I completed installation of this Asterion kit on my StellaLyra 16" Dob. I found the installation easy and the instructions in the box were adequate. I should note that the instructions I downloaded from the FLO website were for a smaller Dob kit and did not match the hardware for the 16" Dob. The instructions included in the Asterion box were correct and matched my StellaLyra 16" mount.

As Christopher and Phillip said in their reviews, this kit requires permanent removal of one of the altitude clutches/bearings. I'm sure the scope would still be useable this way but I wanted to keep the clutch and bearing in place so I chose to make modifications mentioned by Christopher to allow the clutch and bearing to remain. Here's what I did:

1- I drilled a hole in the top of the StellaLyra clutch adjustment knob. The hole size was slightly smaller than the internal aluminum threads inside the knob. I was very careful while running the drill press to make sure the hole was centered and that I did not damage the internal threads while drilling.

2- I found a 1/4" long spacer sleeve that fit tightly over the small end of the included axle bushing. I made sure that the outside diameter of the sleeve was smaller than the hole I had drilled in the knob so that it made no contact with the knob. This spacer sleeve shifts the position of the bushing out by about 1/4" allowing the bushing to be seated firmly against the end of the axle while making no contact with any part of the clutch knob.

3- I found that the included bolt for securing the axle bushing was long enough to engage the bushing threads even with the spacer in place. But I was concerned that with 1/4" less thread engagement I had an increased risk of stripping the plastic bushing threads. So I found and used a bolt 1/4" longer to ensure there is plenty of thread engagement and less risk of stripping the threads.

4- Finally, after making these modification the included thumb-screw for clamping the encoder shaft into the bushing was too large and made contact with the clutch knob when attempting to clamp the shaft. I replaced the clamping thumb-screw with a screw having a smaller head that can be tightened without making contact with the clutch knob.

When fully assembled, I can easily adjust the clutch tension knob while having no effect on the encoder system. I can even adjust the clutch after I have done star-alignment and it does not lose the alignment.

I am in the northern hemisphere and found that the encoder step instructions were backwards in both alt and az. I switched the settings in SkySafari to -4000 Az and +4000 Alt and then everything worked fine.

I enjoy tinkering and I enjoyed the process of making these modifications. It would be nice if an optional kit were made available that included a modified clutch knob and other parts for users to keep their clutch in place without needing to drill and find additional parts. I am very pleased to have this added functionality and I have no complaints about the kit.

Completely agree with Christopher. Minor but understandable design issues on an otherwise solid go-to kit
Easy enough to install. It felt so wrong to screw holes into my brand new (and first ever) dob mount that was only 2 days into its warranty - not any more it isn’t! It is a mod kit after all! Including something to secure the cable a bit more firmly to the mount would have been a nice touch I guess, but there isn’t that much slack and on the black StellaLyra mount it looks so much in keeping as to feel like it's part of the original mount. On the down side, if anything went wrong you would have to uninstall the whole thing to return it as no connector on the wire between the two sensors. The fixation of the Azimuth sensor is simple enough but it forces you to fix the Az tension on installation, and I wonder how long the sensor will stand up to what I set it at. I would have liked to seen a a sleeve or spacer to prevent play at the fixation end so just make sure the Azimuth sensor is at 90 degrees and flat to the base before screwing it in.
The removal system on the Alt sensor for separating the OTA is pretty quick, but be careful as the sensor will fall or bang around the stand during transport or fall on the floor unless you secure it back and as that means putting stress on the frame as only one part of the securing mechanism is in place (the other being on the clutch mount on the OTA) I opt for finding a soft protective bag to put it in instead.
Do bear in mind a good 12v power supply is needed to run this and no cable is supplied. I guess at a push you could use the battery pack for the lens cooler if your scope comes with one. Once your original alignment is registered it is easy to slew to the rough area of the next star on the screen and put the next alignment in. On Sky safari best make sure the rings for scope position are turned on. Accuracy varies depending on your alignment in the eyepiece obviously, however it puts you within the general area
You can use the free software as per their supplied links, but probably best to get at least the plus version of Sky safari, which I had from my last scope anyhow and is discounted on occasion. The downside of relying on a free (or any) app is that OS updates can eventually force you to need new hardware or software as your app no longer runs etc. My policy is to keep an old phone or tablet specifically for the scope and not update it to the next OS.
Sky Safari writers have obviously thought of the use of an EQ tracking platform in their setup which Asterion make as well, but you need to make sure that's switched on before connecting to the app, and I would imagine a reset of the platform would mean a realignment every hour. Using the both together would essentially convert your scope into the equivalent of a Skywatcher GOTO with tracking but no motors which to my mind is the best of both worlds but each to their own.
I do agree the loss of one Alt clutch is not acceptable and I'm going to try Christopher's "drill out" of the original clutch tensioner. Would be nice if he happens to have some pics of his mod, so if the person who moderates this at FLO happens to get a message back to him to supply some perhaps via SLG (hint hint) that would be great assuming GDPR isn't broken by doing so.

I love this push-to kit, which I have fitted to my recently purchased FLO StellaLyra 8” Dob. Installation was easy and connection to Sky Safari 6 Plus was very straightforward.

Basically the system works extremely well. In the encoder instructions, it told me to set the azimuth axis at +4000 steps per revolution and the altitude axis at -4000. However, in actuality, I had to reverse these (ie: -4000 Az and +4000 Alt) owing to the telescope’s movement on my iPhone’s screen being the opposite to that intended. It’s dead simple to do this in the SkySafari app.

One has to align on 2 stars first. For example, view Vega through the scope, touch Vega on the iPhone App and then touch the “Align” button on the app. Do the same for a second star, as far from the first as practicable (for accuracy) and you’re away. The App allows one to align on up to 10 stars, for increased accuracy, which means one doesn’t need to level the Dob base. If you make a mistake simply start again by touching “Realign”.

The connection between the scope encoders and one’s iPhone is a localised WiFi called “DobsonDream”. I had no issues connecting. It’s a really slick system.

My one negative is not the system, but the mechanics. In order to fit the altitude encoder, one needs to permanently remove one of the altitude clutches. Ergo, the scope altitude tension relies then on just the remaining clutch. I found this not to be satisfactory.

Even with the remaining clutch screwed up tightly, the movement wasn’t smooth in altitude. (The azimuth tension only involves replacing the existing tension bolt with a modified version on the encoder. No problems). Less tension on the clutch and the movement was sloppy.

So, my solution (if you have a technical bent) was to drill out the centre of the clutch tensioner I had removed so that the encoder axis could still be attached after the clutch and it’s thrust bearing had been replaced.

The supplied knurled M4 screw, to lock the encoder axis, now fouled on the clutch housing as the screw is quite short. So, I simply removed this grub screw and replaced it with a longer M4 screw. For a “knurled” head, which facilitates tightening, I put on 2xM4 nuts, tightened against the screw head and put heat shrink over the lot. Works perfectly and I can now tighten both clutches.

Overall, an amazing system. 5 stars for the actual functionality and 3 stars for the clutch mechanics. However, after my clutch mod, the whole system works beautifully.