IOptron iEQ45 pro OR Skywatcher EQ6-R

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

I just got an eq6 r pro and I’m over the moon with it, also because it was already stretching my budget. Didn’t know about the cem60 when I bought it to be honest, but I’m not gonna return the eq6. I like the large community it has, comes with the tripod and I like EQMod (although I’ve heard the software on ioptron is great as well).

I know it sounds really silly but the carry handle is an awesome feature. I regularly go in the car with the setup and carrying it around is really ‘easy’, for a mount this heavy. 

Anyway, it’s great to read you are already investing in a mount this size, so you won’t have to upgrade in the coming 10 years if at all  

 

edit: typo

[waylander]

I should have said the cem60 is £2k with the tripod - unless we can get over the phone discount as you imply? Could be worth a try if there's a bit of a saving there.

[Jkulin]

I think Ian is back next week, have a chat with him, he's really friendly, a bit difficult to get through to him as his answer phone switches over when he is on the phone, but he truly cares and wants to help.

To be truthful if you are mechanically minded and have a SW tripod, you only need to drill two holes 130mm apart and tap a thread, I can tell you later on what size and type if it would help.

[waylander]

2 hours ago, Jkulin said:

I think Ian is back next week, have a chat with him, he's really friendly, a bit difficult to get through to him as his answer phone switches over when he is on the phone, but he truly cares and wants to help.

To be truthful if you are mechanically minded and have a SW tripod, you only need to drill two holes 130mm apart and tap a thread, I can tell you later on what size and type if it would help.

Currently I’m limited to using a completely unusable camera tripod! ?

[Jkulin]

Have you thought about a permanent pier using concrete building blocks and then use an Altair pier plate?

If not and you have some engineering friends then I could send the drawings over of my permanent metal pier.

[waylander]

No it’s gotta be a tripod I’m afraid. At least for now. We will be moving house in a year or two so not worth anything permanent. Though, this could be an option in future. Good idea!

[waylander]

I took your advice and spoke to Ian at Altair. He confirmed what I’ve read about the 45 pro being a great mount so I’ve ordered one with the tri pier. Hoping to hear something next week - thanks all for your help. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me again!!

[Jkulin]

If it is anything like my CEM60EC then you are going to be in for a really big cheesy grin, I expected that it would take me a few sessions to understand and get it right, but straight out of the box it has worked perfectly. Last night after reading one of @ollypenrice threads about running his Mesu 200 I switched to 5 sec exposures in PHD2 and the graph was a virtual flat line and stars were perfectly round with 20 min exposures with average seeing and LP from Wolverhampton. I just wish I had invested earlier in the iOptron.

[The Admiral]

On 06/09/2018 at 21:19, waylander said:

He confirmed what I’ve read about the 45 pro being a great mount so I’ve ordered one with the tri pier.

Sort of thinking about getting one myself, so an early impressions report would be useful.

I'd expect to be using the 'Polar Iterate Align' function as I can't see Polaris, so if anyone has any views on that I'd be pleased to hear.

Ian

[waylander]

yep ill report back - should be here end of next week with any luck

[The Admiral]

5 minutes ago, waylander said:

yep ill report back - should be here end of next week with any luck

I see it's currently on a 45 day back-order!

Ian

[waylander]

On 14/09/2018 at 10:47, The Admiral said:

I see it's currently on a 45 day back-order!

Ian

Apparently i just got in before that kicked in. Should be here within a week (famous last words!).

[waylander]

Right. So mount arrived last week. Been reading the manual over the past few days and got the gps up and running, mounted and balanced my scope and camera etc. Then tonight took it out to do my first ever polar alignment. Unfortunately the reticle led that screws into the polar scope just won’t screw into the barrel. It appears at first sight that the collar for the bubble level is misaligned and stopping me being able to get the reticle barrel aligned for the screw thread. So tomorrow I’m gonna loosen the collar and see if that helps. Don’t know what else to do - didn’t think I’d be stumped this early!

 

Any advice greatly appreciated!

[Wiu-Wiu]

I just got the very same mount and tri-pier delivered this week. 

Haven’t taken it out yet but tried mounting it indoors. 

First feel: looks sturdy, QUIET, the controls look pretty easy once you get the hang of the new menu (I now have 3 goto mounts and every one has a different menu)

the polarscope illumination is the only thing that I think they could have done MUCH better. I am not planning to use it as a permanent setup so I will have to align every time. The illumination looks like it’s gonna break off real soon. It screws into the side of the polar scope like a crosshair EP illumination. and you can’t leave it there because the protective cap won’t fit over it. 

For your question: you’ll need to turn the RA axis so the bubble level on the polarscope is leveled. (Counterclockwise) Only then you can polar align properly. 

I hope to be able to set up soon, and test the functionality for visual and photographic use. 

Please keep us posted!

[Jkulin]

I use a Polemaster on my 60EC and coudln't think about using the polarscope.

[Wiu-Wiu]

I have that too but someone told me he sold his after buying this mount because the polar alignment is so good he didn’t even use it anymore. If that is true, I can leave mine on the EQ 6 as I can’t use it on both mounts once I screw the adapter on it.

[Jkulin]

I have never used the hand control preferring to use the laptop direct

[Davey-T]

3 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

I use a Polemaster on my 60EC and coudln't think about using the polarscope.

Polar scope works fine and it's "free", I have found that polar alignment routines can disagree with each other but that's not surprising as we're trying to aim a 6" tube at something around 400 light years away.

Dave

[ollypenrice]

One way of describing iOptron is to say that they are continually improving their products. The other is to say that they don't test them properly before releasing them in the first place.

Olly

[Davey-T]

4 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

One way of describing iOptron is to say that they are continually improving their products. The other is to say that they don't test them properly before releasing them in the first place.

Olly

Some things need improving, like SW bendy bolts 

Dave

[The Admiral]

On 18/10/2018 at 19:50, waylander said:

Right. So mount arrived last week. Been reading the manual over the past few days and got the gps up and running, mounted and balanced my scope and camera etc. Then tonight took it out to do my first ever polar alignment. Unfortunately the reticle led that screws into the polar scope just won’t screw into the barrel. It appears at first sight that the collar for the bubble level is misaligned and stopping me being able to get the reticle barrel aligned for the screw thread. So tomorrow I’m gonna loosen the collar and see if that helps. Don’t know what else to do - didn’t think I’d be stumped this early!

 

Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

20 hours ago, Wiu-Wiu said:

I just got the very same mount and tri-pier delivered this week. 

Haven’t taken it out yet but tried mounting it indoors. 

First feel: looks sturdy, QUIET, the controls look pretty easy once you get the hang of the new menu (I now have 3 goto mounts and every one has a different menu)

the polarscope illumination is the only thing that I think they could have done MUCH better. I am not planning to use it as a permanent setup so I will have to align every time. The illumination looks like it’s gonna break off real soon. It screws into the side of the polar scope like a crosshair EP illumination. and you can’t leave it there because the protective cap won’t fit over it. 

For your question: you’ll need to turn the RA axis so the bubble level on the polarscope is leveled. (Counterclockwise) Only then you can polar align properly. 

I hope to be able to set up soon, and test the functionality for visual and photographic use. 

Please keep us posted!

For any of you guys using the iEQ45PRO, what extra does the tri-pier bring to the party above the standard 2" tripod? Presumably the tri-pier is more rigid, but does it in practice make that much difference? I guess for 'only' 150 quid extra there's not a lot to lose.

Ian

[Wiu-Wiu]

I chose the tri-pier because I have a rather long apo triplet. The glass in the front is quite heavy and when I balance it, I need to shift it backwards pretty much, which causes the camera to run into the normal tripod legs when I image too high. 

A pier gives me more space and peace of mind  

[The Admiral]

13 minutes ago, Wiu-Wiu said:

I chose the tri-pier because I have a rather long apo triplet. The glass in the front is quite heavy and when I balance it, I need to shift it backwards pretty much, which causes the camera to run into the normal tripod legs when I image too high. 

A pier gives me more space and peace of mind  

Thanks Wiu-Wiu. I see you have the Lacerta MGEN, how well does that work with the mount? Or perhaps you haven't had time to try it yet .

Ian

[Wiu-Wiu]

I haven't tried it yet, but it works wonders on my EQ6, I couldn't imagine taking photo's without it. MGEN + DSLR is a perfect mariage  .

I did read somewhere that I should reduce the agressiveness with the Ioptron, because the mount is so good (and has built in PEC), I would be chasing the seeing conditions. 

I usually don't image from home (LP hell) but I will start testing after the full moon. 

[waylander]

Managed to sort my issue out by loosening the bubble level collar and moving it forward a fraction of a mm just so the led reticle thread is more available. It now screws in without issue. Haven't had time to test everything yet as its very cloudy at the moment. 

 

Clear skies.