The Sky-Watcher Star Discovery WiFi AZ Go-To Astronomy Mount & Tripod is my second one, now with my 150mm Class Cass, the other with my 150mm Newt.
Many Thanks. Great service and fast next day delivery.
JML

Great product from a very helpful company very pleased with the whole transaction

Great service as usual from FLO. Ordered on Monday and it arrived next day. Had a long spell of clear weather to test out the scope that same night. I wanted a mount / tripod that was portable but sturdy and I could set down and be up and running in minutes. I did a one star alignment and I was away. The mount is so solid feeling and has a really nice slewing sound too. Its also very quiet ! The goto accuracy was superb for a quick one star alignment. In just over an hour I viewed 14 Messier objects, 1 Caldwell, 3 double stars and 3 planets. Not bad for first usage ! I prefer this mount than my AZ-GTi for visual use. Its a great little mount. I love it.

Was looking for a slightly beefier mount to replace my Celestron SLT AltAz mount. The SLT has a shaky tripod that lets it down. So, the Discovery caught my eye. Did it meet the brief?

The first thing that struck was how little was in the box. Normally when buying a mount there are endless boxes with tripod, head, weights, controller etc. Only three things in the box, which contained head, tripod and leg brace.

The head - it looks and feels very similiar to the SLT head. Hardly any difference at all to be honest.
The tripod - it's better than the SLT tripod but not quite what I was expecting. From the photos I thought it was an EQ5 / HEQ5 steel tripod but alas not the case. It is better than the chrome plated SLT tripod but only just. The EQ5 leg brace saves the day as it firms up the tripod much better than the plastic brace on the SLT. And this gives it the edge.
Stability - It holds the Celestron C6 ota (which is within the load capacity and a short tube) but not rock solid. Fortunately, I have an electric focuser on the C6 and do not need to touch the scope.
I tried the C8 ota as per the other review, but it was just too shaky. Also tried a Startravel 150 and that was definitely too much. I would be put the C6 or a Startravel 120 as the limit of this mount. I think the 5Kg payload is correct.
The GOTO - Going to start by saying I thought the android app control would be a real benefit, but alas I need a Synscan V5 hand controller asap. After two nights of observing I can safely say I cannot continue without an old-fashioned hand controller. Mount did some weird setup glitches with the app. Had to turn off auto location as it really messed things up. And had to reboot the mount a couple of times to sort things out. Plus, the phone turned its off which was highly annoying.
That said, the tracking was great, Jupiter did not budge, even at 240x. GOTO performance was good too. And the motors are excellent. The mount has very little backlash. Really impressed.
I have knocked off a star for the slightly flimsy tripod and the glitches with the Synscan app. However, I am very pleased with it. It offers just enough stability for the C6 and that was the main brief. It's lightweight, even with the C6 on-board. I can pick up and relocate easily. Release of the clutch and just run as a manual AZ mount. With a V5 Synscan controller it will be perfect for me.

Being new to astronomy I tried and failed dismally to use an eq1 mount, so found I got quite frustrated trying to find certain celestial objects in the hour or so I had free. This SynScan mount feels well built and the legs are tubular, so very little vibration on the right surface. Once set up using the app it seems accurate to get you in the right place, but this depends on the quality of your level and north alignment. It’s easy to connect to the Wi-Fi and the library of objects is vast. The lens tray/leg spreader holds everything securely. The rubber feet on the legs dampen really well. Vibration dissipates from the telescope after only about 3-4 seconds if knocked. There are a few minor negatives - the supplied instructions are woeful and more oriented to the SkyWatcher Discovery pack which includes the telescope body. Very occasionally once connected it has had a glitch where the mount seems to think I’m in the Southern Hemisphere and points downward, however once turned off and on and reset, it works fine. Batteries don’t last that long, a couple of nights at best. So you’ll need a 12v power supply for home use. The biggest issue for me is that the website images (on all sites to be fair) show a wifi dongle which hangs from the mount head. When I unpacked mine I couldn’t find it. I went through the box with a fine tooth comb and no joy, I emailed FLO thinking it was missing. They were quick to respond, it has in fact been upgraded by the manufacturer and is now built into the mount head, so you don’t need the dongle. This should be clearly stated as it caused a bit of anguish as I was keen to get up and running. Overall I’m happy with it and it’s great for beginners. As I get more confident I may try an EQ mount, but one that more sturdy than an EQ1.

That's my 2nd StarDiscovery mount. So I've already had some experience with the software & the payload capacity. It was used with the whole assortment of scopes I own - up to my C8 workhorse and it's 2" equipment.

Therefore I felt confident when I ordered the mount together with an 6.5 kg OTA Startravel 150/750.

The secret: Most are not aware that the FLO advertized payload capacity of 5 kg is 1.5 kg less than that of an identical mount from the same factory, labeled & sold by an also respectable US retailer brand. But be careful too: The lever introduced by the telescope tube length matters more than it's weight when working at the mounts limits.

The short Startravel OTA is therefore carried w/o any problems within the mounts specs - albeit better for imaging, because dampening times are not hampered by focussing. When used visually & when imaging the mount purs steadily and is well suited for EAA and lucky imaging with IMX290 type CMOS cameras.

There is a trick w/ alignment:

If your choosen alignment routine doesn't allow you to center on one of the offered alignment stars (because of blocking buildings etc.) then choose any of the stars from the much larger list, press Goto and align w/ the motor controls until the star is centered in your eyepiece. Then take another star and repeat. Check with a Goto to any previous selection.

And another trick for those who keep their mount at a fixed place (say indoors & watching thru an open window):

Use the hibernation function to store the current position of the mount for your next days session. When again switched on, all previous made alignment steps are preserved and the time lapsed properly calculated.

CS,
Peter

Before that I've had regular Explorer 130P, which is a good tube, but this 130PDS feels so much more serious. A pleasant OTA for a tiny cost.