seems a good price i'm having a change of heart lol

[sparkyjon]

has anyone had any experience with this mount and tripod seems a nice price for a mount with gps and goto..

http://astronomia.co.uk/iop-cubepro-8200.html?gclid=CMukkLamn7UCFeTMtAodBXkARg

what type of load is best to use with it if anyone knows , i do have a c8 sct and a small reflector but willing to change my set up to suit,, i'm starting to lean towards widefield views of galaxies and planetary imaging with a webcam ,

i will eventually get a big dob for viewing but is the c8 best for planets and will that mount handle

[Marki]

I think the iOptron cube pro can only take c. 5kg (11 pounds roughly). A c8 would definitely push this too much - aren't they about 5.5kg? Then you have webcam, diagonals, eps, finders etc... .

[DirkSteele]

I think the load capacity is even lower than 11lbs stated above. Something of the order of 8lbs. I believe iOptron sell this as an airline portable mount but as such is rather light weight. Some of their (admittedly more expensive) larger models such as the MiniTower and MinTower Pro will probably be more suitable for your requirements.

[sparkyjon]

thats what i've concluded, but i might even get around to changing my whole set up i'm not happy with the mount i have for the super 8 i cant seem to get the electronics to work on it granted it's 30 year old but it's simple enough motors..

i'm wandering if it's worth sticking a short refractor on a mount like that , i really do feel i'm going down the road of webcam imaging as i have bought a little laptop for it that soley has imaging software on, also i want to run the whole system off this laptop ..so a goto system seems the best solution...

i will deffinatley be getting a big dob when my summer house/observatory is built.. i'm in no rush though..

it does seem a good price for the mount tripod and electronic system thats why i'm curious about their quality ,,

[rowan46]

It's not too bad but the stated load is 5kg and most users say that that is on the very generous side general consensus between 3 and 4. Personally I think that says something about the variability of the mount. it has a problem with the dec axis loosening off but there is a mod for it. The tripod is paticularly poor and wobbly having said that this thread may be useful for you.

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4246944/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/all/vc/1

[Marki]

I think the load capacity is even lower than 11lbs stated above. Something of the order of 8lbs. I believe iOptron sell this as an airline portable mount but as such is rather light weight. Some of their (admittedly more expensive) larger models such as the MiniTower and MinTower Pro will probably be more suitable for your requirements.

Ah. You could be right DirkSteele - I thought the pro version had a slightly better capacity than the standard cube version. In anycase, not up to the job for a c8!. I was going to suggest a minitower II - mine holds my 8SE and an equinox 80mm perfectly happily. Got it second hand, but it was a fair bit more than a Cube though.

EDIT - cube should be up to a light shorttube 70-80mm refractor though, I'd have thought?

[sparkyjon]

any ideas on the weight of a 127 mak, i might change my set up shortly especially if i cant get this mount electrics running...

[Dunkster]

My bare Celestron 127 weighs 3.5kg. My C8/8SE ota is 5.0kg. Mini tower makes most sense

[Hairycamel]

I used my C8 on the original Celestar mount and on an 8SE. Both great for visual but the twin fork of the Celestar was a bit more rigid but the 8SE had goto instead of just RA ttracking. You pays your money........etc.

[rowan46]

the se mount comes up fairly regularly on astro buy/sell for around the 250 mark

[Hairycamel]

Absolutely, that's what I sold mine for.