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Hello everyone, I am considering trying out this mount. I'm hoping that people who are using it would be able to share the good and bad experiences they have had. I plan to use this with refractors in the 100 to 130mm size range for imaging. Thank you in advance, |
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I have been using this mount for a few months now so can provide my personal experience. Due to bad weather I have only put it out perhaps half a dozen times or so. first the goods: For its price it provides a very attractive package. It boasts a loading capacity of 30kg with counter weight. My heaviest setup is around 16+ kg, which it carried without a sweat. Some of my friends put RC10s on it and it handles them well. When setting up properly and with good seeing I can consistently guide under 0.6 arc second in RMS, and it's not unusual to see 0.4" or so. So generally it performs well. The PC interface in the Unity app is quite pleasing. There has been regular updates on software and firmware. Most of the early issues have been solved. The bads: The mount is not what I would call a state of the art in manufacturing. The knobs for altitude and AZ adjustment are in fact quite coarse and make polar alignment very painful. Just when I closed in to, say, around 2", a turn on the knob or locking the azimuth levers would make it jump to 5" or more. Sometimes I just gave up on getting better polar alignment as it was too time consuming. Especially compared to my other harmonic mount, Rainbow Astro RST-135, which is really easy to fine tune for accurate polar alignment, it's really like night and day. Even my HEQ5 Pro or EQ6R Pro are much more pleasant to polar align. I changed the azimuth knobs from M8 to M6 screws and it helps some, but the altitude knob cannot be changed and is still painful to adjust. An engineer friend who also bought the mount took apart the altitude mechanism and found that they put screw hole on the cog and the position coincides with our altitude (around 25 degrees). If your altitude is far away from 25 degrees you may have better experience. Another thing that I found less than satisfactory is the customer service. When first launched the mount has many issues. There was an unknown percentage of the first batch that used defcted parts and resulted in burned circuit boards. Three cases out of the ten of us who pre-ordered the mount from our local dealer encountered the issue. Pegasus, while offered to change the parts for free, have been very defensive in responding emails and on social media. To say it's not a pleasant experience in dealing with them is an understatement. There was also an issue that the mount would suddenly lose torque and caused high risks of crashing the scope. When the issue was raised on Facebook's page their immediate response was to blame users for having used improper power source or cable. As it later proved it was a driver issue and was fixed in updates. I understand the risks as early adopters and there are always issues to be ironed out. But the way they chose to deal with the issues left a bad taste in my mouth. And it makes me wonder should there be serious issues in the future what thier response would be. Would I recommend this mount? I honestly don't know. For its price, capacity, and general performance it is still hard to beat. There are some nice features and good concepts. There are also some design flaws, such as the altitude mechanism, that I believe can only be improved in the next generation. I will continue using this mount but wouldn't call it the best purchase I have made in this hobby. |
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I've used the NYX several times now and I agree about the polar alignment...it is a bit clunky. However, the mount performed very well for me. I still like my RST-135 a little bit more than the NYX. It is easier to align and it is smaller than the NYX (although the NYX has a better capacity rating). I use a t-handle hex key to adjust the azimuth instead of trying to use their knobs by hand. I found I can dial in the az adjustment much easier that way. Dialing in the altitude can be a trial and error ordeal. When the knobs are tightened, the altitude likes to shift a bit (I have the same issue with the RST-135 but not to the extent of the NYX). Unlike Yungshih, I haven't had issues with the Pegasus support. The riser mount was shipped with the wrong hex nuts and when I emailed PA, they responded quickly and told me that the replacement nuts had already been mailed out to Agena. I received the correct nuts about a week later directly from Agena. I can't comment on the circuit boards. This is the first I've heard about that issue. I do like the Pegasus Astro Unity software - its pretty. However, I don't use it. I use NINA and haven't used the Unity software other than updating the firmware. The tripod from Pegasus is not very sturdy especially if you are planning on using a 130mm refractor. It does not take much to cause vibration using their tripod. I am now using mine on an Avalon T-pod 110 with a EQ6-R adapter. I had my Epsilon 200 running on the NYX and it handled the bulk well. I was probably around 20 kg with the camera and scope and it slewed and handled the weight well. I do not recommend their carbon fiber tripod unless you have a smaller scope. I would have no issues using it with my Askar FRA300 setup. I would probably even use their tripod with my CFF 92mm scope but I wouldn't try with anything much larger. I was able to guide without any issue. Like the RST-135, you will want to have some sort of guiding (OAG, ONAG or guide scope). One of my complaints is that Pegasus Astro doesn't offer a counterweight shaft or counterweights for purchase like Rainbow Astro. So if you do need the counterweight shaft and weight, you'll have to look elsewhere. If I recall, the shaft for the RST-135 does not work with the NYX. Another pro or maybe con is the power plug. It uses a GX12 plug which has a screw terminal. It is nice having the secure power connection...I just didn't have any plugs available. I ordered the bare GX12 plug from Amazon and made my own power cable. If you have anything else that uses the GX12 then it is a benefit. Otherwise, plan on making a cable if you aren't using their power brick. I bought the NYX to use when taking my TEC140 over to my local dark site (I may use the Epsilon 200 on it as well once I get it back from Optec). The 140 is just a little bit too much for the RST-135 to handle and the NYX is lightweight and easy to transport. I was planning on keeping one or the other between the RST-135 and the NYX. I think I may end up keeping both. The RST-135 is so much easier to transport on a plane compared to the NYX. The RST-135 also works well with the ASIAIR when I travel. I haven't used the NYX with the ASIAIR but I've read that it should work. |
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| Agree with the above that the polar alignment is pretty awful on the NYX. I’ve used the NYX with my E160-ED and it has performed well — better than my CEM70. It lacks the wild swings that the CEM70 seems to love. One issue I found last weekend, though — it doesn’t work with Voyager. My first time out with Voyager, and the NYX wouldn’t work for sky flats. Reason is sky flats use az/el gotos and the NYX doesn’t support them — as I found in the Voyager log. That said, I reported this issue to Pegasus and they responded immediately. They are adding az/el gotos to the driver. Hopefully, this will be in a soon to be released update. |
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| @Chris White- Overcast Observatory let me know if you decide to move forward. I have a NYX i've used once, but was about to sell. (have a HEM44EC I stick to in that range, but just couldn't pass up buying one when they came out) I do have to agree that the tripod feels less rigid than I'd like. it didn't seem to impact anything, but felt like it couldnt' handle much more than my Askar 130phq that I was trying to use it with. |
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Jeff Ridder: Hi Jeff, I can add Voyager side a flag in the flat action to force using RA/DEC slew (transforming the ALT/AZ coords). Let me know if this can help Leo |
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Jeff Ridder: Hi Leo. The Pegasus folks seem to be on top of it, but it probably would make sense to add that “FC” flag. I had to use it in the main sequence part of my drag script. It would make sense to have that same flag available for Sky Flats. Thanks! |
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Excellent feedback. I was under the impression that it's a decent mount but not spectacular. That seems to be your guy's experience. I asked Pegasus if there were any changes to the next run (July Avail) and Evans said that they were minor and were either cosmetic, or mechanical but only from a manufacturing process standpoint. Otherwise the mount is functionally the same in the next run. He didn't specify what those changes might be, so I really have no idea. It would be totally normal to tweak the product a little bit after the first run feedback has come in and issue sorted out. I've had some mixed experiences with pegasus support on other issues. I've found them to be very good and responsive to some issues but other times not the most pleasant to work with. They have always made good on issues though, so on balance the support side of things doesnt concern me a whole lot. The AM5 seems to be a good mount from what I've read, but I really don't want to buy a ZWO product based on personal past experiences. The Rainbow I think lacking the brake is a no-go for me, and considering that there are now three other mainstream alternatives for a SW mount, I think their pricing is a bit high... although I havent ruled a 135 out. I really don't have any interest in the iOptron mounts. I've owned a couple of CEM mounts in the past and they have been good purchases, but I am not a fan of commander and the hybrid path they took is less interesting. I've been very spoiled with my Astro-Physics mounts, and I know that I would need to guide any of these SW mounts, but since this is for a portable setup that I need to setup and teardown I know I would use it more. I have a Mach1 that I rarely use because it's such a production to setup. (I also have a perm setup in an observatory so that has made me lazy) Interesting feedback on the tripod Nick. I was wondering if this carbon tripod would be a problem. Again, the weight/convenience debate vs performance. My hard requirement is that with guiding I can achieve the quality of data I'm used to. Fortunately, my sampling is forgiving on the shorter scope. |
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On the tripod -- yes, it is flimsy, but I was able to get decent guiding with a fully loaded E160-ED (30'ish lbs) using that tripod. Because the entire setup is top heavy and subject to tipping over, I had to attach a stone bag to the tripod and put a 20lb counterweight in there...which kind of negates the advantage of having no counterweights. I have a Berlebach Planet I'd hoped to mount the NYX on, but the EQ6 mounting plate doesn't quite work with the NYX EQ6 adapter without drilling additional holes. With all of that, the NYX outperforms my CEM70, so I'll be keeping the NYX and selling the CEM70 at some point. Edit: I should also mention that although the NYX polar alignment is clunky, Pegasus recommends that if using the NINA Three-Point Polar Alignment plugin that you run it three times and it will get better each time. I've found this does improve it. You also have to finesse it in the second and third rounds with incrementally tightening the RA and DEC locks -- it's a cludgy way of restricting and finessing the movement on the adjustment bolts. |
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Unfortunately you would have to go up the RST-300 to get the brake. I wish they would offer the RST-300 with encoders (I have the RST-135E after I upgraded from the RST-135). The encoders make guiding much easier on the Rainbow Astro product. I just wish RA products wasn't so expensive. I'd really like the RST-300 buts it's almost $9000. I've read many great reviews on the AM-5. However, I'm with you @Chris White- Overcast Observatory, I'm not a huge fan of ZWO. I do like their ASIAIR though for when I travel. I don't like that I have to either use a ZWO camera or my Sony A7III - no QHY cameras. I understand why they limit most accessories to ZWO products but that doesn't mean I like it! If you are using it is a grab and go mount I do recommend the NYX. For those looking to buy the NYX as their primary mount - I would look elsewhere. I can overlook the polar alignment issues when I use it occasionally but if I was setting up and taking down often, the alignment would get frustrating. If you had an observatory where the mount would stay set up, then I don't think it's a bad choice. If I was buying again, I would find a used EQ6-R tripod instead of buying their carbon fiber tripod. If you already have an Avalon T-POD, Avalon makes an EQ6-R adapter (I think it works on their 90, 110 and 130 tripods). |
