Center Balanced Mount

[xelasnave]

Does any one have any thing to say about the ioptron mount? I noticed on a utube video in the astronomy backyard "series".

Looks great and seems to have interesting features.

Here is a photo from the ioptron site?

Alex

[Lognic04]

Interesting mount and concept! It seems like a really nice mount.

But from what ive heard ioptrons customer support is a bit dodgy (and AstroBackyard's guiding isnt any better than eq6 level iirc...)

Anyway, at the price of a CEM60 id much prefer a Mesu 200!

:shrug:

[brian nordstrom]

:D M200 yes but you wont get the ease of use that the iOptron will give ,
also a lot smaller ( physical space ) and user friendly .

I have owned iOptron mounts and their software is very easy to use with tons of great features .
Support ? no better or worse than Meade , Celestron and many others out there , people here seem to forget that 90% of our support comes thru USA ( 12 hours behind us ) and they don't even know where Australia is :question: most of the time .

Skywatcher are amongst the best for support .

Brian.

[LewisM]

I have read a LOT of issues on Cloudy Nights mount forum about these, but when they work right, they work really well.

The main issue is the usual iOptron issue - software and the electronics (having been on the receiving end of a poor QC iOptron motor kit and hand controller, I can fully understand).

With a bit of work, they work well, much like the NEQ6. Neither is perfect out of the box, and expect to tinker, replace and adjust to get it to work well.

Shush Brian, we all have opinions :) :lol:

[lazjen]

Someone with deep pockets needs to buy 1 of every mid tier and above mount and then run a comprehensive test suite over them all. Far too much guess work involved it seems. :)

The price point for the mounts is interesting. Look at the CEM120(EC(2)) range and the level of mount they allegedly compete against. Is this the equivalent of competition we see in other industries where "new" players disrupt the "old"?

[Wavytone]

From a mechanical perspective its a great idea, however there are pros and cons. Too many issues reported on CN, and then there's a huge question of support here (none) if it doesn't work properly on arrival, or worse, fails later on.

Agree there is a bit of a gap in the available mounts beyond the EQ6-R or AZ-EQ6, beyond that there's Losmandy, or SW Bisque or AP at $10k. But if I was prepared to spend $10k I'd step up to a harmonic drive mount from RainbowAstro, in Korea.

[xelasnave]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful input.
I like the approach. Should be a superior system.
If I were them given the polar scope is unobstructed I would have a camera set up to assist alignment.

Do they have an Australian distributor...if not Logan see if you can land a contract.
Alex

[Lognic04]

Gee, mesu first and now these mounts!!! :P

wait, 10 grand for only 15kg capacity?! :eyepop: Mesu anyday!

:D

[lazjen]

This place: http://www.telescopes-astronomy.com.au/ is one of supposedly 3 dealers in Australia.

The CEM120 has a setup/adapter for the PoleMaster system

[Lognic04]

Now THAT is an idea! :eyepop:

[xelasnave]

Thank you Chris.
I looked at their site but the mount does not seem to be featured.

And like so many ideas someone has already got onto my idea with a pole master set up / adapter.

I really like the concept and would probably get one of these if I coulld walk into either Bintel or Andrews and buy one.


alex

[xelasnave]

Well its possible...most things are possible if you plan how to approach the matter.

You could be the dedicated dealer who sorts all their problems and takes the mount to being recognised as the best mount.

A specialist who is highly spoken of by the astronomy community for being someone who tests the product in the field and leads the developement of the mount.

I think the design is a superior approach it makes so much sence.

I designed a mount years ago that sort to incorporate the approach of carrying the load between two bearings, it was an updated English Equatorial mount in many respects.

Grendel ( a draughtsman and diy astronomer in the UK) a memeber here who we dont see much these days drew up plans and says he entered it some competition judged by some folk high up in the game and we took second prize..but being in England and the fact it was a English Equatorial I think their rivalry with Germany may have played a part in them liking it...I dont know more but I think it held promise.

So this mount has at least one feature that I see as a huge step past the standard German Equatorial and that is where it carries the load.

I never built one of my design but it also featured enormous "disks" in addition to bearings to make guiding more precise which I saw as another area for improvement.

Its carry capacity would have been measured in tons as I plannned using truck wheel bearings:)

alex

[Lognic04]

:thumbsup:



Wow! id assume its not a computer/motor driven mount though?

[xelasnave]

It used two rats in a wheel for power:D...no just kidding.

Stepper motors four for each disk via rubber wheels onto the disk but controlled via softeware like any mount.

alex

[Lognic04]

ah. The design with the discs (as i understand it) sounds similar to the Mesu 200

[xelasnave]

From the little I can see it seems they employ disks ... the size of the disk if they were gears would be very expensive...so it seems their approach and mine was much the same...maybe I should build my mount it would incorporate the features of each mount...my disks were near half a meter radius so imagine in effect gears that big...coupled with bearings you could find on a truck...man you could add your observing chair to my mount.

But thanks I am very impressed with the Mesu because of the large "gears" and I will look at it further.

alex

[xelasnave]

You know I have lost the plans...
And cant remember fine detail but I should build a balsa model and look into it more.
Alex

[Lognic04]

The mesu has a 100kg capacity!

[xelasnave]

I had a better look.
They are not cheap.
I had better start the goal setting right away.

When I can get back to living here again permanently I plan to go over board with a large observatory and nice stuff.
Fortunately I have a excellent dark site.

What I would like is eight 100 mm or even eight150 mm riplets on a suitable mount each with its own $30,000 camera and electric focus and one filter maybe two each...but to grab all channels at once...one hour run equals eight hours of capture..a dragon fly set up really...a mere $500,000 ...and a bank of computers to process...and maybe a couple of full time assistants. ..
Or I could stick with the heq 5 and the 80mm.☺

Alex

[Lognic04]

Compared to mounts that have a similar payload capacity, the mesu is cheap.
Compared to an eq6, its expensive :lol:



:lol::thumbsup:

[xelasnave]

Perfect night for photos here only 80% cloud cover and a full Moon.

alex

[xelasnave]

Sorry 100% cover.
Alex

[mldee]

Well I guess I'm the guinea pig. Ordered one last week from Astronomy Telescopes in Adelaide. Good service so far. Price was good and freight to Bris only $85. As I'm still getting started on my obs at my new home on the (dark) Darling Downs east of Warwick, will be a few months before I get to try it. Load will be a 10" GSO CF truss f4 Newt with onag and QHY9M + FW. My guess is about 20Kg. Mount does 27Kg, that's why I decided the extra $2K for an EQ8 wasn't justified. BTW, it does ASCOM and has USB and GPS on the mount. My impression is that a few souls are damning it without reading all the details. We'll see....
PS, my thanks to pmrid for pointing out this thread.

[LewisM]

Be interesting to see how it pans out for you.

Lots of details to read about them on Cloudy Nights - the good and the bad.

[xelasnave]

I can hardley wait..you to I guess.
The principle seems to me to offer the prospect of a better mount and I cant wait to hear what your experience turns out to be...that is if you care to let us know once you are set up.

alex

[mldee]

That is about my impression too. Will be happy to post a review once I've fired it up. Only problem I have is my horrendous astrophotography skills....You've obviously seen the Youtube videos on the mount, they seem to be quite positive,and were pretty influential in my decision to buy.
Just as a BTW, I also treated myself to a Pegasus Astro DMFC stepper focusser, worth a look. Not that cheap, but works with everything from a GSO upwards.

[xelasnave]

Mike if you have not noticed this thread you may like to ear mark it for future reference just in case.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=165108
Alex

[mldee]

Thanks for that Alex, good comments there for when I get around to checking the Newt. I've got a well collimated (on V-block) Laser, 2" Barlow, Cheshire and access to a catseye set if all else fails. f4 newts seem to offer lots of variables to misadjust! Luckily it will permanently sit on an 8"diam steel pier, so at least a tripod and nightly setup factor won't contribute, (just the new Ioptron mount....;)

[xelasnave]

It is a pity the shop in South Australia does not have the mount shown.
I may ring them and have a chat as the more I look at the mount the more I like it.

How I live for the day to put an observatory on one of my places.

I go thru so many ideas as to what to put where to put it.

At least I have somewhere to put it.

And I really would like one big enough to have a few mounts.
A set up for planetary, Deep sky deep deep sky wide and a solar unit...

All a little ambitious for someone who cant even use the processing software...but you need to have things to look forward to rather than designing your coffin.

alex

[lazjen]

It's likely that any photos they would have would be just like the stock photos from the Ioptron site: http://www.ioptron.com/category-s/109.htm

I'm curious about the CEM120 range but I wish there was more data out there. Here's some images taken with the CEM120EC: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/606306-ioptron-cem-120ec/page-5#entry8427356 (Stellarvue SVA130T. ZWO ASI 1600MM-C, Astrodon 5nmHa assuming the first post is still valid). That guy was doing unguided images up to 1800 sec.

[xelasnave]

Thank you Chris.
If it were my site I would certainly feature it.
It is different and so if you visit the site and see something different...well I come from a marketing background so maybe I see things differently.

alex

[mldee]

Alex, you mention marketing....
Of the three dealers shown on the Ioptron website, one didn't even have Ioptron on its website, and the other was only contactable via online and didn't have any location or prices. That's why I finished up with the Adelaide one, who at least had the info I wanted.

BTW, my obs will be 2.7m x 4.2m used galv iron walls, RO on an old caravan site the previous owner used while building his house. Basically a slightly larger repeat of my ex-Brisbane one. Two piers, the second with AzEq6 for my C8 Hyperstar and CF RC8, as well as a spare slab outside where the wind turbine used to be. Yep, I'm a gadget collector.

I'm completely off-grid both power (48KWh battery bank) because the power company want $27K to connect from the road 200m away, water (47,000 litres), a 2 BR 2B 100sqm house and built it myself with local help where needed. Fled here from the bright lights and noise of Brisbane. (Just sayin' .....).

Turn 75 this year, born in Tenterfield, raised in Drake, know Tabulam well. So go for it Alex. ;)

[xelasnave]

Here it is only 12 volt so I am somewhat envious of a 48 vlt system. I have looked into upgrading to 48 vlts but you may as well put aside $30k or maybe $500k to get on the grid.

I put in four new 300 watt panels recently but there is only a 1100 amp battery bank... I put put 500 amp hours in a shed that was going to be my observatory and home sort of thing...and should get ready for outlaying for a new battery bank..next time up it to 2000 amp hours.

But its all pie in the sky until I get out of Sydney...My Dad is down there and I cant abandon him so terrible to say I have to wait until he moves on which the way he if going wont be for another decade...he is a champion...and I dont mind ..in fact he is a good mate... his short term memory is off but so is mind to a degree but otherwise really on the ball.

And a complication yesterday the property that I really want to buy has come up..100 acres river front.. so I hope I can at least get rid of one.

But it would be perfect, darker than either of the others and has grid power and a really nice shed that would convert to an observatory easily.

Anyways nice to hear about your plans and as I said really look forward to hearing about the mount when in use...I really think it will be a ripper.

Tenterfield and Drake... some of my best stories are of events in each of those towns.

As to marketing I think so many have no idea.

If I had conduct of selling that mount it would be on my site, I would be at every star party with one maybe more and well I would be posting images here for a start showing results.

I wish you well with your move everything you have described seems ideal.

alex

[Merlin66]

Talking about "big disks"
The Canopus 320 was mounted on a SOLID 25mm thick x 520mm diameter fork disk, 3" HD steam pipe arms, 6" rear bearing...worked well.
Would easily support 100Kg

[lazjen]

I wanted to get some details as well and essentially went through the same process. :)

We all need to keep in mind that this is such a niche market that demand for individual items is going to be low, especially as the price of the item increases. It's not ideal from the point of view of consumer comparisons and competition. It's also not ideal for the business either for income generation either.

[xelasnave]

I built a mount once and the RA had a meter radius disk.
It was early days for me and although to work for visual I was not precise enought for it to be used for astro photos..it was esentially a fork mount with the disk attached to the fork where the scope pivoted. ..it housed a 10 inch that I built using two old chip heaters for parts of the ota and caravan annex poles to join them.
Alex