Skywatcher Wave 150i

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

Here it is, in the flesh!

At least it's not raining so I can give it a quick whirl on some landscape objects. I have to say it's pretty well put together and whisper quiet even on max slew. Being strain wave, it's rock solid too which makes ultra-fine focussing manually a breeze so will be a big help for my solar work.

Looking forward to getting to know the mount better but so far so good, and FYI, the superb cable management was the thing that caused me to pick this over the many very capable alternatives.

[Pasko (Pascal)]

Congrats! Very nice. I have the OG AM5 and was tempted to upgrade to something with better cable management. How well has it been guiding so far? Would love to see it head to head comparison between this the AM5 and AM5N.

BTW I like your DIY mounting plate

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

Thanks, given the weather, it may be some time before I get to find out how well it guides! and fortunately for me, mounting it atop my pier was super simple with some stainless bolts and left over hardwood from a cabinetry project!

Originally Posted by Pasko

Congrats! Very nice. I have the OG AM5 and was tempted to upgrade to something with better cable management. How well has it been guiding so far? Would love to see it head to head comparison between this the AM5 and AM5N.

BTW I like your DIY mounting plate

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

Finally had a clear night to play. One thing for sure, I need a lot of short USB and power cables to properly use the ports on the head.

It's probably an unfair screen grab from my ASIAir as I haven't actually polar aligned yet, so the guiding will be chasing drift, but even so, everything seemed to be doing just fine using a 25mm guide scope and 120MM camera via the ST4 port.

I was a bit shocked just how quickly the mount slews to targets, it's very impressive and so quiet too making it an absolute pleasure to use. I'm more impressed than I thought I would be.

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

And in preparation for tonight's session, with larger guide scope, watch this: https://youtu.be/EsfgwJpLy1U