Can anyone comment on Orion's SkyView Pro?

So I'm looking into an achromat, and have a general planetary scope question out there on this board, but I'm specifically hoping to catch your eye if you know ANYTHING about Orion's SkyView Pro?

I mean can you please render your opinion, any opinion on either the mount (ships with free RA drive, and another axis drive for another $150) -- what is this mount? is it like a cg5 or eq4 or gp better than those (closer to a gpdx?) do you think it could hanle that tube and a camera? or is it just good enough for visual use? better than the similar orion offering: astroview 120 eq4? compare/contrast?

OR
opinion on the 120mm Achromat itself (synta, i presume, reviewed as okay, but not super hot on false color, but maybe apo-like with a chromacorr thrown at it). This is aparently the SAME as the astroview, so any comment here would be appreciated. i take it a yellow filter to counter false color is not really great as you are just hurting detail further.


OR
the Stainless steel tripod.

thanks for giving me ANY insight on this scope if you have it, share it. i'm trying to learn all i can so any impression you have had of it even if you don't own one would be most appreciated.

TomL

I own the Astroview 120ST. I gave a review of it on Cloudy Nights...http://www.cloudynights.com/reviews3/Astroview120.htm

I don't know anything about the SkyView Pro mount, but I do know that the Astroview mount is very solid if you can get it off that cheap aluminum tripod. The Astroview mount does not have a dovetail fitting although one can be made for it.

I made a solid tripod out of oak and a short pier mounted to the top of that. The mount now has absolutely no vibrations whatsoever and I assume the entire vibration problems with the Astroview (and similar) mounts comes from the cheap aluminum tripods. The Astroview is very solid and smooth in operation. I do think the setting circles are not worth the effort, but with the electronic drives it works very smooth and easy.

Now that I have a new, stable platform for the mount itself, I am going to try and mount my 8" SCT to it and see exactly how stable this mount really is.

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