AM5 Mount and the Edge HD 8"

Mar 1, 2023

Hi Jerry, while I haven't run on the AM5, I did try to use my EdgeHD8 on a HEM27 while I had it (have since upgraded to the HEM44EC but haven't had a decent night to try it yet). I experimented with some configurations below

first attempt because I was scared of OAG still, was to use a WO Z61 + ASI178MM hanging off the front of the losmandy rail on the bottom. This actually helped balance a bit, but overall was fairly cumbersome for the mount. I was never able to get guiding to be sub 1" and at the 2000mm FL, it really showed in the HFR. (when it wasn't trailing)

second attempt was using OAG setup. This was much easier of course, but guiding was still a challenge. I did pull some of these subs into Tadpole nebule, but only about 25% ended up being used in the final integration. (the rest come from mounting on CEM70)

I imagine you could do better with the reducer, but maybe someone else has more constructive tips for you? I'm happy to help test any theories if I could get a single clear night here.

CS,
Nick

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Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Mar 1, 2023

Nick Grundy:
Hi Jerry, while I haven't run on the AM5, I did try to use my EdgeHD8 on a HEM27 while I had it (have since upgraded to the HEM44EC but haven't had a decent night to try it yet). I experimented with some configurations below

first attempt because I was scared of OAG still, was to use a WO Z61 + ASI178MM hanging off the front of the losmandy rail on the bottom. This actually helped balance a bit, but overall was fairly cumbersome for the mount. I was never able to get guiding to be sub 1" and at the 2000mm FL, it really showed in the HFR. (when it wasn't trailing)

second attempt was using OAG setup. This was much easier of course, but guiding was still a challenge. I did pull some of these subs into Tadpole nebule, but only about 25% ended up being used in the final integration. (the rest come from mounting on CEM70)

I imagine you could do better with the reducer, but maybe someone else has more constructive tips for you? I'm happy to help test any theories if I could get a single clear night here.

CS,
Nick

Hi Nick,

I know what you mean about the weather, I am in San Francisco and getting out nowadays (or should I say nowanights) is impossible. Please let me know how the Edge does with your new HEM44C, i really want to image with the Edge and I know there's a lot of challenges to do that. Are you using the Celestron OAG? That's the one I got because of the larger prism. I hope it helps.

Mar 1, 2023

Will also be very interesting for me to hear from others, I just received my AM5 yesterday and will now have to wait for the gods of clouds to accept my prayers for clear skies….

When cleared up I want to see if my EHD9.25 rides well on that mount, I will be using a fat Omegon Pier Tripod to get some extra stability.

Michael

Mar 1, 2023

Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

I think that the am5 can handle the 8" without any problems.

Regards

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Mar 1, 2023

@Nicolas Molina , thanks for sharing.... Can't wait to put my Edge on the AM5, I see you are in Chile, what Bortle class is your Backyard?

Mar 1, 2023

Hi Michael. Sadly, I live in Santiago, a very big a light polluted city. Bortle 7.

Mar 1, 2023

That makes your results even more impressive….

Mar 1, 2023

Nicolas Molina:
I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough

I definitely agree. I've got a NYX-101 as well, and the tripod has been anything but rigid. Fitting it too a stronger tripod or a pier seems like the right move

Mar 1, 2023

Nicolas Molina:
Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

Nicolas, would you mind sharing your PHD2 settings? Were they default or did you need to tweak it a bit to get the mount to behave?

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Mar 1, 2023

I ran the guiding assistant and the tweak it a little bit. RMS is between 0.25-0.4. If the seeing is good enough and have good guide stars on the prism, I use 0.5 seconds of exposure, if not, 1 second. Ra 60%, dec 90%.

I m still working on back focus and tilt. With the reducer I get elongated stars on the periphery. It is not detrimental to the image, I just crop it, but I think that phd2 will work better with round stars.

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Mar 2, 2023

Nicolas Molina:
Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

I think that the am5 can handle the 8" without any problems.

Regards

Thanks Nicolas, that's very encouraging to hear!

Dan H. M.

Mar 2, 2023

Nicolas Molina:
Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

I think that the am5 can handle the 8" without any problems.

Regards

If I end up buying an Edge to give me something to image this galaxy season it’ll be your fault 😅

Well Written Engaging

Mar 2, 2023

Nicolas Molina:
Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

I think that the am5 can handle the 8" without any problems.

Regards

If I end up buying an Edge to give me something to image this galaxy season it’ll be your fault 😅

😂….you will not be disappointed!

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Mar 2, 2023 · Edited: Mar 2, 2023

Nicolas Molina:
Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

I think that the am5 can handle the 8" without any problems.

Regards

Thanks Nicolas, that's very encouraging to hear!

Nick Grundy:
Nicolas Molina:
I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough

I definitely agree. I've got a NYX-101 as well, and the tripod has been anything but rigid. Fitting it too a stronger tripod or a pier seems like the right move

Hey Nick,

Would you ever be interested in going up to Lake Sonoma to do some imaging in Bortle 2 skies? I'm also interested in hearing about your experiences with the NYX101 and how it compares with the AM5.

Jerry

Mar 2, 2023

Jerry Gerber:
Nicolas Molina:
Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

I think that the am5 can handle the 8" without any problems.

Regards

Thanks Nicolas, that's very encouraging to hear!
Nick Grundy:
Nicolas Molina:
I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough

I definitely agree. I've got a NYX-101 as well, and the tripod has been anything but rigid. Fitting it too a stronger tripod or a pier seems like the right move

Hey Nick,

Would you ever be interested in going up to Lake Sonoma to do some imaging in Bortle 2 skies? I'm also interested in hearing about your experiences with the NYX101 and how it compares with the AM5.

Jerry

i'd love to sometime if we can get some clear skies again soon. I'll message you Jerry

Once I can get some good nights, I can share a bit more on the NYX and HEM44EC and how they compare. Haven't splurged to also get an AM5, but i'm sure you all can contribute a bit on that

Topic starter

Frequent contributor

Mar 2, 2023 · Edited: Mar 2, 2023

Nick Grundy:
Jerry Gerber:
Nicolas Molina:
Hi! I have been using with success my EdgeHD 9.25, with and without reducer on the am5. I put the mount on a NEQ6 tripod, I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough. I also use an OAG (Zwo OAG-L) paired with the asi174 mm. I have some photos on my profile that you can check.

I think that the am5 can handle the 8" without any problems.

Regards

Thanks Nicolas, that's very encouraging to hear!
Nick Grundy:
Nicolas Molina:
I think that the carbon tripod is not sturdy enough

I definitely agree. I've got a NYX-101 as well, and the tripod has been anything but rigid. Fitting it too a stronger tripod or a pier seems like the right move

Hey Nick,

Would you ever be interested in going up to Lake Sonoma to do some imaging in Bortle 2 skies? I'm also interested in hearing about your experiences with the NYX101 and how it compares with the AM5.

Jerry

i'd love to sometime if we can get some clear skies again soon. I'll message you Jerry

Once I can get some good nights, I can share a bit more on the NYX and HEM44EC and how they compare. Haven't splurged to also get an AM5, but i'm sure you all can contribute a bit on that

Hi Nick,

Wonderful! I am eager to get up there, I know a few spots at an elevation above 1,500 feet on Rockpile Road where it's quite dark, Bortle 2. When the weather gets warmer I definitely want to plan an imaging trip..

You can private message me or send me an email at [email]jerry@jerrygerber.com[/email]

Seung-Jun Kim

Mar 2, 2023

I attempted using my 10" RC on AM5 with CGEM tripod.

With QHY174M and OAG, I was able to get consistent guide RMS less than 0.8" under average seeing and 0.5sec exposure.

https://www.astrobin.com/hkl6nf/

this is uncalibrated and unstacked 5min exposure image taken on that night.

However, I doubt about long term reliability since 10" RC (34lbs OTA and 42lbs total) is almost at the max payload.

Since Edge 8" is only half weight of 10"RC, I believe AM5 can hold it very well if solid tripod and OAG is used.

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Topic starter

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Mar 2, 2023

Seung-Jun Kim:

I attempted using my 10" RC on AM5 with CGEM tripod.

With QHY174M and OAG, I was able to get consistent guide RMS less than 0.8" under average seeing and 0.5sec exposure.

https://www.astrobin.com/hkl6nf/

this is uncalibrated and unstacked 5min exposure image taken on that night.

However, I doubt about long term reliability since 10" RC (34lbs OTA and 42lbs total) is almost at the max payload.

Since Edge 8" is only half weight of 10"RC, I believe AM5 can hold it very well if solid tripod and OAG is used.

Wow! I can't believe you're getting guiding that good with such a heavy scope. Thanks for sharing that info and photo Seung-Jun.

I'm now wondering if I should get a stronger, aluminum tripod instead of the TC40 CF one I've been using. I guess I will just have to get some images with the Edge and decide...

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Mar 2, 2023 · Edited: Mar 2, 2023

Surprisingly tonight has mostly clear skies and I am at my favorite place in the mountains (Bortle 4, but close to Bortle 3) and despite the fat and ugly moon I am getting guiding of 0.77" RMS (0.6" RA, 0.53" DEC) on the AM5 / Edge HD 9.25 without any manual optimization.
I did only run guiding assistant for 3min and accepted the new defaults it gave to me. I am using an OAG and the ASI174 for guiding, guiding exposure is 0.5s and I am also playing with 1s, so far not too much of a difference.
The only other thing I had to do was to attach the counterweight and a 5kg weight, without the counterweight the mount was not slewing properly, it stopped and beeped during polar alignment but now all seems to be fine.

My EQ6-R is currently loaded with a 8" Newtonian, guiding is a little bit better, 0.68" (0.50 RA 0.45DEC) but I know this mount for a long time and I am more used to tweaking the agressiveness of RA+DEC, for the AM5 I will still need to get a feel which parameters influence the guiding most.

So as others said, the Edge 8" will not overload the AM5...

Michael

Here's the guiding graph from a few moments ago:

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Mar 3, 2023 · Edited: Mar 3, 2023

@Jerry Gerber I know this is besides the point with all these guys getting some great results. Either way though, the resale for an EdgeHD8 is probably at least 90% of what you likely paid. (maybe that'll give you some comfort) :-)

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Frequent contributor

Mar 3, 2023

Nick Grundy:
@Jerry Gerber I know this is besides the point with all these guys getting some great results. Either way though, the resale for an EdgeHD8 is probably at least 90% of what you likely paid. (maybe that'll give you some comfort) :-)

Yep, they are in very high demand. I actually have two--one is brand-new still in the box and the other is only a few months old and in great shape but needs some collimation.

I am selling the latter. Some guy wanted to offer me a small amount for it but I declined to sell it to him. They're still not easy to get.