Pegasus NYX-101 Harmonic Gear Driven Mount

Nyx, the ancient Greek goddess of the night, enlightened us to design and produce a high-performing, high payload mount that can easily carry imaging equipment up to 20Kg without needing a counterweight or shaft.

Strain wave drive on RA and DEC movement ensures a backlash-free operation with high torque at high payloads. A fully CNC machined aluminium alloy 6061 body, black and blue anodized, and a selection of branded parts (stepper motors, strain wave gear) inside the mount, ensure that Nyx-101 will perform flawlessly for many years. Mount includes an electronic brake on the RA axis to prevent backsliding when power is off as well as safety limit stops during slew or tracking.

High precision strain wave gears

Harmonic Gears on Both Axis ensure high payload and a smooth, backlash-free operation.

A hybrid stepper motor, belt system along with sophisticated electronics can drive RA axis down to 0.10 arcsecs of resolution

Reduction on RA axis is 500:1 and 300:1 on DEC axis.

Supporting high imaging loads

Counterweights are not required for weights up to 20Kg.

(counterweights can be installed for higher photographic loads – compatibility with M12 shaft)

Lightweight Design

Lightweight Design, based on the weight payload the mount can lift

CNC machined aluminum alloy AL6061 used for aircraft makes the mount an excellent choice for your setup.
Mount weights 6.4 Kg

From a small refractor to a fully loaded SCT 11-inch telescope, NYX-101 can easily handle the payload

Equatorial or Altazimuth Mode

Mount can be used as a German Equatorial mount or as an ALT/AZ, more suitable for visual observations
The mode can be switched from our mobile application

Built-in Wireless and USB Control

NYX-101 support Wi-Fi out of the box including USB2 connectivity.
Both technologies can work simultaneously.

Mount is compatible with LX200 protocol and Sky Safari for mobile interaction

Power Off Brake

A safety power-off brake is Installed on the RA Axis and provides an instant safe stop

during a planned or unplanned power interruption.

Additional Key Features

DC 12 Volts Battery Operation

NYX-101 requires 12V only for its smooth operation. This means that you can use your normal 12V battery without any additional converters. Mount consumes less than 0.6Amp during tracking and up to 2.5 Amps during slewing.

Secure power and USB

The power cable is a GX12 type with can securely lock onto the mount. USB type B special socket ensures a secure grip. Both of these sockets are placed on the non-movable part of the mount. No cables moving during slews and tracking. A 2nd GX12 allows you to provide power to your imaging equipment.

Refraction Corrections

NYX-101 integrates a barometric sensor required to calculate atmospheric, refraction corrections during mount tracking. For smaller focal lengths this is might be overkill but if you have an SCT you will notice a welcome change in your guiding performance.

Electronic assistant on initial polar alignment

A set of sensors allows you to orient the mount at the correct altitude and azimuth in order to have an initial, rough, polar alignment (for lower focal lengths such as camera lenses or visual observations ). Our mobile application guides you through that process.

Integrated ST-4 autoguiding port

An ST-4 port is available at the back of the mount. Suitable for a simple hand controller or for your ST-4 guiding camera.

Polemaster Adaptor

In the front of the mount, there is a place for the QHY Polemaster (adapter included), which allows you to perform a precise polar alignment, required for your imaging sessions.

Universal Saddle Plate

NYX-101 has a rigid universal Saddle that accepts Vixen and Losmandy 3-ich dovetails.NYX-101 has a rigid universal Saddle that accepts Vixen and Losmandy 3-ich dovetails

Reverse Voltage Polarity Protection

NYX-101 has been designed with reverse voltage polarity protection. A saver if you accidentally reverse battery polarity during the night.

Optional Counterweight support

Mount does not require counterweights for payload up to 20Kg. However, if you would like to install counterweights for higher payloads there is a compatible M12 threaded shaft hole at the end of the DEC axis.

ASCOM, INDI, Sky Safari Support

The mount fully supports ASCOM 6 and INDI framework. Sky Safari is also supported allowing you to control the mount through your mobile device.

Mobile Control

A mobile application for IOS and Android platforms allows you to control both axis of the mount, slew to installed catalogs of thousands of night sky targets and do a rough polar alignment through an electronic polar assistant.

Safety limits on RA axis

Safety limit encoders on RA Axis prevent internal cable snag or collision with the tripod.

Firmware Upgrade

An easy firmware upgrade process allows you to stay up to date with bug fixes and the latest features of the mount.

Technical Specification:

Material CNC machined 6061 aircraft aluminium alloy
Mount Mode Equatorial or Altazimuth
Mount Drive Strain Wave (Harmonic) Gear and Belt resulting reduction 500:1 (RA) and 300:1 (DEC)
Load Capacity 20 Kg without counterweights
30 Kg with counterweights
Weight 6.5 Kg
Safety / Power Off Brake On RA Axis
Dovetail Vixen and Losmandy 3-inch
RA Motor Resolution 0.10”
Max Slew 5.5 degs/sec
Power Voltage 12V DC unregulated
0.7A during tracking, 2Amps during slewing
Guide Port ST4
Counterweight Shaft M12 Shaft
Communication Wireless 802.11g and USB2
Operating Temperature -20° to + 50°C
Warranty 2-year limited
Made in (designed, assembled and tested) Greece

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

* Name

Please enter your full name

* Telephone Number

Please input your telephone number here

* Model Number

Please enter the model number which is just above

Additional Information

Please include any information here that will help our staff members assist your query

*

Please add the two numbers

SubmitSubmit