Big day for me tomorrow!

Dave, you're like a 4 year old on Christmas eve Can't wait to see the phots of it.

Keith..

DaveGrennan wrote:

Well my new baby arrived today and I'm well impressed. I have it set up on the floor in the living room while I become aquiainted with it. The fit and finish of everything about it is awesome. I can't get over just how massive it is. Not just in size but in strength and rigidity. If you try to stop it by hand while it is slewing the mount lifts up off the ground and sound of the motors does not change one teeny weeney bit.

Tomorrow I begin the business end of installing this in the observatory. I will eventually get one of the AP rotating pier adaptors but for mow I'll just be attaching to a flat plate with some teflon as a bearing surface so that the underside doesn't get scratched. When I have it up and running I'll post some photos.

so you're responsible for all the rain today !!! . Good luck with the new mount.

Hi Dave,

Can I ask, What makes a mount so expensive?

Graham

Graham --

The electronics in the AP mounts are quite sophisticated. For instance, they use military spec chips and electro-luminescent displays so that they will continue to work in cold temps (consumer-grade chips and LED displays tend to start to fail below about 4°C). Those account for about 2K US$.

Next would probably be the precision spec of the motors/gearboxes and worm/worm gears. They use true "enveloped" worm gears, not just a wheel with straight-cut teeth on it. These greatly reduce the periodic error and backlash, and improve the wear characteristics. The US company Byers used to make high-precision worm drives, and for a mount this size I think they charged around the 3K US$ mark.

The AP1200 is also a massive mount. There's a lot of stainless steel, aluminum and brass in it. Material costs for something this size are much greater than smaller mounts. I don't really have direct knowledge of costs here, but let's guess 2K US$ for bulk materials.

Lastly, the AP mounts have superb fit and finish. Not only are they very robust and long-wearing, but they also have the feel of a fine watch. I'd guess this level of commitment to detail contributes the remaining 2.5K US$ to get to the US prices.

Then of course there's a big lump of Irish duties and VAT on that....

-- Jeff.

To any mere mortal astrophotographer, a significant barrier to the aquisition of such a mount would be the Chief Financial Officer, ie the missus. Luckily Dave has an Ace up his slieve...."But dear, I am a world renowned award winning Astrophotograher and Mulitple Asteroid discoverer. I need this mount!" How could she refuse!

I was dead lucky with the CFO. Once I showed her the ad for the mount and explained just how good a deal it was and I had already checked that it was still available, She looked at me and said what are you standing here for, tell the guy you'll take it!!