Hi all
Here's a short review of the AZ4.
First of all I would like to make a comment about Stephen at Ktec, I ordered the mount on Wednesday evening, it arrived on Friday afternoon, simply amazing and a big thanks to the guy.
The first thing to note about the AZ4 is that it is heavy, I had considered the aluminium legs, but opted for the stainless stells 1.75" legs and was glad I did. There is no instruction leaflet, but it was not necessary as it is strsight forward to put together. The only slight difficulty was the handle, which was reluctant to go into the approriate hole, it went in eventually. The spreader plate is much better than the triangular dish that comes with the aluminium mount, the plate screws beneath the body of the mount, it connects with the legs and adds much greater stability.
I mounted my WO 110mm Megrez with 2" diagonal and heavy Vixen eyepiece, the mount handled it with ease. There are large knobs that adjust the RA and Dec tension, it took a little tweaking back and forth until I got the tension that I was happy with, when this was achieved the movements were extremely smooth.
Friday night was clear, what are the odds? With the adjustable height legs slightly uneven ground was not a problem, with the scope mounted it was time to put it to work. Slewing was so smooth and when the object was located I found that a slight adjustment of the tension knobs ensured that it was locked in place. With my heaviest set up in place I gave the scope a solid rap, it took les than two seconds to settle down, couldn't ask for more.
When viewing towards the zenith it must be borne in mind the tripod legs, there is the chance of the scope hitting one of them, my WO is not a long scope, some of the longer focal length refractors might have more trouble. If there is one thing that I am seriously considering adding is an extension pier, this will eliminate this potential problem, also I prefer to stand when observing.
In conclusion, this is a very solid mount, as the whole unit can be moved as a single piece, set up is a couple of minutes, it takes my scope with ease and I am positive that it will handle much heavier gear. The feel of the entire unit is strong, heavy construction and it gives a sense of security that is most welcome.
If you are considering a grab and go alt-az mount, or a serious star hopper, give the Skywatcher AZ4 a try
Paul
Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better programs, and the universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the universe is winning.
Rich Cook
watch out for it tomorrow :scope: 
  