White Swan DD 200 - the most advanced amateur astronomical equatorial mount

On Tue, 8 Jan 2019 17:44:16 -0800 (PST), RichA
wrote:

On Tuesday, 8 January 2019 10:14:03 UTC-5, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Tue, 8 Jan 2019 01:03:05 -0800 (PST), StarDust
wrote:

On Sunday, January 6, 2019 at 12:31:48 PM UTC-8, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 04:53:24 -0800 (PST),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfRDO1zvKZc

WOW! I bet, this thing can track down hundreds of objects one night, incl. satellites too?

Looks nice, but nothing out of the ordinary for quite a few higher end
mounts created in recent years.

Made in Russia!!!!!!!!
5 years ago!
Bruhaha!!!!

I had a mount that could do this 20 years ago. But it wasn't
commercialized. It probably wouldn't have been economical, and the
market for it would have been small.

What's changing is that the component technology is getting cheap. For
$100 you can buy super precise motor control systems (for robotics and
NC manufacturing) off the shelf. Sub-arcsecond absolute encoders are
now under $100. The cost of machined parts has steadily declined as NC
shops have become the standard.

Then why are mounts $5000+? Whereas something like a G11 used to be about $1700?

Because a quality mount costs at least $1000 to build, and if you want
to keep a company alive, that means you need to sell it for at least
$5000, maybe more. Nobody is selling tens of thousands of them each
year.

On Tuesday, 8 January 2019 21:24:46 UTC-5, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Tue, 8 Jan 2019 17:44:16 -0800 (PST), RichA
wrote:

On Tuesday, 8 January 2019 10:14:03 UTC-5, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Tue, 8 Jan 2019 01:03:05 -0800 (PST), StarDust
wrote:

On Sunday, January 6, 2019 at 12:31:48 PM UTC-8, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 04:53:24 -0800 (PST),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfRDO1zvKZc

WOW! I bet, this thing can track down hundreds of objects one night, incl. satellites too?

Looks nice, but nothing out of the ordinary for quite a few higher end
mounts created in recent years.

Made in Russia!!!!!!!!
5 years ago!
Bruhaha!!!!

I had a mount that could do this 20 years ago. But it wasn't
commercialized. It probably wouldn't have been economical, and the
market for it would have been small.

What's changing is that the component technology is getting cheap. For
$100 you can buy super precise motor control systems (for robotics and
NC manufacturing) off the shelf. Sub-arcsecond absolute encoders are
now under $100. The cost of machined parts has steadily declined as NC
shops have become the standard.

Then why are mounts $5000+? Whereas something like a G11 used to be about $1700?

Because a quality mount costs at least $1000 to build, and if you want
to keep a company alive, that means you need to sell it for at least
$5000, maybe more. Nobody is selling tens of thousands of them each
year.

Seems like there are a few things in astronomy bucking inflationary trends. Small apos (80mm) can now fetch $2000, despite most coming from China.

On Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 7:40:56 AM UTC-8, RichA wrote:
On Tuesday, 8 January 2019 21:24:46 UTC-5,

On Sunday, January 6, 2019 at 12:31:48 PM UTC-8, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 04:53:24 -0800 (PST),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfRDO1zvKZc

WOW! I bet, this thing can track down hundreds of objects one night, incl. satellites too?

Looks nice, but nothing out of the ordinary for quite a few higher end
mounts created in recent years.

Made in Russia!!!!!!!!
5 years ago!
Bruhaha!!!!

I had a mount that could do this 20 years ago. But it wasn't
commercialized. It probably wouldn't have been economical, and the
market for it would have been small.

What's changing is that the component technology is getting cheap. For
$100 you can buy super precise motor control systems (for robotics and
NC manufacturing) off the shelf. Sub-arcsecond absolute encoders are
now under $100. The cost of machined parts has steadily declined as NC
shops have become the standard.

Then why are mounts $5000+? Whereas something like a G11 used to be about $1700?

Because a quality mount costs at least $1000 to build, and if you want
to keep a company alive, that means you need to sell it for at least
$5000, maybe more. Nobody is selling tens of thousands of them each
year.

Seems like there are a few things in astronomy bucking inflationary trends. Small apos (80mm) can now fetch $2000, despite most coming from China.

I have an Celestron Onyx 80 mm f/6 APO, pretty good, hard to get high power out of it though, Payed $500 for it 4-5 years ago, now sells for $350 on the used market.
It can't beat my Vixen/Celestron 4" f/9 with CF lens element.
I often get 400x + power out of this beauty on planets and payed $500 for it 10 years ago!

On Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 4:53:27 AM UTC-8, StarDust wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfRDO1zvKZc

WOW! I bet, this thing can track down hundreds of objects one night, incl. satellites too?

Looks like a LOT of slop in the drive. That could be a significant problem when loads shift from one side of a shaft to the other.