Pegasus Ultimate Powerbox vs HitecAstro MountHub Pro V4

[Mogfor]

Looking at a simple and tidy solution for all those cables.  I know both are expensive but would be good to hear from people with experience good or bad from either system.  Or anything else worth considering?

[Jkulin]

I bought a Pegasus UPB from someone on here, within a week I ordered two more from Pegasus to run on my other setups, superb pieces of kit

[hughgilhespie]

I have a Pegasus UPB. In fact I have had two,  the first one had to be replaced as the temperature sensor stopped working. The concept is excellent, you get a power hub with switchable outputs, a decent quality powered USB2 hub, a motorised focus driver (although you will need to add your own focus motor) and a two-channel dew-heater that can be automatically controlled using the supplied temperature / humidity sensor. It also comes with all the ASCOM drivers you will need to control everything.

For the price, my opinion is that the hardware should be better. As far as I can tell, all the connectors are just mounted on the main circuit board and not on a rigid chassis. This means that the connectors are fragile and is a potential source of problems in the long term. The unit is open to the atmosphere and again potentially at risk from getting wet. An IP rated enclosure would be a big improvement.

My biggest complaint about the Pegasus unit is the complete lack of meaningful documentation for the software. There is a very brief 'Getting Started' document then you are on your own. For almost £500 I don't think this is good enough. I have contacted Pegasus a few times over a couple of months and have been told that they are producing a video to explain the software but despite it always being just a couple of days away this has never materialised. 

I have looked at the HiTech unit on-line. It is obviously very similar to the Pegasus unit. I would hazard a guess that both units are made by the same third-party and just cosmetically different. The HiTech unit has - in my opinion - a nicer GUI for the Windows interface but your mileage may differ. 

So, an excellent idea but I think it could - and should - be improved given the very high price.

Regards, Hugh

 

[Hallingskies]

Wot Hughgilhespie said...!

My own observations on the pros and cons of the Pegasus hub are here, for what they are worth.

Upshot is, the Pegasus hub is pretty good (if a bit pricey) for what it is.  I have no experience of the newer HiTec version, but the Pegasus has been around for a while and has a good track record from what I've seen on this forum.