If you are in the market for a heavy duty mount for observatory installation that will take almost
any foreseeable load, and that will point and track accurately, you should definitely put the Fornax
range of such mounts on your shortlist. If you want a mount with similar performance that also
looks ‘pretty’, then these mounts are not for you; they are Hungarian in origin and their
appearance does reflect old-school engineering, rather than elegance and finish. However, given
you will probably pay at least double the price for the extra looks, I decided to go with the Fornax 102 telescope mount.

I also bought one with absolute encoders – more on that later.
Fornax made a bit of a splash with its LightTrack tracking platform (similar to the Sky-Watcher star
adventurer series – although the latter came out later…).

However, the larger Fornax GEMs are perhaps less well known. The Fornax 102 telescope mount has an
advertised imaging payload of 80KG (although they state that it can go up to 100kg) and it certainly looks like it will live up to this expectation. You
will need an engine hoist, or similar, to (comfortably) put it on your pier. I bought such a hoist for a
few pounds on Ebay and it made installation very easy
I was an early adopter and, at the time of my purchase, the control electronics came in a slim 19-
inch rackmount box. While this actually suited my installation, the more recent versions come with
a smaller, regular-sized control box. However, being in from the ground up did present some
problems. The early control software was rather ‘rough around the edges’ and it took a while to
get rewrites and upgrades – the software developer has a full time day-job which does not come
under the Fornax remit. Nevertheless, in spite of some early frustrations, it appears there is now a
stable control platform for this mount, which can point accurately with only a single point sync in
your hosting software (which links via ASCOM). The mount is solid enough to retain excellent polar
alignment over an entire year.

It took some time to see the benefit of the encoders (although they were great for setting the park
position :). Eventually, there was software to drive the RA encoder giving close-loop control. I now
use it to track successfully, without conventional guiding, on an C8 Hyperstar rig with 5 minute
subs (you can’t use an off-axis guider with Hyperstar).
In sum, I am now pleased with my Fornax mount which is now loaded with a C11, C8 and 80mm
refractor. I would recommend it for serious consideration to those looking to drive large payloads
in a permanent observatory installation.

Kevin Gurney
British Astronomical Association
Astro-image collection