Coronado DS Mount (DSM) for Solar Scopes

Comments about Coronado DS Mount (DSM) for Solar Scopes:

The instruction manual does not match what you get and need to do with the hand controller. The hand controller also does not list this tripod in the settings menu. I had to make 3 calls to Meade technical support to get the correct settings.

Once this hassle is over it tracks well and will keep the sun in my view for 20-30min no problem. Light and easy to use. The batteries are lasting a long time.

Comments about Coronado DS Mount (DSM) for Solar Scopes:

Delivery was fantastic.

Use is confusing. Instructions DO NOT MATCH what I read on the hand controller.

Comments about Coronado DS Mount (DSM) for Solar Scopes:

Product arrived on time and was enclosed in material that protected product from inshipping damage.

Comments about Coronado DS Mount (DSM) for Solar Scopes:

I was skeptical about buying this for my PST I recently purchased. However, it has about half of the mount constructed of metal, with the remainder in a sturdy plastic. I like the hand controller a lot. Much better than Celestrons hand controller which is mushy. Meade (Coronado) has done a good job with this hand controller. It uses double AA batteries, or optionally you can power it with a 12 v battery or an AC adapter available separately. I use AAs because they are cheap and plentiful, and seem to last several viewing sessions before needing replacement. The real beauty of this mount is the ease of setup. Just set it on the ground and point it north and level. Then lock it in by tightening the clutches. Then turn on the power and select "targets-astronomical" and press enter. Then slew to the sun and press enter for 3 seconds until you see a message saying "press enter to Synch". Press enter and you are done.
The manual seems wrong in this regard, but it has always tracked flawlessly each time I have gone through this exercise above. Since its low optical power with the PST, you dont even need to be that accurate on setup. Just reasonably close to level and reasonably close to north as possible. One word of caution; I would not recommend using this mount without at least extending the legs halfway out. Otherwise it is unstable. Halfway extended seems about the best to me. The mount can be used with regular spotting scopes and/or telescopes although I have not tried that option. I use mine with a regular 1A PST, Siebert barlow and binoviewers with 2 20mm eyepieces and it does a great job even with the added weight of the binoviewers, barlow and two eyepieces. One final thought is the noise. It makes a constant grumbling type noise that never stops. Unlike the high end goto scopes such as the Celestron CPC series which I have, it is fairly loud. It really doesn't bother me, but some may find it objectionable.