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 most of the time .
Skywatcher are amongst the best for support .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 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!
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.
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"?
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.
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
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.
Gee, mesu first and now these mounts!!!
wait, 10 grand for only 15kg capacity?! Mesu anyday!
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.
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
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
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave
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
Wow! id assume its not a computer/motor driven mount though?
ah. The design with the discs (as i understand it) sounds similar to the Mesu 200
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.
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.☺
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.
Compared to mounts that have a similar payload capacity, the mesu is cheap.
Compared to an eq6, its expensive
Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave
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 chanels at once...one hour run equals eight hours of capture..a dragon fly set up really...a mere $100,000 ...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.☺
M200 yes but you wont get the ease of use that the iOptron will give ,
most of the time . 
Mesu anyday!
