Just pulled the trigger on an iOptron CEM60

[Altais]

After very close consideration and countless hours of research I've finally taken the plunge and ordered myself a new mount!

For several years I've been fantasizing about upgrading from my SkyWatcher EQ5, which is the definite weakest link in my astrophotography setup. Now I've just finished my master's degree (solar physics), and we'll be moving out of the city to a place with little light pollution, so this seemed as good a time as any to make it happen.

Although the EQ5 is a great mount and has served me well, it was not quite able too keep up when I started autoguiding. The backlash is a bit too much for the guiding to remain stable, and it is having difficulties handling the weight of ever more equipment.

For my new mount I went for the iOptron CEM60, although the iOptron iEQ45 Pro was a strong contender. Both seem like excellent mounts for astrophotography, and have many of the same features. The CEM60 is about 30% more expensive than the iEQ45, but has a higher load capacity and is generally a bit more accurate (+ some extra luxury features like integrated cable management). I think I would have been quite happy with the iEQ45 for my current imaging setup, but figured that if I spend this kind of money on a piece of equipment I might as well spend "a bit" more and make it future proof. I guess time will tell if I made the right call. What's for sure is that I'll be having soup for dinner for the foreseeable future..

So, any of you owning the CEM60 who would like to share some advice or experiences with the mount? Also, anyone who have considered the iEQ45 or CEM60 versus some other mounts? If so, are you happy with your choice?

Clear skies,
Lars

[MarsG76]

That's a fair bit of a step up.. you'll have some nice sharp crisp images, me thinks....

[wimvb]

Just saw a youtube clip of this mount a few days ago. It should give you pleasure for a lifetime, I think.

Did you get the version with the RA encoder? It has 1" peak to peak periodic error according to the sales pitch.

[Altais]

10 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

That's a fair bit of a step up.. you'll have some nice sharp crisp images, me thinks....

Thanks, I think so as well. No doubt it will be able to throw around my SW Explorer 150PDS without breaking a sweat. ?

9 hours ago, wimvb said:

Just saw a youtube clip of this mount a few days ago. It should give you pleasure for a lifetime, I think.

Did you get the version with the RA encoder? It has 1" peak to peak periodic error according to the sales pitch.

I just got the regular non-EC version, which is supposed to have a 5" PE peak to peak. I think the 60% higher price for the encoder version is a bit much to justify the error improvement. Intuitively I wouldn't expect this difference to be very evident in the final images anyway, unless the exposures are unguided. Would be interesting to see some actual comparisons though..

[Jkulin]

I took possession of my one last week, still setting everything up, balancing requires lot more weight than previously, to balance my RC8" took nearly 25Kgs. But it slews that around beautifully, just finalising some cable modifications then should be sorted to start imaging, when the nights get a little longer.

[wimvb]

8 minutes ago, Altais said:

Would be interesting to see some actual comparisons though..

It certainly would. Anyway, have fun with your new acquisition.

[Altais]

3 hours ago, wimvb said:

It certainly would. Anyway, have fun with your new acquisition.

Thanks, Wim!

3 hours ago, Jkulin said:

I took possession of my one last week, still setting everything up, balancing requires lot more weight than previously, to balance my RC8" took nearly 25Kgs. But it slews that around beautifully, just finalising some cable modifications then should be sorted to start imaging, when the nights get a little longer.

Interesting to hear. To be clear, are you saying that the full payload including counterweights ends up at 25 kg, or that you actually need 25 kg of counterweights? I would think that the included 9.5 kg CW by itself should be able to balance up to 15 - 20 kg if put at the end of the CW shaft.

[Jkulin]

Hi Lars,

Yes with my CEM60 I needed 2 x 9.5kg weight and then 4.8Kgs of weights at the front of the scope.

Once my OAG arrives then this should reduce quite dramatically, it's not perfectly balanced, but not far off and I need to finalise the cables up some more.

 

[RayD]

That looks superb John.  I take it that is you moving it around and not the mount slewing?

Really neat job, interested in one of these myself.

[Jkulin]

Yes, Ray, I was trying to film whilst prodding it around.

The cabling is a bit different as with the AZ the power cable was fixed, whilst with the iOptron it moves but the FTDI/RS232 cable is fixed, so just some small amendments to cable lengths and all should be sweet and tidy.

I thought that I might need more weight so when I ordered it from Ian at Altair we agreed that he would supply alternative additional weights rather than iOptron so that I could have two.

I'm just sorting the pin-outs with the FTDI/RS232 cables this evening as the tech department couldn't advise other than to use a RS232 adapter, but they did say what the 3 cables needed to be so between me and a mate this evening we should have it sussed and then will post on here for everyone else.

I saw on here some Screwfix Stainless Steel door stops, so will get some of them this week and drill to fit tartily under the OTA,

I really can't believe just how little friction there is and with Zero backlash.

Each scope is supplied with a graph as to how good the performance is out of the factory, I've attached mine.

iOptron CEM60EC Graph.pdf

It's going to take a little getting used to using the commander software rather than EQMod, but once everything is running then you don't need to make reference to it anyway.

[Altais]

Your setup looks absolutely awesome John!

So the dovetail works as a hub for your cables? Never seen that kind of solution before.

[Davey-T]

1 hour ago, Jkulin said:

I saw on here some Screwfix Stainless Steel door stops, so will get some of them this week and drill to fit tartily under the OTA,

Hi John, I've used those Screwfix doorstops so just mentioning that they are actually made from cast iron with a stainless steel cover, took me ages to drill them 

Dave

[MarsG76]

9 hours ago, Altais said:

will be able to throw around my SW Explorer 150PDS without breaking a sweat.

Absolutely guaranteed to.... you'll find the detail in your subs much improved.

[Jkulin]

58 minutes ago, Altais said:

Your setup looks absolutely awesome John!

So the dovetail works as a hub for your cables? Never seen that kind of solution before.

Thanks Lars, yes, to be truthful I saw it on here and ordered some stand-offs from fleabay to create a gap under the OTA, then fitted the hub underneath and made an aluminium plate to mount the Windcamp on one side and the Focus control and dew controller on the other.

 

50 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Hi John, I've used those Screwfix doorstops so just mentioning that they are actually made from cast iron with a stainless steel cover, took me ages to drill them 

Dave

Thanks Dave, I'll probably drop them into my mate to drill and tap, much easier to do ?

[Rob]

Well done you!. I would love one myself. Maybe one day, not so soon.. but one day - yes!

Enjoy!.. Rob

[Altais]

Thanks Rob! 

I'll post some first impressions after I've received the mount and tried it a bit. ?

[naavis]

Did you get the mount yet? I also ordered the mount two weeks ago. Hoping to get it soon!

[Jkulin]

Hi Naavis,

I have just written a report on my first thoughts: -

 

[Altais]

4 hours ago, naavis said:

Did you get the mount yet? I also ordered the mount two weeks ago. Hoping to get it soon!

Sadly not yet. It had to be ordered from the manufacturer, and it looks like it won't arrive until late August. Let's hope yours arrives a little faster.

[naavis]

On 24/07/2018 at 13:58, Jkulin said:

Hi Naavis,

I have just written a report on my first thoughts

Thanks, I'll take a look.

On 24/07/2018 at 14:10, Altais said:

Sadly not yet. It had to be ordered from the manufacturer, and it looks like it won't arrive until late August. Let's hope yours arrives a little faster.

Seems like the mount is out of stock in many places. The vendor I ordered it from said they should receive it 13.8. and then send it to me.

[Altais]

Hey guys, here's a quick update on the mount.

After a lot of waiting I received the mount a while ago. I've been doing a lot of tweaking and experimenting with my new setup, but I did not get the opportunity to try it out properly before last night. I can say that I am extremely happy with it so far. It is very convenient to use and rock solid. The internal cable management is also a very neat feature.

Here's a picture of the mount in action in the back yard, taken from my living room window. It's a 4-minute exposure, and the moon was almost full. The brightest star trail is Sirius:

I'll post the resulting image in a separate thread.

Clear skies,

Lars

[saac]

Lars that is an enchanting photograph in itself.  

Jim