Harmonic Mounts

[TrevorW]

I've noticed a plethora of harmonic mounts coming onto the market - more so I've noticed two which can be brought through Aliexpress are much cheaper than the well known brand ones


one called the BH20 the other UMI


(note both the ZWO AM5 and Ioptron27Hem can be purchased through Aliexpress cheaper that via local sellers)



has anyone gone down the path of buyer either one of these and if so any feedback



Thank you

[xelasnave]

Hi Trevor..I can't help you but if I may put something forward ...we all want to save money and so price difference tends to be a point of focus but there are various reasons for price differences. One aspect of price difference is not easily seen in a transaction but I suggest part of the difference between buying from a "cheapie" and say Bintel or Testar could be written off as an insurance premium for the " decent" policy one will get from say Bintel or Testar...if you get a dud you really won't be worried about the extra dollars as your problems will be fixed with a friendly phone call...

Anyways sorry to interrupt.

Alex

[TrevorW]

AliExpress now have a very good buyer protection plan, its an option open to those who wish to go down that path - worth checking :)

[AdamJL]

The Umi one is pretty decent from what I hear. I'm on their discord and the users that are posting their results mirror the AM5 pretty much.

[Nikolas]

Umi looks interesting but apart from a discord server they should post some youtube reviews

[dikman]

It didn't work to well for me! Luckily it wasn't an expensive item. The cost of returning it would have been more than it was worth.:shrug:

[TrevorW]

I had an occasion where what I received was not what I ordered and got a full refund and I didn't even have to return the item

[Swagman105]

One thing to remember is that Aliexpress prices do not include GST which is added in at checkout and make sure that if they cite free shipping that it is truly free shipping.
I have been tempted to buy items that advertise free shipping only when going through checkout seeing shipping charged added. How they do this is by including additional things in the original ad like an optional small item that they will ship free but not the heavier more expensive item.
I do use Aliexpress for less complex things like rails, clamps and things like that and have found the quality quite good. But only things that you can see what you get and should not pose any substantial quality issues.
With more complex and expensive things I would be happy to pay some extra to a local supplier for the service and warranty issues.

[dikman]

Trevor, in your case because they sent you the wrong thing it's up to them to get them back and they know full well the return shipping cost will often make it not worth while, so it's not a problem for you. In my case the item (a timer/power board for a spot welder) failed and dealing with the seller was difficult and frustrating due to the language barrier. Their website for reporting a problem was confusing and I accidentally clicked on the "solved" button. From that point on I couldn't get anywhere, I couldn't contact Aliexpress to explain my mistake and the seller was useless. I tried to get a refund via Paypal but they wanted me to return the item - at my expense!

Fortunately I worked out that triac had failed and bought some spares from China for $4.50 for 5 (about $9 each here!).

[Emc2]

I have used AliExpress for some small things, non astro related.
For something like a mount that is available locally through dealers, I would never.
First, you need to consider the extra fees you will get charged: shipping, 10% GST, custom entry fee ($88) and there is also sometimes another fee I can't quite recall right now.

But beyond the initial cost, the issue arises when you need to do a warranty claim. Say 6 months in you have a problem with the mount, what then?
No Aussie dealer is going to process that claim for you if you did not purchase from them (rightfully so). So you are left to try and contact the seller on AliExpress - who might still be there or might not. Then have to pay for shipping back to them and hope they fix the issue for you. You then need to also hope they do the customs paperwork properly on the way back to Aus, so you don't end up paying GST again! But again return shipping to be paid.

All in all, so much risk and potential cost ,I think it's not worth it for something you can purchase locally, especially on a complex product like a mount.

Now, for some of the mounts you have mentioned that have no distribution locally, then it's a different thing since you don't really have another option.

That being said, while harmonic mounts are cool and all, I find them quite expensive. Sure they give you the benefit of no counterweight and shaft, so more portable, but you do loose on the guiding accuracy and end up paying quite a lot more for the privilege! For instance, the best price I can find for HEM27 with ipolar is $3,150 (no tripod - that an extra $500, so total $ 3,650) and this has a payload of 13kg.
Compare that to an iOptron CEM26 with a payload of 12kg and a price tag of $2200 inclusive of the tripod, case and iPolar! That's a much better bang for buck IMO. Sure the mount is a bit more bulky, but not by that much.

[Star Hunter]

Hi,

I'm hearing a lot of raves (and non) of these Harmonic mounts.

Are they any reliable reviews, tests, etc re thees mounts over conventional Eq mounts?

I'd like to work with non PC's, out in the field, but Ok if I need a laptop.

Thanks,

Jim

[TrevorW]

You Tube reviews AM5


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At9M0TdiK9Y&ab_channel=Wido%27sAstroForum