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Shown with optional Keypad.
The Mach1GTO German Equatorial Mount with the GTOCP4 Control Box is no longer available to purchase. The information below is provided for present owners and those who are curious about its history.
New in 2016
The Mach1GTO will be our first mount to ship with our long-awaited GTOCP4 Control Box and feature our new Auto-Adjusting Motor/Gearboxes.
GTOCP4 Control BoxThe GTOCP4 Control Box offers multiple connection options to suit your requirements including wifi, ethernet, USB and serial ports. In addition to all the features carried forward from previous control boxes, the GTOCP4 applies safety slew logic to all slew commands. Future firmware updates will be available via direct downloads.
Auto-Adjusting Motor/GearboxesOur new motor/gearboxes were designed to be more responsive for precision astro-photography, while at the same time making it super easy to use and adjust. Here are some key features:
Why a Mach1GTO?
There is much to admire in the Mach1GTO. It is beautifully machined, intelligently designed, precisely fabricated and assembled, and it has sophisticated electronics and servo drive controls. But the bottom line is performance and results.
Sky & Telescope Magazine published a test report of the Mach1GTO with the GTOCP3 Control Box (prior version) in the December 2007 issue entitled "Staying on Track". Earlier that year, Dennis di Cicco, Sky & Telescope Senior Editor, had tested Televue's TV-NP127is refractor, Apogee's Alta U9000 CCD camera and the Mach1GTO together over a number of imaging sessions. Based on his experiences, Dennis wrote three different reviews. The December article focuses on the Mach1GTO (PDF is linked with permission).
"The mount just faded into the background
as I worked with the scope and camera. Each night I’d turn it on;
press a few buttons to slew to a bright star (usually before sunset),
confirming that the mount was still synced with the sky; and go about
my observing. Night after night the Go To pointing, sidereal tracking,
and autoguiding remained virtually flawless. The fact that the mount
proved so unobtrusive as I busied myself otherwise is, in my opinion,
one of its greatest qualities — especially since its setup had
been so easy." ....... If you’re in the market for a quality, midsize German equatorial mount that’s highly suited to portable and permanent installations, you should definitely consider the Mach1 GTO. I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with its performance. The nameplate says “Astro-Physics," and after months of using it, I know it’s good." |
Since the review, we have added newer features. The Mach1GTO is even better than ever: GTOCP4 Control Box, Precision-Adjust Rotating Pier Base / Hi-Res Azimuth Adjuster, built-in adapter for the Right-Angle Polar Alignment scope, rear-mounted Azimuth Adjuster and larger cable openings and now the GTOCP4 Control Box and Auto-Adjusting Motor/Gearboxes.
Whether your Mach1GTO makes a permanent home in your observatory, explores your favorite observing sites or travels to the ends of the earth with you, it will allow you to optimize your observing sessions to the max. Ideal instruments include: Astro-Physics and similar fast refractors up to our 160 mm f7.5 StarFire EDF, 8-11" SCTs, 6-8" Maks or any scopes of a similar size.
As Roland Christen, founder of Astro-Physics, has stated many times: "The single most important item for the imager is the mount. Next comes the mount. Then comes the mount.... Get the picture?"
Versatility
Portable Enough for Airline Travel
Transport this rigid observing platform to your dream destination. The entire
mount will fit into a single rugged case that will roll easily through airports
or to your car. If needed, the R.A. and Dec. axes split easily into two
pieces to fit into a more compact case.
Operate with 12V battery or Regulated Power Supply
You can take it to the darkest skies and power it
with a commonly available 12V battery. In the observatory,
we suggest a minimum 5-amp filtered, regulated power
supply.
Image Past the Meridian
The mount will track and guide well past the meridian in either direction if the object is located such that the telescope will clear the pier. This allows the user to set up the mount for a long series of exposures without stopping in the middle to flip sides. One can start the telescope under the mount while pointing at an object in the eastern part of the sky and track it all the way deep into the western sky. This is very useful for long exposure H-alpha or in cases where a large number of individual exposures are needed for stacking. Dennis di Cicco had this to say about the "powerful meridian delay feature" in his 2007 review:
". . . makes it easy to set up photographs that track across the meridian without interruption. It may sound like a small feature on paper, but I found it extremely useful in the field . . ." |
"The mount’s tracking and Go To pointing are among the most accurate I’ve ever tested. At the end of each night I’d park the scope and turn off the power. Whether an hour, day, or week elapsed until I’d power up the mount again and “resume from park," it would have perfect sync with the sky — even to the point of “hiding" stars behind my finderscope’s crosshairs when I’d check the alignment by slewing to them in a bright twilight sky . . . Such Go To pointing precision comes in handy when shooting photographic mosaics, making a sequence of deep exposures of the same field on multiple nights, or hunting difficult targets by eye." |
Precision-Adjust Rotating Pier Base / Hi-Res Azimuth Adjuster
The Precision-Adjust Rotating Pier Base / Hi-Res Azimuth
Adjuster offers the same smooth and precise rotation as experienced when using
the precision-adjust rotating pier adapters with our larger mounts. Regardless
of the mount's load, hi-res adjustments can be made in azimuth with no lockdown
needed, which could shift your position.
The azimuth adjuster knobs are now at the rear of the R.A. axis, which provides
easier access and nearly doubles the precision of their adjustments. An etched
line on the adjuster housing corresponds with the ridges of the knobs to provide
a measured adjustment of 0.7021 degrees (42 arcminutes) per rotation or 0.05 degrees (3 arcminutes) per ridge.
These features were introduced in June 2011. If you own a mount shipped in prior years, the base can be easily removed and upgraded with these features.
Clutches and Interchangeable Motor / Gear Boxes
Clutches allow manual operation if power is not available.
Easy to Adjust and Maintain
The design of the Mach1GTO is straightforward with modular construction
and no complicated internal wiring. We provide information in the Technical Support
section of our website pertaining to typical adjustment issues. All electronics
including the GTOCP4 control box, motors, gearbox or cables can be removed for
servicing. The R.A. and Dec. axes can be shipped separately, if needed.
Route your cables through the mount for tangle-free operation and peace of mind.
Both axes have 2 inch clearance holes down the center
with no shafts protruding into the holes. Wires from CCD cameras and accessories
can be inserted from the bottom of the RA axis to emerge from the top of the
Dec axis. Channels have been machined to allow the cables to be routed under
the mounting plates. There is no restriction of rotation with the wires inserted
- one can rotate both axes more than 360 degrees without catching the wires
on any parts. The mounts shipped starting in June 2011, have a larger cable
channel at the top of the Dec. axis than the earlier mounts..
Use Accessories you May Already Own
If you already own our previous 400 or 600E German
Equatorials or other Astro-Physics mounts, you will be pleased to learn that
many of the same accessories can be used with the Mach1GTO. These include
counterweights, mounting plates, polar alignment scope, piers
and tripods.
Fast and Precise Polar Alignment
Our clever CNC machined Right
Angle Polar Alignment Scope (RAPAS) allows you to polar align the Mach1GTO in
record time and with a precision that permits you to quickly begin imaging.
Its revolutionary right-angle design will immediately win you over. No longer
will you be kneeling on the ground, straining your neck to polar align.
Instead you will comfortably look down into the scope.
In the northern hemisphere, Polaris, a 2nd magnitude star, is the only one that you need to position on the circular grid pattern of the reticle, so it is possible to align in light polluted skies. No other stars are needed. Southern hemisphere observers will use the grid for Sig Octans.
There are several ways to determine where Polaris should be positioned on the circular reticle grid. The Astro-Physics ASCOM V2 driver includes the Astro-Physics Polar Alignment Scope Utility that duplicates the grid and provides a continuously updated positioning of Polaris. Custom apps are available for your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch and Android or Windows devices. Those of you who wish to do it the old-fashioned way can calculate Polaris' position in local sidereal time.
Note: All Mach1GTO mounts shipped beginning in 2014 (serial number M10670 and later) will have the adapter for the Right-Angle Polar Alignment Scope built in. Mounts shipped in prior years must purchase the Right-Angle Polar Alignment Scope Adapter for Mach1GTO (RAPM1) separately.
If you already own the earlier PASILL4L, PASILL4 or PASILL3 versions of the Losmandy Polar Alignment Scope and wish to use it on a Mach1GTO mount that already has the adapter for the Right-Angle Polar Alignment scope (1.79" thread diameter on the backplate), you will need to purchase the Losmandy Polar Alignment Scope Adapter for 1100GTO, 1600GTO and some Mach1GTO Mounts (Q16030).
Mechanical Specifications |
Construction | All CNC machined aluminum bar stock, stainless steel, brass; stainless steel fasteners |
Finishing and Assembly | Every part is hand-finished and inspected. All assembly is done by hand, by highly skilled mount assembly staff. |
Worm wheel - R.A./Dec. | 5.9" (150 mm), 225 tooth aluminum | Worm gear - R.A./Dec. | 0.705" (17.9 mm) diameter, special low-wear alloy | Axis shaft - R.A./Dec. | 2.36" (60 mm) diameter | Shaft axis bearings - R.A./Dec. | 3.1" (78 mm) diameter, 2 per axis |
Latitude range | 0 to 70 degrees with or without the polar scope attached, engraved scale |
Azimuth adjustment | Approximately 13 degrees (+/- 6.5 degrees from center) |
Counterweight shaft | 1.125" (29 mm) diameter x 13.625" (346.1 mm) useable length, incl. washer and safety knob. Weight 4.1 lb. (1.9 kg) Optional counterweight shaft (M1053-A) available: 1.875" (48 mm) diameter x 9.675" (246 mm) useable length; fits inside Dec. axis for transport. Requires Safety Stop. |
Weight of mount | Total: 28 lb. (12.7 kg) R.A. axis/polar fork: 16.5 lb. (7.5 kg) Dec. axis: 11.5 lb. (5.2 kg) |
Capacity | Approximately 65 lb. (30 kg) of scope and accessories, depending on length. Recommended for: Astro-Physics and similar fast refractors up to our 160 mm f7.5 Starfire EDF, 8-12" SCTs and 8-10" Maks. These are only guidelines. Some telescopes are very long for their weight or heavy for their size and will require a larger mount. Remember also that imaging requirements are more rigid than visual observation. |
Instrument mounting interface |
Refer to list of suitable mounting plates below |
Diameter of base | 5.800" (147.32 mm) diameter |
GTOCP4 Servo Drive System
Like the previous GTO mounts, the GTOCP4 drive system uses a high-quality Swiss DC servo motor controlled by a microprocessor to an accuracy of 0.05 arc-seconds per step. Tracking is very smooth, noticeably smoother than any stepper motor drive or inexpensive servo motor. The system can be accurately controlled over a speed range of 4800:1, which allows 0.25x sidereal for manual guiding to 1200x sidereal for 5 degree per second slewing. The circuit draws only 0.4 amps when tracking the stars, 2 amps with both motors slewing and requires only 12 volts to operate. The servo drive will satisfy the requirements of the sophisticated, advanced astrophotographer, yet is easy for the casual, visual observer to use.
Gear Accuracy and PE PerformanceOptimized for Astronomy
Astro-Physics mounts and the Astro-Physics GTO Servo Control System are designed
from the outset as tools for celestial observing and imaging. These
mounts do not have any military or defense applications. Applications like
missile, airplane, or very low earth orbit satellite tracking require faster
tracking rates and more rapid changes to those tracking rates than our mounts
allow. Note that the ISS is generally within the mount’s
tracking rate capabilities.
GTO Servo Drive System Specifications
Electronic components | Rated for industrial and automotive applications |
Motors | Zero-cogging Swiss DC servo motors, enclosed in machined, aluminum housing |
Motor encoder | 2000 tic quadrature yielding an effective resolution of 0.050 arcseconds per tic |
Motor reduction gear train | 57.6:1 gear reduction through a custom built set of large diameter, fine-toothed, precision, spur gears for vastly superior performance |
Servo Motor Control Box | GTOCP4 Control Box; black-anodized to match the mount |
Hand-held computer (optional) | GTO Keypad to control all mount functions.Includes extensive databases and tour features in a simple, intuitive interface. Firmware updates via the internet |
Power consumption | ~ 0.3 to 0.5 amps at 13.8 volts - tracking ~ 1.0 to 2.2 amps at 13.8 volts - both motors slewing at 1200x |
Power requirements | Nominal 12 volt DC supply at minimum of 5 amps continuous |
Periodic error | +/- 3.5 arc seconds or less in one worm cycle (6.4 minutes); native, prior to any error correction |
Maximum slew speed | 5 degrees / second |
Flexible Control with Your Keypad, Computer or even your Mobile Smart Device!
As this chart shows, there are many options available for controlling your mount. Take a few minutes to link to descriptions of the varied software and devices that are available. You will be able to further link to a full size view of this chart. |
Dimensions
The Mach1GTO can be mounted on a wide variety of piers and tripods. To determine the appropriate pier height for your system, please try this Excel spreadsheet Latitude Dimension Calculator.
In addition to Dennis di Cicco's fine review of the Mach1GTO, we were excited and honored to have the Mach1GTO chosen as one of Sky & Telescope's Hot Products for 2007! With the new GTOCP4, Auto-Adjusting Motor/Gearboxes, Precision-Adjust Rotating Pier Base / Hi-Res Azimuth Adjuster, rear-mounted azimuth adjusters and larger cable openings, the Mach1GTO is even better than ever!
Price and Delivery Information
The Mach1GTO with GTOCP4 Control Box is no longer available. Please refer to our website for our most recent model in this size category.
Support
We have prepared some pertinent support documents relating
to this mount and many of our other products on our Technical
Support page. Please check there first to find the information that you
need.
Upgrades and Spare Parts
Check out our Astro-Physics.com website to find accessories, replacement parts or learn about possible upgrades for your mount.
Copyright © 2017-2019, Astro-Physics,
Inc. - All Rights Reserved
This page was last modified:
March 12, 2019
Astro-Physics, Inc.
11250 Forest Hills Road, Machesney Park, IL 61115, U.S.A.
Phone: 815-282-1513 Fax: 815-282-9847