Sky-Watcher Wave 150i - first impressions

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Robert Sahari avatar
This mount should be way more popular.

I just received mine and only did a initial and very basic test.

The mount is very well built and my unit doesn't have any of the known problems, like misaligned scales for the lattitude adjustment or unknurled knobs etc. I guess these were the early mounts that had some QC issues.

I got my Wave 150i with the tripod and the counterweight, both of which are also well made and the mount - contrary to reports - is not wobbly at all.

What I like the most about this mount is the throughcabling to the Dec saddle and the positioning of the ports at the base of the mount. The cables can't snag anywhere, as they simply don't move around.
The little case is a nice touch, but I probably will never use it, as I leave my setup assembled and ready to go. I just throw a cover over it while it's standing in the corner of my homeoffice. With my 6" F4 newton the whole setup is light enough to be moved completely assembled to the backyard when weather permits to image.

With my light scope I don't need the counterweight or even pay too much attention to balance the scope on the mount, but I'll do it nevertheless to get the best performance out of it. And as far as reports go it does make a difference and that's another reason why I chose this mount over it's competitors, as it can actually be balanced in RA and Dec.

Setup in GSServer and NINA was very straightforward and I had no problems controlling the mount. Slewspeed is very fast and noiselevels are absolutely acceptable.

I won't be able to report any guiding-performance until fall though, as I live 400km south of the polar circle, so it doesn't get dark enough anymore to do astrophotography. I plan to do some solar photography with this mount in Alt-Az mode however, so I'll report back about this when I get to it.

Again, I don't quite know why this mount doesn't get more attention, as it is a real bargain compared to it's competitors. Atleast here in the EU it's some €500 cheaper than the AM5.



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Jean-Pierre Dorte avatar
You did not mentioned mandatory right angle connectors to be used at the base of the mount (2 power cables + USB and RJ45)
Even with this type of set up the space between cables and the RA moving part of the mount remains quite narrow…
Robert Sahari avatar
Jean-Pierre Dorte:
You did not mentioned mandatory right angle connectors to be used at the base of the mount (2 power cables + USB and RJ45)
Even with this type of set up the space between cables and the RA moving part of the mount remains quite narrow...

The USB-B to USB-A that comes with the mount is angled allready, so Sky-Watcher thought about this.

My straight cables do not clash with my tube, but yeah, I use angled connectors for everything. Easily sourcable for a few bucks on your preferred online shop.

RJ45 is not needed for this mount to operate. The USB-B port of this mount works without problems with my installation of GSServer and the SynScan software. But if you want to use a EQMod cable, these are simply not available with angled connectors, but clearance between the mount and the tube should still be sufficient enough.

I measure 6.5 cm /  2.5" between the face of the mount where the connectors are inserted and the bottom of my tube. That's plenty enough imho.
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Jean-Pierre Dorte avatar
Agree not need to use RJ 45, however the mount i received her e in France came with no right angle cables.. I have to say the space between moving part of the mount is narrow and we have to  be careful with powerful torques of harmonic drives. The design is faulty in this area, it's the only bad point for the mount Bien le bonjour de la France !
Tony Carro avatar
I got this mount about a month ago.  I put my medium sized refractor (Evostar 120 with a 2600 asi camera, OAG with asi 174, field flattener, filter slide.  I do a basic balance.  When I go to guide it stays around .3 to .5 rms and don’t have to mess with Dec & RA settings, leave them at around 50.  I do 5 minute subs.   My shot of Sunflower Galaxy here was done with this setup.   I use the eq mod cable and it does not get in the way.  The connector is 2.2 which is larger than the 2.1 which allowed more current to. Go thru.   Can carry payload up to 33 pounds and 53 with counter weight.   I didn’t get the weights, but they r only 110 bucks if you decide to.
Robert Sahari avatar
So, as I can't test the mount currently due to it not being dark enough up here anymore 400km south of the polar circle, I went ahead and 3d printed some parts.

First some clamps to attach the miniPC andthe powersupplies to the tripod legs...





Next I designed a tray for the tripod to have a place to put the iPad, bahtinov mask, lens covers, etc...

The 3d printed clamps are done, and now I only need a suitable material to cut the 360mm disk out of. I'm thinking either 5mm plexiglas, which might not be stiff enough, or 6mm high density fibre board.

The tray should also stabilize the tripod a little bit, allthough I have a very lightweight telescope setup (­~7kg) so I don't really need it. Other users have moaned about the tripod having a little too much flex, but I see them all put C8s or 5" refractors on it, which are all heavy and large scopes compared to my Sharpstar 15028HNT-AL.
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Mark C. Helton avatar
I have a question about this mount.  I just purchased it a few weeks ago.  So far not too many problems that you usually get with new astro gear.  My question is about PHD2 settings.  I have looked on many forums about this mount and PHD2 settings, and I guess because it is so new, there is not much information.  Are there better settings on PHD2 for algorithms, and other settings, that I can use.  My guiding is, ok, but not great.  I am below 1.00 overall, but it is not consistent. I am currently using 1 second as a setting.  But I have heard that you can go up to 3 seconds to get better guide results.  I am not a PHD2 expert by any means!!  Any suggestions on guiding would be great.  Also, what is the opinion of using a counter weight with this strain wave mount.  I have read a fair amount on that on Cloudy Nights, but opinions are all over the place.  I am currently not using a very heavy setup.  Thanks for any opinions on this.
CS
Mark
PS,  I did talk to Skywatcher, but they seem to not want to make suggestions on using PHD2 with their product.
Robert Sahari avatar
I've not yet had the chance myself to test it for guiding, as I don't have dark nights anymore 400km south of the polar circle until September.

In general however all strain wave mounts are the same. They all use the same stepper motors and harmonic gears, so the usual PHD2 settings that apply to mounts like the ZWO AM5 apply for the Wave 150i aswell.
Jim Waters avatar
I would like to see PHD2 logs for several guiding sessions in addition to PHD settings.

Jim
Phoenix, AZ
Mark C. Helton avatar
Jim Waters:
I would like to see PHD2 logs for several guiding sessions in addition to PHD settings.

Jim
Phoenix, AZ

I will have to see if I can figure out how to capture those pages.  I have done it before, but it has been a while.  Also, need to learn how to attach files in this forum.  I think I see the ikons up at the top.  Will see if I can share with the group.  So far, I am pretty happy with this setup.
Thanks
Mark
Pele Johnson avatar
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Dave Ek avatar
I found a lengthy thread on ZWO's forum regarding guiding with their harmonic mounts. Seems applicable to the 150i as well.

https://bbs.zwoastro.com/d/15989-getting-the-best-performance-from-my-am5
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Robert Sahari avatar
The best read I could find about guiding a strainwave mount has to be this one from the Warp Astron board. Very detailed and offers alot of insights of how to setup your mount specifically and what to look for to get it just right.

https://bbs.warpastron.com/t/some-theory-of-autoguiding-strain-wave-hd-mounts/139

And here's the official recommendations from Pegasus Astro for their Nyx 101 mounts. Seems to be the only manufacturer to have something like this for PHD2.

https://pegasusastro.com/nyx-101-guiding-recommendations/

From what I've read in the various astronomy forums and boards the Wave 150i does usually guide around 0.6" RMS in good seeing conditions with scopes of all sorts, be it the RedCat 51, the Esprit 120 or the C9.25. This 0.6" RMS number keeps popping up as an average in good seeing conditions for allmost all the strainwave mounts of this class, be it the AM5, HAE43, the Nyx-101, etc. It seems that this is very much dependant on what motors and gears are used and they all seem to use the same NEMA17 stepper motors and 300:1 gears.

I would've loved to test this immediately myself ofcourse, but the lack of darkness prevents me from confiriming any reports until September.
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Mark C. Helton avatar
The best read I could find about guiding a strainwave mount has to be this one from the Warp Astron board. Very detailed and offers alot of insights of how to setup your mount specifically and what to look for to get it just right.

https://bbs.warpastron.com/t/some-theory-of-autoguiding-strain-wave-hd-mounts/139

And here's the official recommendations from Pegasus Astro for their Nyx 101 mounts. Seems to be the only manufacturer to have something like this for PHD2.

https://pegasusastro.com/nyx-101-guiding-recommendations/

From what I've read in the various astronomy forums and boards the Wave 150i does usually guide around 0.6" RMS in good seeing conditions with scopes of all sorts, be it the RedCat 51, the Esprit 120 or the C9.25. This 0.6" RMS number keeps popping up as an average in good seeing conditions for allmost all the strainwave mounts of this class, be it the AM5, HAE43, the Nyx-101, etc. It seems that this is very much dependant on what motors and gears are used and they all seem to use the same NEMA17 stepper motors and 300:1 gears.

I would've loved to test this immediately myself ofcourse, but the lack of darkness prevents me from confiriming any reports until Septembe

Thank you very much for this information.  It will be very helpful.  Anything that I can do to get the basic settings close to what is recommended is a big help.  I guess some manufacturers of astro gear don't always like to give advice on third party programs.  But I think that if these are some of the only programs that you can use to make their gear run correctly, it is good to share that advice.  I am happy to hear that Warp, and Pegasus are willing to share that advice.  I have had very good dealings with Pegasus, and I like their build quality and design detail.  I have heard good things about Warp, but have no experience with their gear.  Once again, thank you for the advice!  CS
mark
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