VITAL STATS

Price

WORDS: PETE LAWRENCE • Mount £4,998; Berlebach Planet tripod £498 (reduced to £398 if purchased with the MYT) • Load capacity 23kg equipment, 46kg including counterweights • Software TheSkyX Professional with TPoint add-on (compatible with Windows and OSx) • Database 1.2 million stars and thousands of deep-sky objects; database add-on available using the NOMAD catalogue • Weight Mount 15kg excluding counterweight and shaft; Berlebach tripod 11kg • Supplier Ian King

Imaging • www.iankingimaging.

com • Tel 01580 212356

Paramount robotic mounts provide high accuracy pointing and tracking platforms. This comes from a synergy of precision engineering working with Paramount’s fourth generation MKS-5000 computerised control system. Where the larger mounts in the Paramount range are designed for permanent or semi-permanent installations, the MYT (pronounced ‘mighty’) is offered as a portable grab and go mount. Initially, this seems at odds with the precision that Paramount robotic mounts are so well known for.

The MYT’s £5,000 price tag includes the mount head, cables, 9kg counterweight, control handset and control software, but you have to supply something for it to sit on. We used the wooden Berlebach Planet tripod (£498; £398 if purchased with the MYT), offering strength, excellent vibration damping and low weight. Visually, the MYT on the Berlebach tripod would definitely be a head turner at a star party.

Both components are easy to lift even when assembled. The tripod’s load limit is in excess of 80kg, making it a comfortable match for the MYT’s 23kg capacity or 46kg including counterweights. The MYT’s capacity is lower than larger Paramount models but still pretty generous, especially considering portable setups. The mount’s MKS-5000 controller connects to a computer via a USB cable; a supplied copy of Software Bisque’s TheSkyX planetarium software provides the user interface.

The MYT’s aluminium body is solid and attractively finished. Rough polar axis elevation is performed by moving a bar in a set of slots machined into the body. A latitude adjuster wheel provides fine tuning. In use, it was necessary to select the slots carefully because in some positions the bar slipped out while turning the adjuster.

A meaty 48V (80W) power supply plugs into a panel called the ‘electronics box’. This also incorporates the ports for the USB connection and handset. The handset itself is a solid affair with a thumb stick and four-speed selector. It feels very natural to use. Optional battery packs are also available to maintain portability.

Novel polar alignment

The mount has no polar alignment scope but thanks to some clever software, getting everything aligned is very easy to do. TheSkyX includes an integrated version of its TPoint add-on. This provides instructions to roughly align the mount. Next, you need to compare TPoint’s idea of where things are in the sky to where they actually are.

Once we’d set everything up, we first homed the mount. This gives the controller a start reference