My observing buddy, Gregg, is now starting production on low-profile all-aluminum equatorial platforms. He will offer two models; medium and heavy duty. The medium is designed to support up to approximately 120 pounds or 18 to 20” truss telescopes and the heavy model supports about 180 pounds or up to 28 to 30” reflectors, possibly more. He is currently using his homebuilt 25” f/4.5 on his heavy platform.
I’ve been beta testing it for a year now and totally blown away by it’s performance. It is not meant to compete with Tom O’s platform as they are totally at different price points. NOTE: The platform under my 22" is NOT anodized as it is the beta version!
The tracking accuracy is pretty impressive. My first light with it was in my front driveway. I just aligned the platform by eye (see seventh bullet), put my 22” on it. Then centered M-13 on it with a 6mm ZAO-II (383x with a 6.6’ field of view). Went in the house to do stuff for 20 minutes, went back out. It was still in the field of view!
Some key features:
-Black anodized.
-Up to 65 to 70 minutes of tracking.
-About 3.5” to 4” high. In actuality, the eyepiece height gain is about 1.5 to 2” as the ground board would be removed prior to installation onto the platform. The ground board is typically 2” high.
-Able to use a range of telescopes on a single platform. Medium – up to 18 or 20” reflectors (I’m using my 22” on it as it is lighter than the 20” Obsession by at least 10 pounds). Heavy – up to 28 to 30” reflectors. The pads can be moved in or out from the pivot point as the pads are approximately 120 degrees apart. The pads on the photos is configured for Gregg’s 16” travel scope.
-Uses either a set of 4 AA or a single 9V battery. The voltage regulator will take care of that. The 4 AA’s lasts about 20-30 hours and the 9V about 12-15 hours.
-One can take it apart and travel with it in a travel bag similar to a camp chair bag. About 15 minutes to remove or install about 15 screws.
-Easy alignment with Polaris as the long arm is just an arm, unlike competing platforms, so you can just stand back about 10-15 feet and align the long arm to Polaris to the best of your ability. That should be good enough. You can use a compass, I do that during the day, and still need to fine tune it at night. I just grab the platform with the scope on it at the end of the long arm (second photo) and drag it left or right until I’m happy.
-Leveling feet.
He is still working on his website.
Any information, please contact me and I’ll try my best to answer your questions or get in touch with him as he is currently out of the country for a business trip.
The BEST part is that he is offering the medium duty model for a great price of $750! The heavy duty model is $900. You CAN’T BEAT that.
It is obvious that his goal is to provide a tool for DSO observers like you at an attractive price, much like what I do with my three books. We DON’T make much money on these tools, but really enjoy the hobby like you do and wish that you do without breaking your bank account.
Hopefully I didn’t miss anything obvious.
Last edited by FaintFuzzies; May 2nd, 2012 at 04:25 PM.
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