William Optics Zenithstar 61 mounting ring upgrade: worth it or not? - Forums

Topic starter

Mar 11, 2024

Hi all,

I recently purchased a second-hand WO Zenithstar 61, the first version, with the L-bracket. The idea is to use it as a wide-field lens for astrophotography, paired with a Zwo asi1600 and a Star Adventurer mount.

I then came across the post-market upgrade kit sold by WO to replace the L bracket with a Mounting Ring and CAT Handle Bar. Has anyone done the upgrade and can offer some feedback? Is it worth it in terms of extra stability for astrophotography or does it only look nicer?

I'd appreciate any feedback based on direct experience.

Many thanks,

Michele

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Jethozo

Mar 11, 2024

It was worthwhile for me as it provided a secure mount for a guide scope. Beyond that, it has no real advantage to the old bracket as far as I can tell.

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Mark Germani

Mar 11, 2024

Hi Michele:

Congrats on the new Z61 - I have enjoyed using mine very much! I purchased mine used, and it was also the first edition with the L-bracket. I did eventually upgrade it with the WO after-market kit. I'm glad I did, but you may or may not need to.

Pros: you can easily add a dovetail bar of your choosing to the bottom, which is maybe a smidge more stable than screwing the L-bracket into an arca-swiss adapter, but also provides more mounting points for other gear. The "handle" and guidscope-mount on the top is the biggest advantage - it's much more stable than the dovetail shoes you can mount near the focuser, and it frees those for mounting other gear like a red-dot-finder (handy for the Star Adventurer, since it doesn't have GoTo) and/or ASIAIR.

Cons: Expensive! Also, surprisingly heavy - this was a real surprise. If you want to keep the weight down on your Star Adventurer, this might be an important consideration.

In addition to the upgrade kit, I also purchased the William Optics latitude base to replace the iOptron one that came with the SkyGuider Pro that I was using. I might be wrong, but I think you can use it with the Star Adventurer too. It was worth every dollar, and I was able to get and keep more precise PAs and lengthen my exposures.

Hope this is helpful!

CS,
Mark

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Michele Vonci

Topic starter

Mar 11, 2024

Hi Mark,
thanks for sharing your thoughts! A lot of useful information!

Mark Germani:
Pros: you can easily add a dovetail bar of your choosing to the bottom, which is maybe a smidge more stable than screwing the L-bracket into an arca-swiss adapter, but also provides more mounting points for other gear. The "handle" and guidscope-mount on the top is the biggest advantage - it's much more stable than the dovetail shoes you can mount near the focuser, and it frees those for mounting other gear like a red-dot-finder (handy for the Star Adventurer, since it doesn't have GoTo) and/or ASIAIR.

I managed to fit an Astro Essential Vixen dovetail to the L bracket by screwing two long "photographic" bolts (1/4-20x1/2") into the two holes at the bottom of the bracket, so that's covered :-) . I was indeed planning to use a crappy dovetail shoe to support a light 30mm f/4 mini guidescope, hopefully it will be fine!
From what you are saying, since with the star adventurer weight is a concern, I think I'll keep the bracket for now. My other concern was that the single ring attached to the bracket might be too flimsy, and introduce some flexure, but I guess I'll have to experiment for a bit and see.

Mark Germani:
In addition to the upgrade kit, I also purchased the William Optics latitude base to replace the iOptron one that came with the SkyGuider Pro that I was using. I might be wrong, but I think you can use it with the Star Adventurer too. It was worth every dollar, and I was able to get and keep more precise PAs and lengthen my exposures.

Yes , the latitude base of the Star Adventurer is horrendous...I should change it but the WO is sooo expensive :-) It'll gonna have to wait until I find a good second hand deal!

thanks again!

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