SkyWatcher SolarQuest Mount (Updated 11/24/20)

SolarQuest

Peter Detterline

How do you make something unique in a market that is flooded with different types and designs of telescope mounts?  For the people at Sky-Watcher, the answer was simple; an easy to use, portable, solar mount.  The result was the SolarQuest.  When Dave first brought this to my attention, I was a bit skeptical.  I have been doing a lot of solar observing with three different solar telescopes, but the Celestron AVX or CGEM mounts that I used were ideal.  Already polar aligned, it takes me easily to the Sun.  Discussing it with Dave I told him that I didn’t feel the need to buy another mount just for solar.  Dave told me that makes sense so he bought one and asked me to check it out.  Weeks later the mount was delivered to my house. 

PACKAGING  Everything was packaged very well and with no slop.  Boxes within boxes filled the spaces and the tripod was encased with bubble wrap and secured with Styrofoam.   

ASSEMBLY  There are really only three main parts to assemble.  The tripod, a cylinder that attaches to the tripod, and the mount head. 

But before you go wild with the DIY thing without reading the instructions there is something REALLY important you should know.  You do not want to “gorilla grip” the screw at the bottom of the mount head.  This needs to be tightened “slightly” as over tightening may cause some damage to the gears if it can’t turn.

Let’s talk power.   I have to say this is really a very clever and well thought out design.  Open the battery compartment and inside is the battery holder which uses eight AA batteries.  Things are tight, so it may be a bit difficult to remove the battery holder I actually needed some pliers to get a light grip and pull.  As always it’s good to remove the batteries if you won’t be using the mount for a while.  That’s the first option.

The other option is to remove the battery compartment face and disconnect the battery holder.   Supplied with the mount is a DC power supply face.  This comes with the mount, but oddly it isn’t mentioned in the manual.  At first glance you would think it connects to a 9V battery, but that’s not the case.  Unplug the battery holder and connect the DC power supply face to the wires.  It snaps right into place so you can use a car battery adapter (not included).  If going with this method be certain you don’t misplace the battery holder and the accompanying blank battery compartment face.

SETUP  Very simple to use.

·         Once the mount is assembled securely attach the solar telescope.

·          Level the telescope using the bubble level on the tripod leg. 

·         You should have the telescope positioned to the left of the Sun for the fastest results; I’ve tried it in various positions.  It will still do its job of getting to the Sun, but it may take longer and if you are using the DC power cord you may get some cord wrap.

·         Press the power button and a red LED will come on. Within seconds the mount will move to a horizontal position. 

·         Now it’s a waiting game as the internal GPS locates your position and the Sun.  Roughly 45 seconds for the tests I performed.  During one run I waited 5 minutes with no results.  I turned the unit off to reboot, and then back on.  It went to the Sun in roughly 45 seconds.

·         The image was not centered, but I was impressed that it was in the field of view.  More on this in the next section.  There is an 8-way switch to move the telescope to center the Sun.  Put your finger in the center and move the entire switch N,S,E,W.  If you slide the switch to one of those directions and press the power button the mount will move quickly.  I played with this for a while and purposely moved the Sun way out of the field of view and then back by watching the solar finder on the telescope.   It works very well and is smooth.  IMPORTANT: Never try to move the mount manually to find the Sun, always use the 8-way switch. 

AUTO CENTERING  This is really the coolest feature of the SolarQuest.  So use the 8-way switch to find the Sun and get it centered.   Then double click the power button, and the mount will remember this correction.  I turned off the telescope and then tried it again later and the Sun was dead on in the center.  I tried the SolarQuest with different telescopes, and each one had the Sun in a different position.  Each telescope will need its own auto centering offset , but if you’re using only one telescope you’re good to go with a simple double click of the power button.

FIRST LIGHT   The recommended maximum telescope weight is just shy of 12lbs.  I tried it with several telescopes.  The Astrotech 60 mm with a Thousand Oaks solar filter (3.3 lbs), the DayStar 80 mm Scout (12 lbs), and the Coronado 90 mm Solar Max (18.5 lbs).  The Coronado was a bit overkill, but the mount handled it smoothly and beautifully.  No issues getting to the Sun and it tracked it perfectly for about an hour.  I wouldn’t recommend a heavy telescope though; that will be hard on the gears over time.  The solar image was taken during the first light test using the Coronado.

DO YOU NEED ONE?  That’s really the important question isn’t it?  And the answer depends on what you would use it for.  So let’s look at both sides.YES  If you’re an educator and you do solar astronomy with your students this is a great investment.YES  If you are traveling to see a solar eclipse and plan on doing any eclipse chasing.  This would be a very fast setup on the fly.  The mount weighs in at 9 pounds without the telescope.   Easy and lightweight to pack. NO  If you have a heavy telescope that weighs more than 12 lbs although the mount performed admirably with the heavier Coronado.NO  If you do your solar imaging at home and have a setup with a polar aligned mount unless you want a quick setup and takedown for your solar imaging.In short, this is really a portable solar setup for a small instrument.So the only question remaining is: Will Dave ever get to see this SolarQuest mount?  I’m thinking not; I just may keep this one and buy him another one.

Update 6/9/20

It has been months since I have been able to use the Sky Watcher SolarQuest mount, and I didn't want to pass up this opportunity.  Sunspot 2765 is a beautifully complex system  that is evolving on a typically featureless solar disk.  The day was not ideal for such a venture, but it seemed like a good day to test the mount. The telescope that is currently attached is the DayStar 60mm Solar Scout mated with a ZWO ASI290 MM camera.  I had synched the mount to the telescope months ago, so the first test would be the alignment.  I placed the telescope outside, plugged it in and turned on the power button.  Within seconds the telescope went to its horizontal position.  Soon after it turned toward the Sun. Looking at the image on the computer it was "spot on" so to speak as Sunspot 2765 dominated the view.  The alignment was perfect.  I think this is still one of the coolest features.Now the tracking test.  I decided to take a 2000 frame video every 5 minutes so I could create an animation.  All of this was done automatically in SharpCap.  I imaged for just over 4 hours in some horrific conditions.  The wind was a constant 10-15 mph throughout the day and the image was shaking, so seeing was poor.  I needed to adjust the mount slightly to keep the sunspot centered after 2.5 hours.  Clouds covered the Sun on and off around that time, and that may have contributed to the error.  I am still very pleased with the mount.  It is impressive in size, alignment and tracking.  Regardless of the terrible seeing conditions the results speak for itself.

Update 6/17/20

Updated 11/24/20