(4) The initial "South" starting point is more difficult than North, (no Polaris equivalent) and the mount has a strong stray magnetic field, so you cannot use a magnetic compass near it. (I have yet to try the Az at zero end/restart setting). The mount seems to accept this as a starting point for the next session. So, at the end of a session, I slew the mount to AZ 180 degrees, Alt to 0 degrees, and then power down. Unlike the Synta system, the Cube remembers the mount's position at power-down. I have found a solution that seems to work for me. With a vertical clamp, you have to support the full weight of the OTA + any clamp-to-plate friction. With a horizontal dovetail clamp, the clamp supports most of the weight of the OTA, and just requires a gentle push to adjust the OTA's dovetail plate position in the clamp. This makes it far more difficult to attach the OTA. With the Cube The default starting position is with the mount facing South, and the OTA/dovetail clamp, vertical. (3) With my Synta AZ/Alt systems, the default starting position is with the OTA pointing North and the OTA level or pointing to the NCP (Virtuoso Dob. I cut off the plug and fitted a UK BS1363 square-pin plug. I tried the plug in two plug-in shaver adapters there was no problem with electrical contact, but it was far too easy to dislodge the plug with a small movement of the lead easy to disconnect in the dark (leads and supply are black). It has similar spacing to the plugs supplied with UK shavers and electric toothbrush re-chargers, but, the pins on the supply are of a smaller diameter. This lead has a "European" small, round-pin, (incompatible with standard UK socket) mains plug. This supply is a small block with a permanently-attached mains input lead. (2) The supplied system includes a 12V 1.5A mains PSU. spotting scope, designed to go on a tripod, and this works fine with the cube - the finder moving from top left to top right. The 127mm Mak from my Skymax system is right at the top end of the mount's OTA-weight range, and I have glued a second finder shoe at 180 degrees to the original, so I can use my 6x30 RACI finder. The OTA from my Heritage 130p has the helical focuser pointing directly downwards (I believe it is possible to remove and reverse the truss tubes, but then that would make the OTA incompatible with my other mounts). This is not a problem with most focusers, but the finder is now bottom right, and A RACI with eyepiece facing downwards, is unusable. Thus any Synta OTA is going to be upside down on the cube. (1) The Cube's dovetail clamp is on the right, whereas on the Synta mounts it is on the left. There are a few areas with significant differences to my other Celestron and Skywatcher mounts, and other "features" of note:. The tripod's legs are locked in position by rotating a plastic tray (with holes for 3 off 1.25" eyepieces) similar to the Synta ones. The mount has a 3/8" - 16 UNC internal thread (heavy duty tripod), and is coupled to the top of the tripod by a long, captive, bolt. The manual indicates a supply range of 10V to 14V and >1.5A (the supplied PSU is rated at 1.5A - so, in theory, out of spec!). Generally, the standard zinc/manganese dioxide "alkaline" cells have a capacity between 17mAh. Initially (no tracking) it is between 75 & 90mA whilst tracking, between 90 and 130mA 2-axis slewing at maximum rate, up to 470mA and 2-axis slewing at 128x standard rate is about 155mA (about 10mA less if only 1 axis). The mount incorporates a holder for 8-off 1.5V AA cells, and there is a socket for a 12V, 2.1mm ID/5.5mm OD power jack. The single object alignment (2 and 3 object alignment is also available) is ideal for daytime, when only the Sun is visible. It is very quick and easy for solar white-light observing when there is a gap in the clouds. Provided that the mount is pointing towards its designated starting Az & Alt positions, (see below), the automated slew to the selected target is accurate and, after final centring, tracking is excellent. The GPS locks in a few tens of seconds, and the mount emits a short "beep" to indicate the lock (the top-right corner of the display also changes from "ON" to "OK"). Overall I am very pleased with my choice. I already have a selection of Celestron & Skywatcher (Synta) GoTo mounts, but I wanted something smaller for a grab-and-go with quick setup. These comments are after a month's occasional use. I bought this mount, from FLO, at the beginning of January 2020.
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