I bought this to move my 130mm reflector from the dobsonian mount it came with to a more user-friendly height. It does the job perfectly and is absolutely rock solid. It's bigger and heavier than it looks on pics online, but if anything that's a plus - it's certainly not going to wobble about in the breeze. Service, advice and delivery was, as always, spot on.

Been using this for years with the ST120 as a grab n go setup. Smooth and solid with no shake or vibration. Would highly recommend for visual observation.

I bought this around 2.30pm on Monday and by 10.15am on Tuesday morning I was opening it!!! Tripod is great quality and very sturdy, one of the highest quality manual tripods out there in this price range! Great service from FLO znd great communication from Steve!!!

light weight and sturdy, smooth motion once moving, but a little sticky starting off, (that's my only gripe). There is very little to no noticeable vibration once an object is located, it is light weight enough that I can pick it up with my 130mm newt. attached and carry it out to my best viewing spot. I really like the mount and tripod combo, especially the value and the simplicity. If you are looking for a grab and go mount, I think this is a good choice for scopes around 8-12 pounds, it will get a lot of use.

Been testing this for a good while now, and I'm very happy with it.
It is simple and solid and a great Mount for my skywatcher startravel 120, and probably even bigger scopes.
The only thing i did, was to put some new and better grease inside roughly a 10 minute job, and the Mount is very smooth.
I highly recomend this to anyone that needs a solid Mount, which by the way, also is great for grab and go.

This mount / tripod is amazing for the price both axis are very smooth very well built I have a skywatcher 102 mounted but it will support much larger scopes this is a must buy definitely recommended FLO as usual brilliant in delivery

I have been using the mount for 2 months now and I have experienced no issues whatsoever.
The mount has smooth controls with easy to use clutches.
Perfect for grab & go or as your main mount.

Shaun

My Skywatcher 127 came with a az goto mount. The goto is great but as a beginner living in a light polluted town with limited field of view, I sometimes have problems finding two stars that I know to align it to. If I just want to bob out and have a look at Jupiter or the moon, the goto involves some fiddling about even if you don't bother alligning. This got me thinking that for such occasions, a manual mount would be a better grab and go option.

I am so impressed with this mount. You can whiz it about without waiting for the motor to get you there. Also easier to correct yourself if you go to far. It's a sturdy bit of kit and extends higher than my goto. Very useful for looking at the sky directly above (with my scope anyway).

My one suggestion for making it better would be some markings on the legs to make it easier to lower whilst using it. You can do this yourself though - glow in the dark paint at inch intervals up the legs works a treat.

In summary, If I can see it with my naked eye, or if I know exactly where I'm looking this mount surpasses my goto.

FLO were, as always, faultless.

I have owned this AZ4 for a little while, boy does it get some use! I bought it to use with my TAL100RS, and WO zenithstar 70 for grab and go viewing, and this mount meets the needs of these scopes superbly, i hung my skymax 180 pro on it, just out of curiosity, and it felt very secure, im sure it would be fine for some lunar viewing with this large OTA. Both axis felt a little "jerky" to start with, but seem to be running in nicely, the tripod is very sturdy, and offers a good height, handy for longer refractors.

The build quality is top notch, it even comes with a little tool kit.
This is a highly recommended tripod/ mount that will last years if looked after

I use this mount (stainless steel tripod version) with a 4 inch F6.3 refractor, which weighs more than 5kg. Add a 2inch diagonal and a heavy ethos eyepiece, and it’s a heavy load. The mount handles it beautifully, with absolutely no annoying vibrations. It is rock solid!
It is perfect for low or medium powers. Just set the ‘axis tension’ to allow for any imbalance, and enjoy either sweeping across the sky. However, the lack of slow motion controls is a disadvantage for very high powers (moon & planets) - accurate pointing can be frustrating.
Tall heavy eyepieces (e.g. 13mm Televue Ethos at 590g + 2inch diagonal) can be a problem. Even if you perfectly balance the telescope while horizontal, it will be out of balance when vertical due to the eyepiece load. I found that removing the mounts panning handle solved the problem for all but the heaviest eyepieces. But take care of the balance when removing a heavy eyepiece!
The one niggle I have with the mount is that the saddle uses a single screw to hold the vixen dovetail. Fine for small loads, but with a heavy and expensive telescope this can feel scary. I use an ADM Vixen to Losmandy converter. For added peace of mind, where the mounts saddle screw meets the ADM Vixen dovetail, I have drilled a dome to ensure it cannot slip out. The two screws on the ADM Vixen to Losmandy converter then hold the telescope very firmly.

John Murphy (www.johnmurphyastro.inf)