iOptron CEM60 has arrived

[mldee]

After about a month of waiting, due to my ordering just before Chinese New year and Easter, my CEM60 arrived last Friday, via Adelaide dealer. As there is a bit of a dearth of info on IIS re these mounts, I thought I'd try and add some. Pics below and will try to provide ongoing details as I get it up and running over the next few months.

My initial impression is quite positive. It came in a sturdy metal carrying case, all up less than 20Kg to carry (plus two separately-boxed counterweights, @ 9.5 and 4.5 Kgs. No tripod, which suited me, although apparently there is a suitable one available on their website, as has been mentioned elsewhere on IIS.

Includes AC power supply plus DC cable, GoTo Hand Controller with PC input and ASCOM, etc, etc. As shown in the user guide, it comes with GPS and a USB 2.0 hub built into the mount, with cabling access holes.

Next step is to finish my ROR observatory and install the mount on my trusty pier. But that's a story for another time.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Nice .

Brian.

[rsbfoto]

Hi Mike,

Congrats.

Rainer from Mexico

[Dennis]

Looks nice Mike, please keep us posted with your results and thoughts as you commission the mount.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[RickS]

Congrats, Mike! Will be interested to hear how it performs.

[xelasnave]

Hi Mike
It certainly looks great.
I cant wait to hear how it works so please make getting your observatory up and running a top priority☺
I just came back (I am at the Tabby property for a couple more days) from looking at my planned ob site (again) and may even waddle up later with the crow bar and test for bed rock...but I am thinking even a floating pad and pier will be better than a tripod particularly when I consider the limited demands I make with relatively short focal lengths and maybe going over to fastar style imaging...
But your mount really appeals as I think it is just such a better design than anything else.
Good luck.
Alex

[OzEclipse]

Hi Mike,

Looks good. Hope it works well for you.

There is a Yahoo iOptron mounts groups. You will find much more info there than on IIS.

Joe

[JimsShed]

I'll be interested to hear about your experience with it. Nice that it comes with a case too, or was that extra?

[mldee]

Hi Brian, Rainer, Dennis, Rick, Alex, Joe and Jim,

Thanks for the encouraging words, I'll do my best to keep all updated on progress. Just got back to my Downs dark site from a weekend in Brisbane, so will try tomorrow to setup the pier with mount and 10" truss Newt for a photo shoot....

Alex, I'll also take a shot of the 1.5x1.5m cement slab I am planning to put my second pier on for a C8 Hyperstar. Going to use your "Cube" concept with fibro sheet. I've had the C8/Hyperstar for about 5 years now, very happy with it.

Jim, Yes, the nice case is part of the deal, I'm quite impressed with the overall value. I'd always pictured iOptron as makers of little "exotic" mounts, but this one seems a nice fit capacity-wise, halfway between the EQ6 and the EQ8 at 27Kgs and good bang for the buck at around the $3K mark, delivered.

[xelasnave]

Hi Mike
Good luck hope all goes smoothly.

I went to the Hyperstar web site and it seemed like I time travelled well into the past...it looked abandoned...the forum entries were so far back it made me wonder if they were still in business.
I have made up my mind to get an 8 inch with hyperstar after I soet out a few things..perhaps a mount as well...but I ask have you had anything to do with hyperstar recently (or anyone reading this)...
Alex

[xelasnave]

Also what do they make fibro out of these days?
Alex

[croweater]

http://www.astrobuysell.com/au/propview.php?view=3238
Hi AlexThis setup at the link looks good. Cheers, Richard.

[xelasnave]

Hi Richard
Thank you for thinking of me and posting the link ... I have had a peak and it sure looks great.
Certainly gives me something to think about.
Alex

[mldee]

Hi Alex,
Must admit I haven't bothered much with the Starizona website for some years, as I had little reason to visit. I suspect your impression is probably all part of the unfortunate economic experiences much of the US has been suffering for some years now. I hope they recover.

The Hyperstar I bought new from them in 2011 did what it was supposed to do, so that was that. I'm not a greatly skilled astrophotographer, more a happy snapper, but the odd occasions to use a very fast widefield setup has given me much satisfaction. My problem stems from buying too many toys and not enough use of them all.

I would think the two major factors for me are (1) My ability and creativity and (2) my rather ancient black tube C8 optics. If you get a more modern HD OTA and Hyperstar as Richard mentioned above, your results from Tabulam should be pretty satisfying. Main thing is that you need a good subject; a wide field pic of stars is just that; a lot of stars.

As to fibro: made from pressed fibrous cement these days. No problems.

[mldee]

Finally got the mount on my trusty old pier for some photos, with the 10" truss Newt to give some scale. Must admit the more I see the mount, the better I like it.
All stainless steel hardware, smooth powder coat finish, weighs about the same as my AzEqQ6 and has lots of small "extras" like 4-port USB hub, GPS, internal wiring channels, etc. Some pics follow, please note that I didn't bother attaching the balance shaft for the photos.

I did have to drill two holes in the pier baseplate to take the two stainless attachment bolts, although there is a central ~10mm hole in the mount base that could be used with a short bolt.

[Dennis]

Thanks Mike - looks like a good mount. Interesting to see the various connectors on the saddle.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[xelasnave]

Looks great.
alex

[rsbfoto]

Hi,

Looks good but



That is from my point of view never a good idea ...

Rainer

[LewisM]

Does look indeed good.

I have to ask though - in the picture you posted that I have reposted, I can see quite significant paint scraping in the elevation track. Was that how it was delivered, or did it slip during adjustment and caused the elevation tensioning plate to scrape the paint off?

Is there any other mitigation from slip in elevation like the common and traditional jack-bolt? Or does it rely solely on friction - of what I assume is symmetrical on both sides - of these plates tensioned down with the vertical bolts?

[mldee]

Just the result of my impatience. The elevation adjustment is actually a very robust rear-access 10mm jackscrew/wormdrive affair, you can see the screw adjustment large alloy knob to the left of the red area you outlined. Of course I had to try turning it without bothering to realise there were also two friction locking nuts , one each side, both screwed down a bit at the factory but not enough to stop a determined rotation of the adjustment knob by yours truly...I never was much of a one for RTFM first:P

Actually seems a bit pointless to put paint on an area that will be subject to friction, even if it's only a lock.

[mldee]

Agreed, but in another nice feature, both Dec and RA use a magnetic lock on the couplings, rather than just friction, so both axes are well prevented from unwanted rotation.
But I concur, apart from a brief photo shoot, not a practice to encourage.

[lubbdub]

Hi Mike, nice rig you got there. How do you like the CEM60 a year into it?

I am looking to upgrade from my HEQ5, interested to know what you think about it and if I can still buy one in Australia. None of the aussie dealers listed on the iOptron website seem to be responding to emails.

cheers

yash

[whzzz28]

Sidereal trading seems to sell them, only place I know of in Australia.
Otherwise you can import from USA (BandH seem to be cheapest for shipping), but import costs is roughly about the same as what Sidereal are selling it for.


https://www.siderealtrading.com.au/product/ioptron-cem60/


Everyone has it on backorder though with no ETA. So don't expect to receive it anytime soon.


I am still not sure on the CEM60.
Putting aside iOptron's past, feature wise, all looks good. But pricing seems high.
Mount + TriPier will set you back $5149 AU.
This is EQ8 territory, or Losmandy G11 (sort of...).


EQ8 - more capacity, bulkier though, and may not have the build quality of the CEM60. Lacking some features (GPS).

G11 - Expensive, but quality build and same capacity.


Decisions decisions.


-edit-
No stock anywhere. Apparently component supply problems and iOptron are focusing on the CEM40 (as per a CN thread).
Been a month so far.

[lubbdub]

Thanks Nathan, that explains the radio silence. iOptron have them at a sale price on their website, but shipping + customs will work out to A$1300. I think Mike mentioned he got his for A$ 3k delivered. It does seem to have a lot of good things said about it on CN. Might hold off for now.

[poppasmurf]

Not sure why no email replies. I ordered mine through Astroshop(which was the cheapest of 3 quotes from Aus dealers) with many email questions back and forth with prompt responses. I finally put the order confirmation in on 7th May with a back order wait time of 4 weeks. My mount arrived on the 13th June. Landed price of $3900 including shipping.

So far loving it but now waiting on a usb serial converter cable to hook up to pc.

Shane

[lubbdub]

Good to know Shane, will try to get in touch again. Could be a hotmail thing. Let us know how you find it once you’re all connected up.

[JZ]

Interesting thread. I just ordered my CEM60 from Sidereal trading.



They give a discount to astro club and society members and Paul Litchen is very knowledgeable and helpful with any questions and setup advice!



Can't wait to get it set up in my obs! :rofl:


Good luck with yours Shane. :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Ross...

[poppasmurf]

Cheers Ross, I can finally start using mine when the weather comes good as the usb/rs232 cable arrived this morning.

If you haven't already got an adapter cable here is the link to the one I ordered but be prepared for around 30 day delivery time. Good thing it worked straight up or I would have been unhappy after such a long delivery time.

https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?spm=a2g0s.9042647.0.0.42544c 4dJy8d4G&orderId=102917417947356&productId=32888525554

Shane

[rsbfoto]

G11 - Expensive, but quality build and same capacity

Hi,

I agree, but, yes BIG but, G11 do still have backlash whatever you want to do even using ¿ his ? new floating worm system.

I used to own two G11 for more then 16 years and invented the floating worm system 15 years ago, in a much more sophisticated way then he is doing it now. What he is doing at the moment was one of my first trials.

Even so backlash is still there and backlash will drive you nuts ...

Rainer

[poppasmurf]

I have now had a chance to polar align and have a short semi serious play with the mount. To say I’m pleased would be an understatement, the ease of use, from pa to star align and everything else is quite astonishing after the NEQ6.
I am also trialling voyager acquisition software and the guiding results from the mount were awesome with phd2 sitting around 0.4rms error which is around 3-4 times better than I was used to getting with the hyper tuned NEQ6. I highly recommend a CEM60. I can only imagine how much better the CEM60EC would be. I’m sure after I fine tune pa and learn all the software things will improve even more. Absolutely zero complaints.

Shane

[JZ]

Hi Shane,


So glad to hear your good results so far! I'm really looking forward to getting mine! Should be here in two or three weeks.

I have a USB to serial adapter already so that's no problem. :)


Cheers,
Ross...