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Mach1GTO Hi All, Been having fun imaging in sub zero weather - brrrrrr. At least it's clear. Take a look at the images that I posted in the files section (images and more discussion). Note the guiding performance of the Mach1 with the 155EDF. It was set up in my observatory, so it was being sheltered from the wind to some extent, although I would guess that it would not have been affected much at all by any normal wind situation. The images show the performance of the mount and the TCC operating at F5.3, which opens up a new option for 155EDF owners for wide field imaging with the STL cameras. We will have this product available shortly (after I get the elements coated).Roland Christen, President, Astro-Physics (February 5, 2007) |
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Mach1GTO So last night at 9:30pm I set up a C9.25" on the Mach1GTO. Did a careful polar alignment with the polar scope. Nothing else. Then I star synced on Procyon using a 9mm Nagler, then slewed to Saturn which was still blocked by my house and left the whole thing running while I went to bed until 12am. I went outside and plugged in my ToUCam with 3x barlow and guess what?- Saturn square in the middle of the view- even at this ridiculous magnification and after all this time. Dang, is this mount glued on rails or what? There must be a secret micro chip receiving correction signals from GPS satellites somewhere in the hand controller. Unreal.This is a wonderful mount and the engineering is top notch. I think so much of that precision and perfection is subtely hidden under the hood, so to speak, and it is hard just looking at the specs to appreciate the level of engineering behind it. My previous mount was a (name deleted). I thought that was a very good mount until I started using the Mach1. I.O., NC |
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900GTO Had a terrific time this weekend with my AP-900 doing some medium format film work with a 6" refractor (f/7.9) and hand guiding using a 4" refractor. This combination weighed in at close to 60#'s. I was very lucky and got well polar aligned quickly (1/2 hour). What was nice is with the PEC trained, I was able to take my eye off guiding for minutes at a time looking for meteors and enjoying the night sky in general. Returning to guiding I would find the guide star stillcentered. The only downside to such accurate mounts is after doing this for 3 or 4 hours, one gets real sleepy without having to work on tracking so hard. Thanks Mr. C. et. al. for a great mount. T.P., CA |
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900GTO Sometimes it seems like this list only gets used to report/diagnose problems . . . I thought I'd take the opportunity to put up a completely positive post.I'm just back from the Shingletown Star Party in Northern California, 5 days of observing/imaging bliss. Temps were from 96 to 102 during the day, 50s to 60s at night. The weather was great, though the seeing a bit soft, and I got 3 1/2 great nights of imaging in (the last night was a public star party until midnight). I've had my AP900GTO mount for 3 1/2 years now -- and have never had a problem with it. This trip was no exception. It took the 11-hour drive to SSP in a hot car with no problems. Setup was quick as always, alignment with the polar scope at twilight, then a quick pass with PoleAlignMax after dark and I was set up, and left it that way for 5 days. GOTO, tracking, and guiding all worked flawlessly all week -- and were a really big hit on public night. I got 15GB of imaging data (that I have to process!), from my SXV-M25C and guide head, and not a single frame has tracking or guiding problems. One 75 amp-hour battery ran the mount all week, with top-up refreshes during the day. My poor mount gets left outside with just a tarp cover (like at SSP) on a regular basis, gets everything from 100+ temps to sub-freezing, has never been disassembled or lubed since I got it, and continues to work like the fine instrument I knew it was when I got it. This mount is by far the best and most reliable piece of equipment I've ever purchased, and was worth every penny. Thanks again Roland and AP for a great product, which lets me haul it all over the place and just works :) P.L., CA |
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900GTO My eager anticipation of the new 900GTO was well justified when the mount arrived. I've never owned such a beautiful piece of machinery (aside from my beloved 1987 Buick Grand National). The mount delivers too. What I used to consider a devastating gust of wind is now just a mild annoying breeze. Depending on the exposure time, guiding is now optional!The AP900GTO supports the Intes-Micro MN-76 7" f/6 Maksutov-Newtonian and the neat little Orion 100mm f/6 as a guide scope. It's a solid combination that is proving to be a very nice astrophoto setup. I appreciate the portability of this mount as I'm able to fit everything in a small hatch-back car to travel out to dark sky sites. Thanks for such a great product, B.C., CA |
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900GTO I am so excited! Finally had a chance to test out my new AP 900 mount after
25 straight days of rain here in the pacific northwest. The conditions were
not ideal, as the humidity ranged between 98 and 99%, with fog coming and
going. However, any clear night in January is an imaging night. |
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900GTO and 600EGTO Operation, accuracy and reliability meet and/or exceed my requirements. Backward compatibility in hardware & software allow me to keep my mounts up to date.
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1200GTO I am quite impressed with the fit and function of my previously owned 1200GTO. I set up in my driveway (in a relatively dark cul de sac under suburban skies) early in the a.m. of 9-11. I leveled the 32" A-P portable pier in under 5 minutes and spent a total of 2 minutes polar aligning with my tweaked alignment scope and then locked onto a guide star in the IC 1396 complex with the ST10. With the scope setup on the east side of the mount I then setup Maxim to take 16 20 minute images. I went to bed.The next morning I discovered all the images were keepers! A testimony to the 1200 GTO GEM! Now I can image the night away instead of fiddling with the mount and still getting bloated stars. Thanks Mr C. and company for a fine product. M.F., TN |
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1200GTO I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you I love my AP1200 mount! The low PE and rock-solid stability makes challenging imaging much easier. For example, this image of the Blue Snowball, in Andromeda (NGC 7662) was shot from my backyard using an RCO 0.32m Ritchey-Chretien at F/18 (FL 5760mm) and the SBIG ST-8XE CCD/CFW-8 on the AP1200 GOTO GEM. A TeleVue 2X Barlow was used without AO-7 adaptive optics. Even though the PN [Planetary Nebula] was projected by a FL [focal length] of over 19.5 feet (!), round stars were consistently obtained during the integrations. Total integration time for the L-frame was 26 mins with 2X2 binned RGB frames totaling 5 minutes, each. Camera temperature was -5C, while ambient temperatures were +35C to +28C. The frames were processed using Lucy-Richardson deconvolution and unsharp mask. Seeing was remarkably good but the skies were extremely bright with a rising full moon and severe light pollution. Regards,R.J., AZ |
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1200GTO Just a note to let you know that now that my mount is 1 year old (I should have a birthday party!)I have not had a single problem with it and it gets plenty of use. I did the Messier marathon lastmonth with the mount and a 8"f6 and got 109 objects. The go-to worked perfectly.Thanks again for a great product. R.P., AZ |
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1200GTO (In response to someone who had just received a 1200GTO) . . Good choice - I've been using one for four years now. The 1200GTO's ability to continue tracking when past the meridian is an absolute winner for me. It avoids many meridian flips (=imaging time) and reduces the need for expensive rotators. Assuming that you don't need to carry more than 140 lb or so it is the best value mount on the market. On top of that I was able to carry it back from the USA as it dismantles so easily. The (Brand X) loses on all these points.
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1200GTO Absolutely fabulous. N.W., GA |
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1200GTO If you want to do it right, and spend your time taking great images rather |
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1200GTO Having received my ap1200 in late December, due to bad weather here in London, UK, I’ve just started using it for imaging and have to let you all know it is a revelation! For two years I’ve been struggling with deep sky imaging from my light polluted location with another GEM mount (which will remain nameless). In two nights I’ve achieved far more with the ap1200. M.P., England |
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1200GTO Best mount I have ever used.M.Z., Canada |
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1200GTO . . . my AP1200GTO is a perfect mount for automated imaging. The mount just works, no drama, no worries, no fiddling to get it to autoguide, pointing's always good, and flips are never a problem . . .I love my mount! And, it works just great in an automated setup! In fact, it's just waiting for ACP to start imaging once it gets a bit darker! J.M., OH |
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1200GTO Extremely well designed, built and supported. This is the cornerstone of my observatory.
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1200GTO I received my AP1200 mount on Friday .... and as others have stated in the past, this was well worth the wait. The machining, finish, electronics, wiring, design, and performance are excellent. ....... did some autoguide testing and the results were very good - what strikes me was how smooth the PE was. Other mounts I have used in the past, depending on quality of mount, would have PE "hash" on order of 0.5-2 arc sec, but the AP1200 was well below 0.2arcsec. Having used a (Brand X) for over a year ...... I can say this mount is in a class by itself - one thing that I truly like over the (Brand X), is the great handcontroller, ability to image past the meridian (a must for those of us in urban settings), and the breakdown features for portability.Anyways just wanted to say thanks AP, it was worth the wait! J.P., NJ |
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1200GTO . . . I love the ability to place the OTA on the "wrong side" of the mount when starting an imaging session ("premature meridian flip") and which I have used extensively. This feature is pure INGENUITY!A.A., Greece |
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1200GTO and 900GTO Brilliant. the two mounts are a pleasure to use, easy to set up and rock solid.
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1200GTO I am using a 1200 GTOCP3 and it is outstanding in all respects.
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1200GTO, 900GTO and Mach1GTO Great for imaging through the meridian. Excellent accuracy and repeatability.D.V., Chile |
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1200GTO, 900GTO and Mach1GTO Most precise I have ever used.H.G., NY |
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rights reserved.
Last modified:
January 14, 2011
Astro-Physics, Inc.
11250 Forest Hills Road, Machesney Park, IL 61115, U.S.A.
Phone: 815-282-1513 Fax: 815-282-9847