Tele Vue assembled the Panoramic Alt-Az Telescope Mount with Sky Tour Computer to give you a complete platform for optical tube assemblies with apertures of up to 4 inches. While not a conventional GoTo system, the controller and encoders work together to track the position of the scope and keep you oriented, while helping you find the over 2000 objects in its database.
Tele Vue upgrades their lightweight Tele-Pod mount with the addition of a custom-made ash wood tripod to create the Panoramic Alt-Az Telescope Mount. It comes outfitted with their manual alt-az Tele-Pod head, which is configured as a dual-fork yoke mount that cradles your optical tube assembly (OTA) at its center of balance for smooth pan/tilt motion with greatly reduced vibrations.
The Panoramic is recommended for OTA apertures of up to 4" (100mm) and its custom-made ash wood tripod provides a rock-solid platform with natural vibration absorption and an accessory tray that provides a convenient place for eyepieces, filters, phones, and flashlights. The tripod adjusts from 38 to 62" and comes with metal spikes at the end of the feet to improve stability and rubber tips to cover the spikes.
- Recommended for OTAs up to 4"
- Altitude adjustment range from -17° to view below the horizon line (such from a hilltop), to +85 for viewing objects near the zenith
- Smooth-motion altitude and azimuth bearing with tension adjustments
- 1/4"-20 and 3/8"-16 mounting holes on azimuth plate for easy OTA attachment
- Scope stop prevents damage if the objective end "nosedives" down
- Control handle facilitates smooth tracking of celestial and terrestrial objects
- Adjustable height from 38 to 62"
- Custom-made out of ash wood
- Two leg sections
- Large leg-clamp knobs for easy and secure adjustment
- Quick-mounting matching wood accessory tray
- Spiked feet with included rubber covers to protect spikes and/or surfaces
Tele Vue's Sky Tour Mount Computer gives you the ability to precisely align, aim, track, and find celestial objects with your alt-az, EQ, or fork mount. Using a simple 2-star alignment process to set up the controller, you will be able to choose the mode and use the information the controller gives you to manually move the scope to various objects, identify nearby objects that you see, or have it give you a tour of what is visible on any given night. While this is not a traditional "GoTo" system, if you get the optional encoder for your specific mount, it keeps precise track of the changing orientation of the scope to provide real-time updated coordinates. And if you know an object's location, it can be entered and the Sky Tour will tell you where to move the scope to find it. To expand its usability, the Sky Tour can interface with TheSky astronomy program from Software Bisque by connecting your TheSky-equipped pocket PC, Windows, or Apple computer to take advantage of the software's expanded database.
- Encoder resolution: 2160 step, 0.167-degree/step (10-arcminute/step) encoders
- Sampling rate:0.5 millisecond
- Maximum slew rate: 160°/second
- Sidereal accuracy: 0.01%
- Red LED display
- 1-line, 10-character
- Five dimming levels
- Display resolution:
- Right ascension: 1 arcmin
- Declination: 0.1°
- Display modes:
- STAR FIX: Alignment mode using convenient star list
- RA DEC: Current right ascension and declination
- CATALOG: Complete database of celestial objects
- GUIDE: Shows direction and distance to object
- ALIGN: Uses full database to fine-tune alignment
- IDENTIFY: Identifies object by type
- 2000+ objects
- 110 Messier objects
- Selected NGC objects
- Selected IC objects
- Selected non-standard objects
- Selected stars: colored, double, multiple
- 31 alignment stars
- 8 planets
- 99 user-defined objects
This kit provides the items needed to encode the Tele Vue telescope mounts to the Sky Tour software & electronics program.
The Eyepiece Caddy Set attaches to the yoke arms of the Tele Vue mount heads, keeping your eyepieces conveniently & safely at your fingertips. The set holds three 1.25" and two 2.00" eyepieces, or you can use the 1.25" inserts to hold a total of five 1.25" eyepieces. Constructed of powder-coated, 3/8" thick aluminum.
Tele Vue's Sky Tour Caddy Plate attaches to either side of your Eyepiece Caddy to keep your Sky Tour computer controller close at hand and safe, while also moving with the mount so it is always handy and easy to see. Two included screws mount it to the Eyepiece Caddy's pre-drilled and tapped holes to place the Sky Tour in a convenient position while retaining full functionality of all the eyepiece holes. Two touch-fastener strips hold the Sky Tour in place and allow it to be mounted and removed quickly and easily.