I have loved the simplicity of an Alt-Azimuth mount since I first experienced it almost 30 years ago as the mounting to a fantastic 8” Newtonian which was my second telescope. No fuss setup without the need for polar alignment and intuitive simple up-down and left-right movements. An object hidden by a tree? No problem, just pick up the whole scope and mount and move somewhere else so the target is back in view.
Astronomy Now Magazine January 2025 Issue
Fast forward to the current time and all my mounts are Alt-Az. Owning a number with varying sizes, masses and load capacities meant I had something for all my scopes. But I did have a bit of gap in the mid-range with 1-3kg capacity and 10kg-to-more-than-20kg. The larger mounts are overkill for some of my 4” scopes but too much for the smaller mounts. When travelling for astronomy, as I often do, excess weight and size in the mount is something you start to notice.
This is where the Sightron Japan Alt-Az mount come in. Weighing only 1.45kg (and with transportation dimensions of 24cm x 8cm x 9cm) but with a load capacity of 7kg, it seemed to fill a need in my mount lineup. Slow motion controls for smooth tracking at high power were just an added bonus. After owning and using the mount with a variety of scopes over the last 12 months, I put fingers to keyboard and my review can be found in the January 2025 issue of Astronomy Now magazine. To read the review, you can purchase back issues of the magazine here.
The Sightron Japan Alt Az Mount holding my Takahashi FC-100dc Refractor