New Mount by iOptron

[John K]

Looks like there is a new mount one the market to compete with the EQ8.

http://www.ioptron.com/product-p/7300.htm

Discussion on Cloudy Nights:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/600045-ioptron-cem120-mount-is-imminent/page-4

Who are the iOptron dealers in OZ?

John K.

[glend]

The Astroshop in Brisbane retails iOptron i believe. That is a USD price i assume. So allow $5250 AUD on conversion, plus $525 GST, plus shipping charges. Probably min $6000 to your door. Its observatory only. Specs are very similiar to rhe EQ8.

The EQ8 is listed by Andrews at $5899, and that includes the field tripod/pier. You can buy the head unit alone and in the past Andrews has knocked about $700 off if you just want the head for an observatory.
Andrews has a 10% off sale on them a couple of times a year, if you can wait for that. So you might get a new EQ8 head unit for less than $5k.

If you can live with a little less capacity (34kg), the CGX-L might be cost effective, at $5399 from Bintel. Observatory or field use and comes with a good strong tripod, and plenty of advanced features. The CGX series had some early factory setup issues but that is all fixed now.

[AstroApprentice]

That's an impressive array of on-mount ports!

[John K]

That's all well and good - but is the iOptron a better mount? and does it overcome the Dec backlash issues of the EQ8.

It will be interesting to see when people start to review this mount.

John K.

[glend]

Yes it looks very nice. However i remain cautious about internal cabling feeds for cameras, power etc to the top, as any issue requires return of the whole head unit to fix. If your running external cables, a problem can be a 2 minute fix. It basically increases complexity. But that's just my opinion, it looks great.

[Peter Ward]

Looks interesting, but my back of the envelope cost calculation puts it at around $AUD 7000.00. it’s a big puppy, so shipping wont be cheap, and GST is levied on both the item and shiping, plus customs entry fees have gone up.

[John K]

I think one of the very interesting thing about this mount will be the optional high resolution encoders.

https://astronomics.com/ioptron-cem120ec-computerized-goto-wifi-mount-head-120-pound-payload_p20290.aspx

https://www.ioptron.com/product-p/7301.htm

At $5,500USD still like half the cost of an AP mount although not 100% sure that's apples for apples.

John K.

[traveller]

This looks like a beefed up version of their CEM 60 mount, which also had the high resolution encoder version as well as a "normal" version.
It performed well from what I can gather on CN forums, but didn't have much uptake in Aust (as least that's my limited understanding).

[AndrewJ]

Gday Bo

Yes and no
There was a lot of unexplained drift originally, as well as about a 2arcsec pk-pk sinusoidal SDE ( Sub Divisional Error). I believe the drift was fixed but not the SDE. For people wanting to image at a low arcsec per pixel, this may be something to check out, as the SDE couldnt be guided out due to the fact it only had about a 5.4 clock second period
Andrew

[John K]

Some more pics here:

https://www.facebook.com/cem120byiOptron/?hc_ref=ARRHx1LK-JmBGAYrtLFHaLouoJ7jr3jznQt8hNUKCsOc PAEWXEq9H2rDxgxMqBkcT90

[glend]

From the CN thread, attributed as coming from iOptron:


"Currently we don't have a support for the CEM120. The Mount with 2 counterweights weighs aprox 122lbs. Add the weight of the instrument and I would say a pier that can support 250-300lbs would be optimal. Our current Tri-Pier can carry up to 220lbs so technically it can be used with thCEM120 and instrument that stay under that weight. It’s likely we will make a Tri-pier adapter plate soon. Thie image has the hole spacing for the mount base."

So if true, iOptron is selling a mount head without any offered support structure.
Obviously this is not seen as a portable or field mount. At least the EQ8 can be used in the field by a fit individual with the room to transport it.