Tele Vue Pano-Ash Advanced Mount

The Heart of the System: The Tele-Pod Head

At the core of the Pano-Ash mount is the Tele-Pod head, a yoke-and-cradle design that supports your telescope at its precise center of gravity. This inherent balance is key to its fluid, intuitive motion. When you let go of the pan handle, the telescope stays put without drifting or requiring cumbersome locks, allowing you to move from target to target with confident ease.

This design is mechanically simple and reliable. It eliminates the backlash and periodic error associated with geared systems, providing a direct, tactile connection between you and the sky. The head is pre-drilled and ready to accept Tele Vue's optional Sky Tour digital setting circles, offering a clear upgrade path to computerized object locating without sacrificing the mount's manual simplicity.

Smoothness Under Control: The Bearing System

The mount's fluid motion is a direct result of its high-quality bearing materials. The altitude axis uses brass bearings, while the azimuth axis employs a low-friction Teflon-on-aluminum surface. This combination ensures smooth, consistent movement in both axes, free of the "stiction" that can plague lesser alt-azimuth mounts and make fine adjustments at high power difficult.

Crucially, both axes feature large, knurled tension knobs. These allow you to dial in the perfect amount of friction to match the weight and balance of your specific telescope and eyepiece combination. This adjustability means the mount can feel just as responsive with a light TV-76 and a small Plössl as it does with a heavier TV-85 carrying a large wide-field eyepiece.

The Foundation of Stability: Solid Ash Tripod

The single greatest advantage of the Pano-Ash over more portable mounts is its solid ash wood tripod. Wood is a natural and effective material for damping vibrations, a property critical for high-magnification viewing. After you touch the focuser or move the telescope, vibrations dissipate almost instantly, resulting in a steadier, more detailed image at the eyepiece.

This stability transforms the observing experience, especially on nights of good seeing when you are pushing the magnification on planets or double stars. The difference is a view that snaps into focus and stays there, rather than one that constantly shimmers and requires waiting for the mount to settle. The ash tripod provides the rigid, vibration-free foundation your high-quality optics deserve.

Field-Ready Ergonomics and Adjustability

Designed for real-world use, the Pano-Ash features a versatile height range from 28 to 46 inches, accommodating both seated and standing observing positions. The two-section legs are secured with large, glove-friendly clamp knobs, making adjustments quick and secure even on cold nights. For secure footing on any surface, the legs terminate in metal spikes for soft ground, with removable rubber tips for use on decks, patios, or other hard surfaces.

Integrated Accessory Tray for Rigidity and Convenience

The included wooden accessory tray serves a dual purpose. It locks the tripod legs into a rigid triangle, significantly increasing the overall stability of the system and preventing any leg slippage under load. At the same time, it provides a large, convenient platform to keep your most-used eyepieces, filters, and other small accessories within easy reach, keeping them safe and organized throughout your observing session.

A Clear Path to Digital Setting Circles with Sky Tour

While the Pano-Ash is a purely manual mount, it is engineered for the future. The Tele-Pod head contains the necessary mounting points to add Tele Vue's Sky Tour encoder system. This optional upgrade allows you to add digital setting circles, transforming your manual mount into a powerful object-locating tool that guides you to thousands of celestial objects without the complexity or power requirements of a full GoTo system.

Limitations and Ideal Use Case

The primary trade-off for the Pano-Ash's stability is its weight and size compared to the ultra-portable Tele-Pod mount. While still a "grab-and-go" solution, it is a more substantial setup. Its altitude motion is also limited to +85°, meaning it cannot point directly to the zenith. This is a minor practical limitation, as any object at the zenith will quickly drift into the mount's accessible range.

This mount is the ideal choice for owners of Tele Vue refractors up to the TV-85, or similar high-quality scopes, who do most of their observing from a backyard or a dark-sky site they can drive to. It is for the observer who wants rock-solid stability for high-power planetary and lunar viewing but still values the simplicity and quick setup of an alt-azimuth design.

Choosing Your Tele Vue Mount

Tele Vue offers a family of alt-azimuth mounts, each optimized for a different balance of portability and stability.

• Tele-Pod Mount: The lightest and most portable option, featuring the same head but with a lightweight aluminum tripod. It is the ultimate travel mount for the TV-60 or TV-76 but makes a trade-off in vibration damping compared to its wooden counterparts.
• Pano-Ash Advanced Mount: The subject of this page, it represents the perfect balance for most users. It provides a significant upgrade in stability and vibration damping over the Tele-Pod, making it ideal for telescopes like the TV-85, without the bulk of the Gibraltar HD series.
• Gibraltar HD4/HD5 Mounts: The largest and most stable mounts in the series, designed for Tele Vue's 4-inch and 5-inch refractors. These are larger, heavier mounts intended for observers who need to carry the heaviest optical loads without compromise.