Re: [APML]: Mounts

[Doug <douglas@CAM.ORG>]

Wil,

        AP purists are no better/worse than Harley or religious purists. Why rain
on anyone's party? 

PS. I'm glad the G11 works for you!


At 07:34 AM 2/11/98 -0700, you wrote:
>
>Jim Fakatselis wrote:
>
>> I have a new AP 600 on order with the voice control and servo motors. I was
>> trying to decide about the portability of the AP 600 compared to the AP
900.
>> Is the AP 900 really transportable easily? I have heard that it is not. How
>> transportable compared to Losmandy G-11, anyone have an idea?
>
>I recently purchased a G11 mount and have worked with the AP600 and played
a bit
>with an AP900. In terms of weight and scope-carrying capacity the G11 is
>intermediate between the AP600 and AP900. The AP purists will always claim
that
>the AP mounts are the only way to go, but after owning an AP400 and
working with
>the 600 and 900 I bought a Losmandy G11. The AP mounts are superb mounts in
>every way, but the 600 was too small for my C11, while the 900 was too
heavy and
>cumbersome for my frequent use.
>
>It's true that the 900 comes apart to reduce the weight of single components,
>but the down side of that is that it takes much longer to set it up. The two
>halves of the head have to be assembled, then the pier legs have to be
assembled
>to the pier, the tension rods attached and tensioned, then the head
attached to
>the pier. The G11, by comparison, has large tubular tripod legs which just
slip
>on and off and tighten with one twist of a large knob, the one-piece head
>attaches to that, and it's done. In practice I find that it takes me less
than
>half as long to set up the G11 than the 900 mount, then later less than
half as
>long to take it down again.
>
>Does that make the G11 better than the 900 mount? Yes -- for my particular
use
>and my particular needs. I don't have a fixed site and thus take the mount in
>and out and out to dark sites very often; during clear weather as much as
>several times a week. I also don't need this mount to carry anything
larger than
>a C11, so the AP900 with its larger weight, expense, and longer setup didn't
>make as much sense for me. Others who need the larger capacity of the 900
or who
>don't mind the extra weight, complexity, and setup time would make a
different
>trade-off. This is why it's so nice to have choices in the marketplace :-).
>
>Wil M.
>--
>"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the
stars
>which You have set in place, what is Man that you are mindful of him, or
the son
>of Man that you care for him?"  -- Psalm 8
>
>
>
>
doug