hopefully soon
That would be cool! Do you have any links to where I could see it? I tried a quick search but did not come up with anything.
Your little boy trying to hide behind the mount is adorable. :)
Ya he has video bombed a few others in the past. He loves to watch me do these.
I’ve had it since it came out and I’ve used it extensively- it’s the best mount I’ve ever had by far, and I say that while still loving my EQ6-R pro. I honestly don’t have anything negative to say about it. Paired with the ASIAIR it’s just amazingly easy to use.
I was actually feeling a little bad because I’m finding fewer and fewer reasons to use my other mounts (I have the SW Star Adventurer GTI as well), so I went ahead and bought another ASIAIR and not I’ll do two rigs when I go to dark sites.
It’s worth every penny.
Very much how i feel too. My other rigs get a lot less time now.
one might consider 3d printing a plastic threaded adapter for steel counterweight bars, to ensure the aluminum can shear off any plastic threads instead. you can always print another adapter.
You wood have to print it sideways.
The guiding port is for external guiders like the MGEN3 which is a very good guider including dithering (and can also do polar alignment by the way).
And of course also this kind of mounts have a little bit backlash..
There are other solutions though. And backwards compatibility. ST4 needs to be eliminated so technology can move on rather then being held back.
Im convinced RUclipsrs get QC'd versions of the hardware from ZWO. Mine is definitely not windproof or mildly wind resistant. So the swag in error and the average RMS error I hear RUclipsrs say their hardware has vs what I read people including myself encountering is vastly different.
Your tuber feet are probably the problem Switch to the steel spikes.
Pretty good review which covered AM5 mount differently from other reviews out there. I am familiar with few iOption mounts. Got my AM5 few months back. When comparing my iEQ45-pro vs AM5, most of my experience/feedback matches up with this video.
Cool, thanks it's always good to get confirmation too.
Thanks so much for doing this review! I’ve been thinking about getting one but a little skeptical about the technology but from what I just heard, I think I’m sold. Now, if you can just do a video to convince my wife on why her husband really needs one, I’d be forever in your debt. Thanks in advance! 😊
There is this video! Which I have to say was true for me. lol ruclips.net/video/DkibP7LdWVc/видео.html
The reason you need guiding to dither is because the way the software is written, not anything to do with the hardware. (As far as the mount is concerned, it just receives a command to nudge it in a particular direction; it doesn't matter if the vector is calculated based on the guide scope or the imaging scope.) Paramounts, for example, can dither unguided. What is needed is zero period error (after correction) and a robust pointing model that takes into account things like flexure of the system. Currently, this is only available on high-end mounts like the Paramounts, but I suspect that in a few years the more mid-range systems will allow for this.
I did not know this. Thanks for sharing. It sounds complicated though to setup. I know one observatory near me with a planewave mount took them two years to get it to work with their camera and computers.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel The imaging/telescope control portions of Bisque's TheSkyX are probably less complex than NINA, but the problems with it are that 1) it is also fully functional planetarium software so the user interface is crammed full of other stuff; 2) has functionality and precision for professional astronomers that amateurs don't need; 3) the documentation is terribly written--the user guide reads like a functional specification, not instructions on use; and 4) poor user interface design (although the newer "light" interface is actually quite good, which is all you need for running a scope and imaging). Once you get used to its quirks, it's superb.
Supposedly, the counter weight is only necessary to prevent the from tipping over when it is at its weight limit, not because the motors can't handle it. The AM5 is the forever mount and on good nights, I've gotten it down to .27rms. Thanks for sharing.
Yes i had heard that to. Forgot to mention it though. Darn.
0.27” is sick :)
You said “forever mount” in a comment on another vid too. Haha
Thanks Ben, I'm really wanting to get one of these.
It's a nice one. Light too. Means I get it out more often.
I have the mount. It does well BUT it is a huge lottery. Some folks didn't get so lucky and have harmonic issues coming from poor QC giving big spikes out of nowhere in their guiding. ZWO's support for those folks is non existant. Good luck to all. If I was buying again, I'd go with a Rainbow Astro mount.
Big spikes do not matter. Only the RMS because that is what shows up in the image. I have seen a few complain about them but when I look at their data it is perfect. Like I said int he video. Guid and you won't have a problem. The guiding essentially means you ignore those spikes and pay attention only to the RMS.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel I disagree with you. With an image scale of 1.5 to 2 arcsec and spikes up to 3 and 4, you lose details. Your RMS might still look good with round stars but those end bigger than they should and finer details are lost for a given seeing. Of course those mounts need to be guided, no one argues this. The issue is how fast those problematic mounts jump around. Even guiding at 0.5 sec interval does not prevent this from happening. As I said, I was lucky. My AM5 is fine but if I was to buy again, I'd look at a company that knows more about harmonic drives and does QC on the drives.
I don't know if others have pointed this out but you don't need guiding to dither. You can quite easily dither without guiding. Typically to run unguided you need a mount model that makes micro corrections in real time and that probably can't be done with this because it's error is not periodic, at least over short time scales so guiding is essential with a mount like this but that statement does not generalize to all types of mounts.
Yes it's possible however it is complicated and that is why no one does it that way. Using guiding to dither with PHD2 or the ASIAIR is just so easy. It's like why lift this car with our back muscles when we can get out a jack and use our arms and a LOT of leverage.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel It's not complicated and lots of people do it. I know people that do it. I'm not bashing guiding. I guide on the three scopes I image with regularly but for many with high end mounts (Astro-Physics, Paramount, 10 Micron, Planewave, etc.) they have no need to guide. It removes a possible failure mode and actually simplifies operation for them.
@@lindathomas-fowler6486 Seams though like all those high $$ mounts always are getting sent back for issues.I know Trevor had to send hi back. So did astro works. And Mac observatory. Same with Galactic hunter. Depending on perfect mounts sounds like to much trouble. As a machinist I really appreciate perfect gears but I have simply never seen a high dollar mount that has them. When I talked to Astro physics at NEAF they did not even know how their gears were made because they outsource that.
Great review of a great piece of kit! I bought an AM5 in May and only used it a couple of times (due to all night twilight creeping in here at 53 degrees north)
I took shots of M3, the Whirlpool and M101 and I was blown away. I previously had a HEQ5 Pro and, although it’s a great mount, the AM5 is in a different league. So easy to use with the AsiAir
Looking forward to getting it out, hopefully in August, when the skies are dark enough again.
You know if you shoot Sii or Ha you can still image in the twilight or astronomical dawn. That is one of the beautiful things about narrowband. :)
Heq5 is a great mount. I almost got one once but fell in love with the sound of the iOptron 45Pro. I am a machinist so the sound of a mount matters a lot to me.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel that’s an interesting piece of information re narrowband. Thanks
@@TheNarrowbandChannel you must avoid sky-watcher GTI then, its sounds terrible
The guide port is ESSENTIAL if you want to solar guiding. I do a lot of time-lapse photography on the Sun where you take a 500 frame video every 20 seconds for 2 hours, then process to create a time lapse. This is impossible without an external guide port for the solar guider. You cannot guide the Sun like you do a night time object, it requires a special process.
They make usb to Guid port connectors.
The auto guide port is for solar observation
That one company that still uses it should really get out of the 1980s.
Just got this mount a few weeks ago but haven't had a chance to use it with all the wildfire smoke. But just heard some nice tips I didn't know like the Dec axis can be turned. Operation of the mount seems very intuitive. I was a bit confused with the 12V input and accessory output jacks which are not labeled as such but which seem to have the same plug size.
Hope you enjoy it! The dc ports are 5.5mm 2.1mm center pin. You need 12v 5am into the mont and you will get 3am out of the Side port to accessories.
The bokeh fireflies were a nice addition 🙂
Thanks. Our low light pollution means we get a lot more of them. Same with honey bees.
I have not been connecting the hand controller when using my AM5, and the WiFi works fine. I do have it in Station Mode, and connected to my home network. Correction! I am using it through the ASI Air Pro, so maybe you are right about needing the hand controller.
Yes if you have the air connected you can skip the wifi of the mount altogether.
Interesting to hear that even a big iOptron acts up now and then to ruin some subs. I’ve had 100% success with the AM5 as well. But that’s almost always true of my Astro-Physics mounts, too. But I agree that the traditional mount makers have blinkers on if they think strain wave mounts aren’t the future, certainly for any mount designed to be portable. There’s little point in designing mounts you don’t need to guide, which had been the Holy Grail of mount design. An autoguider costs a lot less than some super machined worm and wheel gear set, and as you say, has the benefit of dithering. Thanks for the review! Clear skies. Love the fireflies!
Thank you Alan. I am glad someone with some experience found the same results as me. I had questioned a few other people too at Cherry springs about these same issues. They likewise agreed.
Nice one been. Will be buying this soon, now that I have seen your review😊. Sadly the season will only start in ocotober with clear skies.
Hope you enjoy it! Get some Sii or Ha filters and you can at least collect data with those during twilight .
Will do, probably need to go mono as I live in B9 skies. But even twilights are bad. Monsoon in india = clouds for 4 months😊
My experience with the AM5 parallels yours. I have lost almost no subs, polar alignment is well-behaved, and I always have sub-second guiding. I haven't seen anything but round stars in six months.
Ya i am loving the round stars too. For too long i have had to cull all my images by hand looking for ovals.
The auto guide port is needed for the Hinode Solar Guider if you use the mount for solar imaging.
Hinode needs to get out of the 1980s and use modern ports. :)
@@TheNarrowbandChannel I can't argue with that.
What is the purpose of the counter weight on a heavier OTA? Is it to keep the whole thing from falling over. I assume it’s not for balancing in the traditional sense.
Just for balance.
Thanks. Excellent review.
Glad it was helpful!
Great review. 1 or 2 second exposures? A lot of us are doing say 30 sec, 60 sec, 1 minute, etc. I like your plug for dithering. I've gone and forth whether to use that. You have yellow orbs at 12:50. Can you do a video on just dithering, what's it do for you, why its so important, how to set the parameters.
Glad it was helpful! but you might be confusing guiding exposures with imaging cameras exposures. For the cameras the I use 300s is the norm and sometimes even 600s. But for guid camera that is when 1sec comes into play.
Well, it’s not exactly wind proof. On a windy night, with the carbon tripod and a C8 and dew shield mounted on it, gusts took the guiding to 5-6”. Not shocking.
Use a heavier tripod. Or weight it down. Its the head that is wind proof as it does not oscillate like mount heads with backlash.
My CEM26 is crap. If not balanced to the 10th of an oz it's all over the place. I need this mount
I do not have the CEM26 but the much older Zeq25. It's a decent mount but so heavy for its size. And ya the balance has to be perfect on it.
Nothing wrong with tracking, the mounts that does it well cost a fair bit tho. They will outperform mounts like this with ease even if they guide :P
I wouldn't mind an harmonic drive mount, the size / no need for CW is pretty cool. Prices still suck so maybe at a later time!
I could see it go the other way though. If backlash or stiction was too great it might perform poorly compared to one of these. However usually a mount with out periodic error will be made well enough to not have such issues in axes.
Too bad you didn't buy an HAE29 or HAE43 which is an SWG mount and iOptron :) Also, there are about zero reviews on that mount.
What does SWG stand for?
iOptrons i am still tempted by. Their hybrid ones look cool and have wiring through the head. They look just like ZWOs AM5 to. I bet they’re made in the same factory.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel SWG is strain wave gear. HAE29 is fully SWG - on both axes, no more hybrid. It's a direct competitor to AM5. Would love to watch you test one of those some day!
Great informative video! Thank you. One question. I’ve had my AM5 for a few months now and truly love it, however, when doing a PA I find that loosing and then tightening the mount adjustments always throws off the PA and I need to redo…and redo. I’ve wondered if keeping some tension on the mount adjustments rather than completely loose…or is it possible to keep significant resistance on the adjustments without damaging the mount??? Any thoughts on this would be most helpful. Keep up the great videos…they are unique.
If it's thrown off a lot when you tighten things it means something is radically off balance. Try to find the center of balance for you scope tube and move it to that spot like I showed in the short clip.
For tension I do always leave just a little tension on it. It will not hurt the mount they are designed to be friction points anyway.
I liked seeing the fireflies.
7:40 Hand controller.
Manual does not provide adequate information.
I just purchased an AM5 and using only the hand controller and it is not tracking, why is this?
Then download the cell phone app and there is not a user manual for the app.
9:38 polar alignment.
I have not seen a video to show how to do this. Everyone just assumes the viewer knows how.
I used a compass (with declination mat) and not sure if am doing this correctly.
16:00 dithering?
Do you have how to video?
I am beginner currently attempting to use a DSLR with the AM5, just the hand controller and Cell phone app, and failing to track.
Do I need to purchase a guide camera?
What is a “sub?”
Nice to see fireflies again!
Thanks. We get more them here because we have less light pollution to kill them. Same with honey Bees.
I never use the hand controller. Connect mount to ASIAIR via USB cable only.
For solar I usually use it.
I sold both my traditional mounts, I now own an AM5 and guess what an iOptron harmonic mount (HAE43). I agree I’d like to see a premium high capacity version (iOptron has the HAE69 so capacity is growing). Let me put it this way I owned an Astro-physics Mach1 and yes you could go unguided (not perfect but good) but with the weight of all that kit compared to the AM5 my setup time is 75% faster and my images are just as good with guiding that’s comparable. The only advantage to the AP was weight capacity and possibly focal length, though my 9.25 worked just fine on the AM5 with .8 or under guiding with an OAG. I will not sell my AM5 it’s a keeper.
This AP mounts have massive capacities some of them.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel indeed, though the Mach1 is 65lbs, so the iOptron hae69 is comparable. I guess my point is everyone ooohs and aaahs over mounts like AP, well you aren’t missing as much as you think, for performance with my setups my AM5 matches it and in the end the image is all that matters.
The image never lies :)
I currently plan on getting the am3 soon after it releases depending on reviews
I hope they make an AM1. I would love to replace my skywatch tracker. AM3 might be in my future if I wasn't to get rid of my ZEQ25
@@TheNarrowbandChannel I’m just ready to upgrade from my Iexos-100. I think the am3 would be a lot more travel friendly.
Do you need this hat for proper telescope operation and are there real lightning bugs in the background ?
100%, dither or die. I'm working on a video right now addressing that for widefield stuff.
Dither so improved my images when i first started doing it.
Hi, thanks for this video. I am considering the AM3. Do you reckon it is also as much resilient when it is windy? What is your opinion about theZWO Tripod? TIA.
I like the ZWO tripod because it is easier to carry. Many though prefer more weight and for that there are plenty of other option.
I don’t have first hand experience with the am3 but with strain wave gears it will be the same.
Very informative. 👍
Glad you think so!
in your tripod section are those fire flies in the background? 🤔
Sure are. I am in the country where there are fewer lights so they are still around here. IN the city they have virtually gone extinct because of lights.
Great video
Thanks!
Based on the background and the smoke in the air I'd say Pennsylvania?
Haha ya its bad here right now.
Why manufacturers have an st4 port and not use that space for something useful to the overwhelming mass of users like a usb port pass through.
Seams like it would be cheeper to just offer an ST4 to USB adapter backwards for that. Yes I am sick of seeing people trying to use the ST4 port. I just creates mistakes.
Thanks for this video. How do you like the height of the tripod, without the pier? I am 6 feet tall, have a bad back and crap knees, and wondering if the tripod, fully extended with pier, might be too low for comfort. Mind you, all I have right now is a star tracker mounted on a conventional photo tripod. I want to enter the world of Go-To mounts, and weight of the rig is important.
I might recommend the AM 3 for you then. Same height. I actually put the base of the head on my shoulder to carry it out now. Very easy on your back.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel Thanks for the advice, and I hope you are doing much better!
Those firefles are included? Cheers from Chile, love your videos.
Yes they are. We have little light polution here and that is why we have lots. Same with honey bees.
Nice job!
Thanks!
This is a great video. Question - when we add CWs, it is more for stability as I understand. We dont need to do a balancing - is that correct?
Yes, exactly. They just keep the scope from tilling over.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel thanks
4:10 but can it really correct for tiny pushes for wind fast enough ? that would be amazing but I have a hard time believing it. Wind has always been a problem for light mounts
0.4" RMS would be perfect as my image scale can go up to 0.4-0.5. are you using a counterweight with that (eg if using a scope of 6-8kg) ? PHD2 multistar guiding I assume, hysteris or more like PPEC ? 0.5-1.5s guiding step it seems
With mounts that have backlash you have play in the gears that is where they flex. If you are worried about weight just get a pier or iOptron base. Then you will have the same weight.
Depends on payload. Only with the newtonian do i use a counterweight.
you are awesome thankyou 👊👍
Thanks.
curious about your raspberry Pi setup???
That is an asi air. I have one from each generation.
They will be producing larger HD mounts, just wait and see😁
I bet. At NEAF they said they had received a lot of requests for a larger mount. I know at cherry Springs there were more AM5 mounts than any other brand. And considering they have only been making these for one year that is a giant achievement.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel ZWO is frankly eating every other brands lunch on the mid to lower end. For big capacity mounts or high end imaging setups the high end mounts like AP, Bisque, etc. are better.
hi how many kilos has the AM5 + Tripod?
Its 5kg hence the name AM5
Tbh your thing might have a mind of its own as you are using 1st gen asi air
With the iOptron i use a ASIAIR plus.
Are those fireflies in the background starting at 12:35?
Yes Thanks. Our low light pollution means we get a lot more of them. Same with honey bees.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel You have quite a show every night with those little guys. So beautiful!
Um...are those spherical ghost orbs or fireflies? :)
Fire flies. Spherical ghost orbs can be found though is you watch the history channels Aliens show ;)
I have the AM5 with the ASIAIR and didn’t even see guiding rms error below 0.8 !! Am I doing something wrong? Can you share your guiding settings?
Very sorry to hear that. I used default guiding settings.
What is your pixel size sample ratio to the scope?
Is anything loose? Cables are often a culprit if they can sway or move and are not secured.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel my pixel sample ratio is 1.4
I don’t think any cables are loose but I will recheck.
By the way I’m not using a counter weight and I’m using WO FLT91 scope with nearly 6.5kg-7kg total weight including camera and asiair and guide scope/camera
@@magedsyehia That should not be over the weight limit. How close do you get your polar alignment?
Check for something loose. Sometimes it's the darndest things that come loose.
You could also try stretching your gears a little. Unload the mount of everything and have the head rotate around a bunch of times. Will get the gears to lap themselves in. If noise increase then something mightn't have been assembled correctly inside.
Make sure your triopod is sitting on solid ground and not grass. I cut three plywood squares that the tripod sits one when it isn't on bare dirt or pavement. I use the all sky polar alignment option with my ASI AIR Plus and it gets aligned quickly and accurately.
ioptron HAE 29 is better for the same price. It is something forgotten in this video. Please compare the same technology to be fair. We know the very good choice for a small but strong Goto mount like AM5 thanks to the robotic technology. It is a must for air travel too. My C8 tube and my Strainewave mount are good for international flight as hand luggage because less than 10 kg. No risk to suffer of bad care in the airport, their size are good to stay nicely above my head during the flight. The only true issue with this technology solution is the need of a computer brain to deal with the Error periodic which is 10 times and more higher than a very good classical Equatorial goto mount with backlash and 25 kg extra weight. Once the brain is connecting to the mount the mount free of backlash is becoming a precise mount without any problem up to 1 m focal instrument for deep sky imaging. The better solution with a extra cost is the Ioptron EC strainwave mount version sold for different loads, up to the C14 telescop. From this EC we get 0.1 arc/s precision or less. The baby AM5 is a good choice but the buyer must check to buy everything in ordrer to begin with. What a big step this new decade is offering for this lobby. I wish one day the AI will be suggesting me to organise the night and teach me during the exposures under its control about Astromony.
A lot of the components are made in the same factory by the looks of them. So really almost anything I say about this mount can be applied to iOptorn. Except the polar alignment experience. I found the hardware that they (iOptron) use is inferior there. I also hate the fact that they went with black. I hate black scopes or mounts.
The color taste is personal and ridicoulous . The parts are all from Chinese industry. Please inform us about the inferiority of the hardware used by Ioptron. That is very interresting.
There is nothing personal or ridiculous about it. Most astronomers use red lights at night and so read hardware shows up well under it. I would prefer white but its a good compromise. Also with a red or white mount i can just glance outside to see what is going on. A black mount will be invisible. Also when doing daytime work black is not thermally stable and does all sorts of nasty things to tracking of the sun. So there. Some good scientific reasons ;)
I touched a few at NEAF and the knobs for polar alignment were not as smooth. Seams like the joining structures are a little different. The design zwo went with is smoother and make polar alignment faster.
Have you ever seen an aircraft instrument panel illuminated in red? If there is one area where you have to "have the eye" at night, it is this one. All walkways of all recent military buildings are lit green.Why red?Contrary to popular belief, red light should be avoided, as the sensitivity of the eye is very inefficient for this tint. This makes it necessary to use relatively intense lighting to see details. The opposite effect of that hoped for!
@@thierrymartin8715 Please go to a star party and turn on a green light.
how come you have an american accent
I do live there.
"Please have your head examined if you are not trying to guide"
uhhhhhhhhh erm awkward...
you can dither without a guider...
Paramount is the only mount that permits this as far as i know. Setting it up is complicated. The observatory at muddy run took them two years to get theirs working.
@@TheNarrowbandChannel Direct mount drive on any goto mount, simple to set up in any automated software
@@adrianphotovisions2308NINA makes it easy to dither when not guiding. They simulate the guider, and just nudge the mount as if it were being guided.
@@dmccallie Indeed, its called direct mount correction or in this case, dithering. NINA, APT, SGP, Voyager, take your pick. These days, it is very rare that guiding is performed via the ST4 port
7:33 - Sorry, but, what actually is insulting as you presuming the obviousness of your statement for people who have not used the guiding ports. Why is it a bad idea? Rather than laughing at people who would use it please answer the question.
All feedback is good and welcomed. Have you tried both techniques? I have very good reasons not to use the old port myself.
Dylan O'Donnall has a great video on what to do with that old guid cable here. I started it at the important part. I share his sentiment. ruclips.net/video/Mt0luBLaHDw/видео.html
@@TheNarrowbandChannel - i’m getting back into the hobby and have not used either method yet. I’ll look at the video you linked, thank you.
Seems extremely optimistic compared to many that I know actually own it… It’s the opposite of wind proof, because it’s so light… a lot of what is said here is overstated clearly schilling to ZWO without having actually used it… no way it’s going to work with a 44lb long LF scope just ain’t happening… You are way wrong about tracking too, you’ll understand when you are more advanced as an astrophotographer. Astro-Physics knows a lot more than you do…
I'll be putting the newt back on here soon. It's a little above the 44lb limit.
AstroPhysics disappointed me when I talked to them at NEAF. I asked them how they skiv their gear and they did not even know what that means. As a machinist from and from my conversation with them they outsource that to a machine shop. Scary if you ask me. They make some big stuff for sure and are the only option with some weight classes. I put that ending in there for them as I hope they do start doing better.
Optimism is ok but experience is better. I can tell you backlash free mounts will always do better in the wind. They will punch way above their weight class.
The physics are spot on regarding backlash in the wind. Whether the mount is light is irrelevant. The OTA is a sail. The longer it is the longer the moment arm and the resultant forces from wind gusts get bigger. As he stated in the review, the stiffness of the system is more important. Yes, once the system starts to flex, a heavier tripod will move more slowly. F=ma. But at this point either rig will lose the sub. Can you please elaborate on “way wrong about tracking”?
@@u2fletch Tracking is often used to avoid chasing seeing, with guiding you end up in a feedback loop with worse than atmospheric limitations, not being able to track is a serious limitation, tracking is superior to guiding for this reason. I somewhat agree and disagree with your physics, it’s not a simple harmonic oscillator so just adding mass doesn’t just effect it’s oscillation frequency, it adds rigidity with less flexure on top of a higher moment. I don’t think you could successfully model the behavior of the system in FEA with F=ma…. I have a mount that only has a little more mass but images in 40+ mph wind with zero subs tossed, so there is a massive difference…. These are a couple reasons why you’d invest $19,000 in a solid Astro-Physics or Software-Bisque mount… There are extremely numerous reports of very poor results with this mount in wind, so it’s a real problem and clearly wasn’t tested for the review, I believe it was actually sarcasm honestly stating that it’s less affected by wind….
@@robertw1871 Thanks for the clarification. I agree with your statements about chasing seeing etc. Too many people fiddle with PHD2 settings looking for perfection and make things worse. And there is no substitute for mass and a high dollar mount with precision encoders for sure. Would like to see a comparison though if you bolted the AM5 to a concrete pier along with another traditional head to eliminate tripod issues and see how it truly performs in the wind.
@@u2fletch Yes I think the biggest problem with the AM5 is the ultralight tripod… there’s other issues, but that’s the price we pay for different technology that’s easy to transport. It seems that those who have solved the tripod issue are getting better results… It’s a neat mount for sure, I’m not convinced it’s a direct replacement for an EQ6 or the equivalent offering from iOptron though for someone’s primary mount…
Small contradiction: the ST-4 is still needed for the Hinode solar guider ;-)
Interesting. Did not know that. I have to look this up now.