Orion USA Mounts - by Telescope-Service

Advantages - Sky Pro vs. H-EQ5
- better stability
- better vibration dampening properties
- manual slow motion controls even with motors attached

Orion Sky - Pro

The Orion Sky Pro is an improved version of simple mounts like the H-EQ5. It carries Newtonian telescopes up to 200mm aperture, refractors up to 150mm aperture and compact Schmidt-Cassegrains or Maksutovs up to 200mm aperture with good stability. Vibrations are dampened within a short time - even quicker with the optional Anti Vibration Pads.

Specifications and Properties:

- high quality and very sturdy steel tube tripod - height adjustable
- optional polar finder is screwed into the mount, not just clamped with three screws
- massive polar block for precise adjustment and lock of the latitude. It is fixed in position with two screws
- the RA motor plug is reached easily through the plastic cover. Many mounts have badly designed covers that cause problems in that respect
- ultra-elegant design
- very precise worm gears - suitable for astronomical imaging
- enlarged setting circles, 86mm diameter. Without such larger setting circles finding objects by their celestial coordinates is barely possible!
- somewhat higher load capacity compared with the H-EQ5. Better vibration dampening properties
- worm gears with roller bearings for additional precision and stability

The Orion Sky Pro is a very interesting all-purpose astronomical mount for amateurs looking for a sturdy but easily portable mount which is very affordable.

Astro-imagers will have a lot of fun with this mount. Tracking precision is very good, especially for a mount in this price range.

We offer a broad variety of accessories for this mount ... Link

There are many available accessories and upgrade for the Sky Pro. You can make your mount fit for most applications of practical astronomy.

Polar Alignment Scope for Sky Pro

The polar alignment scope is not just inserted into the mount and then fixed in position with a rubber O-ring and three tiny thumbscrews. Instead it is properly screwed into the mount. That way there is no risk of misaligning the polar scope by accident.

The plastic cover of the Sky Pro fits over the Polar Alignment Scope.

For polar alignment you do not need to use the cumbersome method using scales and setting circles. Instead you just match the orientation of the constellations of Ursa Maior (the "Big Dipper") and Cassiopeia inside the polar scope with the orientation of the constellations on the real sky. Polar alignment thus takes only a few moments with equal precision.

Item No.	Short description	Price - SEK incl. VAT
Pol SkyPro	Screw-in polar alignment scope for Orion Sky Pro. Also works with EQ-6, Atlas, GP, ... if you need a replacement for your existing mount.	555.-

Single Axis and Dual Axis Motor Drives

These motor drives offer an excellent value for money and a good tracking precision. You can use it for visual applications and photography with instruments up to 500mm (guided). Of course planetary and lunar imaging and photography of any other objects that require only short exposure times is no problem at all.

Item No.	Short description	Price - SEK incl. VAT
MD Sky Pro	single axis (RA) motor drive for Sky Pro. Including motor, hand paddle, gears and battery pack (no batteries included)	1215.-
DMD Sky Pro	dual axis motor drive for Sky Pro. Including motors, hand paddle, gears and battery pack (no batteries included)	1735.-

Please send requests or online orders to: sales@teleskop-service.se

Other Useful Accessories With Links To The Product Description

Two Telescopes on One Mount - The TS Duomount

An ideal means of attaching a second telescope on your mount. Especially suitable for attaching a guide scope (needed for exposure times of over 20 seconds).

Advantages compared with traditional guide scope adaptations:
- shorter lever arms
- better stability
- the (lacking) stability of the primary telescope's tube has no influence on the stability of the guide scope adaptaion. .............. Further Information

Anti Vibration Pads

Orion Anti Vibration Pads are made of a special visco-elastic material that damps out vibrations quickly. Vibrations are one of the most common problems of many telescopes - whenever you touch the focuser of the telescope, or whenever there is a bit of wind, the image will start shaking and takes some time to stand still again.

The Orion RockStable Anti Vibration Pads reduce the time until vibrations have died down significantly! ................................... Further Information

Half Pillar for Sky Pro

Long telescope tubes have the tendency to collide with the tripod of a mount. Owners of refractors, long Newtonians, Maksutov-Newtonians etc. certainly know this problem.

The Orion half pillars were made to correct this problem. But the half pillars have other advantages as well:

- the risk of the tube colliding with the tripod is reduced to a neglectible minimum
- you need not extend the tripod as much, resulting in a better overall stability
- you get a higher operation height compared with the tripod without a half pillar. Viewing position of long refractors will be raised to a more comfortable height
- you can also use the Half Pillars as adaptation between the mount and a pedestal ...... Further Information

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Atlas

Atlas Vis - Standard version with normal dual axis controller - suitable for visual use and short exposure astro-imaging

Orion Atlas
The Atlas is one of the most massive low-cost equatorial mounts available. The mount head weighs 18kgs, which means that the Atlas is at the edge of portablility for some people.

Ideally suited for amateurs who are looking for an affordable equatorial mount for their large aperture telescopes, including a comfortable dual axis motor drive.

You can attach telescopes of up to 18 kgs tube weight. Many dealers state even higher loads, but we prefer to promise more conservative, realistical values. Please note that tube length influences any mount's capacity as much as the weight!

The Atlas is suited for short exposure astronomical imaging. A dual axis motor drive and an illuminated polar alignment scope are always included.

The basic dual axis drive is suited only for short exposure astro-imaging, the Photographical Version of the mount also allows for longer exposure times.

The Orion Atlas is similar to the Synta EQ-6 in all functional details. It has a slightly different design, though.

Motor drive controller	Dual axis stepper motor drive - controller with hand box and battery pack (batteries not included). North/South switch. The directions of both axes can be reversed separately.
Polar alignment scope	A very practical polar alignment scope: It works with the constellations Ursa Maior ("Big Dipper") and Cassiopeia. Just move the depicted constellations into the same relative position as the true constellations, then put the polar star into the prepared marking. No tedious fumbling with setting circles. A variable brightness illumination is included.

Features of the Atlas

- massive adjustable height stainless steel tube tripod
- dual axis motor drive integrated in the mount's equatorial head
- integrated polar alignment scope - easy to use, no scales or setting circles needed
- properly sized locking knobs
- large setting circles

We offer many useful accessories and upgrades for this mount. ... Useful Accessories

Specifications:
- tripod legs made of stainless steel - tube diameter 2", height adjustable from 85cm to 147cm
- tripod weight 7.5kgs
- mount weight (equatorial head) 16kgs
- diameter of retractable counterweight shaft: 18mm
- mount height approx. 41cm on top of tripod

MTS-3SDI intelligent controller for astro-imaging

Atlas Standard Version

This is the most common Atlas version. It is recommended for visual use and short exposure astro-imaging with focal lengths up to 500mm. The mount can be upgraded to the Atlas Foto Standard.

Atlas Foto

The Orion Atlas has a good mechanical layout that is also suitable for long exposure astro imaging. For this the original motors need to be replaced by high quality stepper motors with precise gears. This reduces the large periodic and irregular error of the Atlas significantly.

The original controller is also not suited for astro imaging. It is therefore replaced by the Powerflex MTS-3SDI controller. Among the features of this controller are:

- Periodic Error Correction - the resulting tracking error is usually below +/- 10"
- Correction of the play in the Declination gears
- supplies Autoguider control
- customizable correction speeds
- Micro step control - even better tracking precision
- supplies Online software updates
- can be upgraded to GoTo capabilities

Atlas Foto GoTo

The scope of delivery is identical to the Atlas Foto Version, you have all the advantages for astro-imaging introduced by this improved mount. There are several additional features:

- display
- approx. 2,000 object database. Further objects can be reached by entering their coordinates
- GoTo function independent from a separate computer

The stepper motors supply slewing speeds of about 5 degrees per second with sufficient power supply and voltage.

You get an Orion Atlas with automatic object positioning and full astrophotographical capabilities!

Prices:

Item No.	Short description	Price - SEK incl. VAT
Atlas Vis	Orion Atlas mount - original version with steel tube tripod, 2 counterweights, 21cm dovetail plate dual axis motor drive with hand paddle and battery pack (batteries not included)	8475.-
Atlas Foto	Orion Atlas for Astro-Imaging Accessories like Atlas Vis, but improved quality Mc Lennan stepper motors, Powerflex MTS-3SDI controller	14875.-
Upgrade Atlas Foto	Upgrade kit for refitting the Orion Atlas for photographical use. The kit consists of: - Mc Lennan stepper motors with adaptation and gears - Powerflex MTS-3SDI controller - all needed cables - new front cover plate for Atlas	6980.-
Atlas Foto GoTo	Orion Atlas with powerful stepper motors (5° per second) with Powerflex MTS-3SDI GoTo incl. display and 2,000 object database including new front cover plate and all needed cables	18475.-

Link to lots of accessories for astronomical mounts

Pillar / Pedestal Adaptor for Atlas

The Atlas is a popular choice for stationary use in observatories due to its excellent value for money and stability. We offer an adaptor with which you can adapt the mount to your pillar / pedestal more easily.

Attaching the Mount to the Adaptor:

The mount is fixed by a single M12 bolt from underneath. The bolt is countered by a roller bearing. The mount can be precisely polar aligned without having to loosen the bolt.

Dimensions for Adaptation:

Pillar inside diameter	94mm
Adaptation to pillar	3x M6 threads at 120 degree angles
Distance from upper rim of the pillar to the threads	10 Millimeters
Diameter of Adaptor	140mm
Usable flat diameter	up to 130mm

Item No.	Short description	Price - SEK incl. VAT
EQ-6 Saulenadapter	Adaptor for attaching the Atlas to a pillar / pedestal. Incl. azimuth fine adjustment	1280.-

Useful Accessories for this mount

Atlas GoTo

The Atlas mount is now also available with an original GoTo drive without the extra costs involved in making the mount suitable for astro-imaging. This is therefore a very attractive compromise for visual applications. The practical hand paddle makes the mount very easy to use. While not specialized on astro-imaging the mount still allows you to take short exposure photographs.

Specifications:
- over 13,400 object database, 25 customer defined objects
- slewing speed up to 3.4 degrees per second
- slow correcting speeds for astro-imaging - 0.25x, 0.5x, 0.75x or 1x
- tracking speeds: siderial, lunar, solar
- 1 star alignment, 2 star alignment or 3 star alignment depending on the desired precision
- power supply 11-15V, at least 2A
- RS-232 port
- autoguider port

Item No.	Short description	Price - SEK incl. VAT
Atlas GoTo	Atlas GoTo mount with stainless steel tripod 2 counterweights, 21cm dovetail plate GoTo controller with 13,000+ object database	15995.-
Upgrade Atlas GoTo	Upgrade Kit for existing Atlas and EQ6 mounts - the kit consists of the motors and the controller, new front cover plate	5900.-

Anti Vibration Pads

Half Pillar for Atlas

Two Telescopes on One Mount - The TS Duomount

Binomount with tripod. The depicted pair of binoculars is not included in the scope of delivery.

Gerade größere Ferngläser versprechen viel Beobachtungsspaß. Der endet aber schnell, wenn man mit etwas höheren Vergrößerungen und auch Gewichten ab 900 Gramm arbeitet. Das Zittern wird verstärkt und verhindert somit das Erkennen feiner Details.

Einfache Fotostative bringen da schon etwas aber feinfühlige Schwenks sind nicht so einfach. Vor allem wenn das Fernglas höherliegende Objekte anvisieren soll, wie ein Flugzeug, einen Berggipfel oder ein Objekt des nächtlichen Sternhimmels, wird es mit einem Fotostativ problematisch. Nicht so mit der TS Binomount!

Feinfühlige Schwenks - bis senkrecht nach oben
Das Fernglas wird mit dem integrierten Adapter direkt auf der Parallelogrammmontierung befestigt. Mit dem Gegengewicht wird er Gewichtsausgleich hergestellt. Die Verstellung erfolgt über eine Rutschkupplung. Sie nehmen das Fernglas, schwenken es in die gewünschte Position, lassen los und beobachten! So einfach ist das.

Welche Ferngläser können verwendet werden
Alle Ferngläser bis ca. 4,5kg werden von der TS Binomount getragen. Mit dabei ist die Adaption für Ferngläser mit dem Anschlußgewinde in der Zentralachse oder auch die Adaption für Ferngläser mit integriertem Stativadapter an der Mittelstrebe (bitte Fernglastype angeben). Die Binomount kann nahezu allen Ferngläsern aus unserem Angebot kombiniert werden, bis zum TS Glas mit 100mm Öffnung.

Beobachten mit der TS Binomount
Die beiden nebenstehenden Bilder zeigen gut das angenehme Arbeiten mit der Binomount. Man steht entspannt vor dem Binokular und ist voll konzentriert auf die Beobachtung. Man sieht viel mehr Details als mit der freien Hand - es ist ein Genuß!

Binnen Sekunden kann von der Horizontbeobachtung zur Himmels- beobachtung gewechselt werden. Egal ob ein Flugzeug, ein Vogel oder gar ein Gasnebel unserer Milchstraße das Ziel ist. Bis zum Zenit kann das Glas problemlos geschwenkt werden und wenn man es loslässt, bleibt es an der gewünschten Position stehen.

Direktlink zu größeren Abbildungen


Sky Pro Portable Equatorial Mount - Load Capacity approx. 10kgs	Atlas Heavy Equatorial Mount - Load Capacity approx. 18kgs


Paragon Plus Binocular Mount For astronomical observing with binoculars	Half Pillars (separate page) For Atlas, Sky Pro and many other mounts	Anti Vibration Pads (separate page) These pads reduce vibrations of a mount considerably