Losmandy GM-8 Equatorial Mount (cost, $1100 used; $1500 new)

Took shipment of my new (used) Losmandy GM-8 just yesterday.  I set it up last night with my Tak FS-78 for a little shakedown.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Open the boxes. This is one big mount!  I don't know what I was thinking.  And every part of it is jet black!  The tripod itself is rugged, with hand tighteners on the top of the legs to prevent the legs from folding in and tighteners on the bottom to extend the legs.  What's interesting is that the legs are very square, with sharp edges. Not enough to cut a finger on, but certainly enough to damage a leg (your leg) should you bump into it on a dark night. Actually, it just adds to the sharp appearance to the overall mount.

The equatorial head is heavy and bolts down with three allen screws.  I can see where some simple hand screws will allow for faster setup/disassembly of the head from the tripod.  The electronic drives are weather proofed and easily excessible to the control panels which bolt on just below the drives (note to self: get some hand screws).  Cables for connection to the drives, check.  Handbox, check.  Polar alignment scope with illuminated reticle, check.  7 lbs. counterweight and bar, check.  Dovetail to attach my scope, check.  I could tell right away that my little Tak was in good, HUGE hands.

SETUP

Easy as pie.  Tripod first, then EQ head.  Mount the control panel and connect to drives. Adjust tripod height.  Level the tripod using the two directional levels.  Add the scope and counterweight bar.  Insert the alignment scope, plug reticle into batteries, and point at Polaris.  Plug scope into 12v DC power supply (used my own).  Balanced the scope. Adjusted the clutch to my comfort level.  

Assembly took ten minutes.  Boy, this is a beautiful looking setup. Polar alignment was especially cool, though accurate alignment is unnecessary for this night as I had no plans to do any imaging.  But using the scope made objects stick perfectly in the center of my FOV, regardless of the magnification.

PERFORMANCE

The clutchs are a smooth as silk.  Never once did I get the impression that my scope was going to slide off target.  Slewing speeds go to 32x, which is fine because the manual clutch worked so well.  But I do wish it had a high max slew speed.  32x is fine for centering objects in the eyepiece, but it's too slow for centering objects in the guidescope (I'm spoiled by my LX200).  Because I'm using a refractor, I found myself wishing that the tripod legs extended a bit more for viewing at the zenith, but I can live with it like it is. Didn't fool around with the backlash features or PEC, but I'm sure they will work fine, as everything else about this mount is fine working.  Vibration damping is almost immediate.

CONCLUSION

Very nice mount, though readers must take into account that this is my first foray into quality EQ mounts and I have nothing to really compare it to except my frustrations with an old Orion cheapy.  Even though I didn't do any imaging tonight, I just know that it'll keep my Tak guiding straight and steady.  As for other size scopes, I'm sure this mount is a good match for any refractor up to and including 5" for visual use.  Precise imaging with such a scope, or even my dream Tak FSQ-106, might require the GM-8s big brother, the G-11.  But I'll never know until I get there.

It's all black, all sturdy, all precise, and all beautiful.  I recommend it fully.

 Return to Article Contents

  Return to Home Page

Copyright(c) 2003 - 2004 ALLABOUTASTRO.com. All rights reserved.