Losmandy GM8 Equatorial Mount – GM8S Losmandy

Losmandy GM8 Equatorial Mount

• All machined aluminum and stainless steel, black anodized.
• All stainless steel hardware.
• One 2.100” diameter needle thrust bearing.
• One 2.000” diameter needle thrust bearing.
• Two 1.500” diameter needle bearings.
• 2.812” diameter, 7075 aluminum worm gear, 180 tooth.
• Dual supported, ball bearing housed ground High Precision Brass Worm.
• Variable slip clutch, both axes. One knob per axis design.
• Porter Slip Ring Design
• 1.250” diameter aluminum shafts.
• Through the axis polar scope mounting, works in Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Polar scope optional.
• Instrument Weight Capacity 30 LBS
• Equatorial head weight 21 lbs.

DRIVE ELECTRONIC OPTIONS – (S) DIGITAL OR (G) GEMINI GOTO

DUAL-AXIS DIGITAL ELECTRONICS (S)

• Diamond push button pattern.
• R.A. and DEC. reversing switches.
• 160 oz/in stepper motor, 1.0 arc sec. step.
• Three guiding rates; 30%, 50% and 2x sidereal rate.
• Three setting rates; 4x, 8x, 16x sidereal rate.
• Quartz tracking rates: sidereal, solar, lunar, king.
• Periodic Error Correction (PEC).
• Programmable DEC. Backlash Compensation (TVC).
• Control panel dimmer.
• Accepts auto-guider systems.
• Northern and Southern Hemisphere operation.
• 12 volt DC – 500ma power use.
• Tiltable control panel for easy access.
• Small hand control box for comfortable use.

GEMINI 2 GOTO ELECTRONICS (G)

• Full Color Graphic Touch Screen clearly displays all functions.
• Classic four-button pattern for guiding, centering, moving and slewing on both the touch screen and tactile membrane on the rear.
• Periodic Error Correction (PEC).
• Programmable DEC. Backlash Compensation (TVC).
• Control panel dimmer, Day and Night Modes.
• Accepts auto-guider systems.
• Northern and Southern Hemisphere operation.
• Tiltable control panel for easy access.
• Stand Alone System. No PC required
• Ethernet 10/100 with full IP function permits operation from anywhere using a browser, ASCOM, or app over the web or Serial Port
• DC Servos for imporved accuracy with higher torque than steppers
• Non-Volatile Memory and Real-Time Clock
• English, German, French & Spanish displays
• Over 40,000 objects
• USB ports; Virtual COM to PC, ASCOM or planetarium program.
• Firmware upgrade via internet
• Auto Guide Port (TTL)
• Dual 12-18V DC input/output (3.0A)

About Losmandy

Losmandy mounts and dovetail systems have long been acknowledged as a pioneering force in the industry. With two mounts: the light weight GM-8, and the more universal G-11, most optical tube assembly can be supported by a Losmandy mount. Unlike most of our competitors who only use stepper motors, Losmandy has both entry level mounts with stepper motors, as well as more sophisticated servo motors that are otherwise only found on competitor mounts in the $10,000+ range.  Losmandy mounts driven by servo motors provide far more torque and accuracy than mounts using stepper motors. For example the GM8 has an 8°/sec slew rate and 5 arc-second positional accuracy.

Known for their stunning design and their ultra-precision mechanics, the mounts also lead the way with their powerful Gemini 2 Go-To software, on-board computer modules and hand-controllers. The Go-To positioning system is unique among its competitors with its full color graphic touch-screen display. The software has over 40,000 pre-programmed objects to choose from, which makes finding a desired portion of the sky amazingly simple. And as things evolve, firmware upgrades are available over the internet so your system will always remain current. It also can be switched between English, French, Spanish, or German, to better accommodate Losmandy’s world-wide market.

A truly industry-changing innovation was introduced by Losmandy way back in 1986, shortly after the first Losmandy mounts came on the market. This was the concept of the dovetail accessory system that has become the industry standard. This wide array of different size dovetail plates and mounting rings solved the various problems users were having as they tried to interface tube assemblies to mounts, piggy-back scopes, mount cameras to optics, etc.

Owner/designer Scott Losmandy, first opened a small machine shop in Hollywood, CA in 1981. After five years of producing for others, often making products that were not especially interesting to him personally, he began developing his own line of products to sell.
His first design challenge came about almost by accident, as a result of joining a local astronomy club. After listening to members constantly complain about the price and quality of the telescope mounts on the market, he off-handedly remarked, “Why, I could make a better mount than these,” to which the universal reply was, “Well, why don’t you?” And so Losmandy Astronomical Products was born and Scott Losmandy found his true calling as a design engineer. Lucky him–lucky the rest of us interested in viewing the magic of the night sky.