I've had this mout for about two weeks, but I've had a good session with it at night and tried it in daylight with several other scopes.  These are my first impressions 


WHAT IS IT?  Well, it's listed on FLO, but the important bits are as follows.  An ultra portable altaz mount, weight 1.45Kg, stated load Up to 7Kg, colours black or silver, folded size240x80x90mm, single fork arm design, 3/8inch mounting point, compatable with Vixen type dovetail.  

BUILD QUALITY.  Very good, weighty in the hand and very well machined. Plastic slow motion controls .

SMOOTHNESS OF MOVEMENT.  Excellent, couldn't be much better.  Once the clutches are adjusted, scopes can be pushed in any direction and the slow motions used without further adjustment.  I tested the mount with the following OTAs.  Altair 80 ED-R F7, C5 SC, Askar 103Apo Triplet F7, 130PDS and the StellaMira 125ED F7.8.

VERSATILITY. The Sightron is ready to go in three modes.  The arm can be attached to the right or left side of any tube.  Simply rotate the tube clamp and change the angle of the arm by turning the knob at the bottom of the fork.  There are ratchets on the fork and base which have to be lined up to mesh together before the knob is re-tightened. MAKE SURE THIS IS DONE CORRECTLY.
The third mode is flipping the arm around so that the clamp faces away from the centre of the mount. In effect you're scope is attached to the outside of the fork.  To do this. First undo the bolt which holds the two halves of the arm together. There is a hex wrench supplied to do this.

Then flip the top half around and replace the bolt. It's useful if you have a tube which is too big to fit on the fork in the usual configuration.  Beware though, if the scope is too heavy it may tip the tripod.

The mount can also be used in equatorial mode if you buy a suitable wedge such as the William Optics version FLO sells.

PROBLEMS WITH THE POSITIONS OF THE SLOW MOTION KNOBS?  Some people have said this is problematic, though using knobs on 'floppies' or rods can help.  Or, depending on your scope, using the mount in a different mode may help.  I have to say, I didn't find it a problem.

THE DOVETAIL CLAMP.  This is a single bolt design, many people may decide to order a replacement along with the scope.  However, in my view think before you do.  First it holds tubes up to at least 7Kg, and there's no need to overtighten it.  If you are concerned about mariing the dovetail, there are solutions. On my scopes I put a length of Heavy Duty Stick On Velcro along the edge if the dovetail.  It prevents caring for some time, and if you need to replace it, it pulls off easily, and can be reused, without leaving any sticky residue.  

WHAT SCOPES IS THE SIGHTRON SUITABLE FOR?  The things to consider are weight of scope, diameter of scope tube, length of tube a good tripod and balancing the scope. 


Weight wise the stated maximum load is 7Kg, but I think it will do better than this. If the tube is too wide it will catch on the top of the mount when attached. This can be overcome my using mode three so it's on the outside of the tube - but careful it's not too heavy and could topple.  If a tube is too long it's more likely to shake, you may need to re-balance a long scope when using it at different altitudes.  Usually this wouldn't matter much. Balance the scope at the start of any session as soon as you put it on the mount.  The tripod I use is an Artcise AS88C, CF, weight 2.39Kg/5.2lbs, capacity 35Kg/77lbs, bowl adapter 75mm diam. It works very well. FLO sell a very similiar CF tripod

GUIDELINES FOR USABLE SCOPES My guidelines would be refractors up to at 100/125mm and no longer than F7, SCs up to 6inches, Maks up to 5 inches. Newtonians up to F6 and 6 inches aperture or less. 


HE ULTIMATE GRAB AND GO MOUNT?   And by G&G I don't mean any scope you can carry from your house into the garden.  A friend of mine can do this easily with his 14inch Newtonion! To my mind , any G&G rig is one you can take observing on foot, on your bike, on the bus, on a train or on an aeroplane.  I think the answer to my question is possibly yes. 


FIRST LIGHT JULY 27TH I chose my StellaMira 125mm F7.8 for this.  On the basis it's the largest scope I have that I might ever want to use it with but rarely will.  Usually its on a StellaMira Dual Altaz on which it's rock solid.  The session lasted from 11.50pm to 2.20am.  Except for Saturn at the very end I only used my Morpheus 17.5mm, giving x56 and 1.3 degrees field.  What a wonderful night, some beautiful views of amazing objects.  Effortlessly pushing the scope around the sky with the aid of Starsense. At the end I looked at Saturn with the SVBony 3-8mm giving x122 to x325, a suitable finale. Yes, it wobbled using the zoom toward the high end, but I was just too tired to rebalance it.  Long scope should be rebalanced for very high or low altitudes.


CONCLUSION For a visual altaz mount which can truly go anywhere with you, and with the scopes I used, I really don't know of anything better. I also think the maximum suggested load is a little conservative. Thoroughly recommended.

NOTE - A longer version of this review, with photos, has been posted on SGL.

Bought this to replace an AZ5. In short; it’s worth the extra money. Butter-smooth, with no hint of sticky backlash. It is a little steadier too and so light in weight. Handles an 80ed, easily and very sure it would carry a 90 or maybe a 102mm too. It is a considerable outlay compared to some mounts but worth it for the lovely feel and smooth movement.