iOptron Mounts Pricing & Availability

[fwm891]

Mine still arriving Monday 😀👍

[FLO]

45 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

Mine still arriving Monday 😀👍

Yes 🙂  We saw your note requesting delivery on Monday. 

Steve 

[souls33k3r]

Just received mine

Thank you @FLO for your brilliant customer service and such quick delivery. You guys are a joy to deal with.

[GlenM]

Yeah, got my AZ Pro this afternoon, thank you.

 

Glen.

 

[FLO]

It is good to hear the mounts are being delivered safely 🙂 

[fwm891]

Thanks ALL @ FLO. Mine has arrived too -- rock solid on the Tri-pier!

[Starflyer]

Hi FLO,

When's the next delivery due, or do you have stock available now for the CEM60?

I pulled the trigger on one a couple of days ago 😀

 

Thanks,

Ian

Edited July 10, 2019 by Starflyer

[FLO]

19 hours ago, Starflyer said:

When's the next delivery due, or do you have stock available now for the CEM60?

I pulled the trigger on one a couple of days ago 😀

Thank-you for your order 🙂 

All the CEM60 mounts from our latest delivery have sold but we have more arriving around the end of this month. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[FLO]

On 03/07/2019 at 19:08, FLO said:

Rob is looking forward to someone returning an iOptron mount! He is itching to get inside one 🤗

Our first customer-return iOptron mount (a noisy CEM60) should be with us soon. Rob is delighted... 😏 

[Starflyer]

23 minutes ago, FLO said:

Thank-you for your order 🙂 

All the CEM60 mounts from our latest delivery have sold but we have more arriving around the end of this month. 

HTH, 

Steve 

Thanks for the fast reply Steve, can you please email before shipping to make sure I'll be here?  I'm away a few times from the end of the month and through August, from a couple of days at a time to a couple of weeks.

 

Cheers,

Ian

[FLO]

1 minute ago, Starflyer said:

Thanks for the fast reply Steve, can you please email before shipping to make sure I'll be here?  I'm away a few times from the end of the month and through August, from a couple of days at a time to a couple of weeks.

Will do 🙂 

[fwm891]

27 minutes ago, FLO said:

Our first customer-return iOptron mount (a noisy CEM60) should be with us soon. Rob is delighted... 😏 

If he fixes it I know where it needs to go...…..😥

[FLO]

12 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

If he fixes it I know where it needs to go...…..😥

If not then we have more CEM60 arriving end-of-month 🙂 

[SurfinJoe]

Basically, iOptron has shot themselves on the foot by taking their loyal customer base for granted. iEQ45, iEQ45 Pro built the market, that ZEQ25 excited, and later CEM60 pretty much captured the loyal customer base from Skywatcher, Orion, and Celestron. 

This is where someone high-up in the management must have had a smart idea of "how to make more money", and ended up launching CEM60EC at $1200 extra for encoders. We all know that it failed to take off. So while CEM60s kept selling like hot cakes, what do you do - you squeeze the market by introducing CEM40. So you have now CEM25, iEQ30, CEM40, and CEM60 (and CEM60EC) for the amateur consumers. It is a strategic blunder to create a diluted product line such as this. 

So you want to promote CEM40 (please get rid of that red color. White is good guys - that is your brand) - and you also want to ensure you get those overproduced CEM60ECs sold. How do you do that when CEM60s stealing the limelight - you squeeze the market and stop CEM60 production. By doing so - you force people to downgrade at CEM40, or push them to fork out more for CEM60EC. 

Many, including myself, have given up and gone to EQ6R (even though I have an iEQ45 Pro). If not nothing - learn from Boeing and their 747 product line. Boeing did not stop it because the dreamliner was late and they wanted more 737s out. iOptron on the other way has gone the Airbus way and forced people to buy A380 when we needed a A350. Guess where A380 stands today - end of production line! 

This is poor show by iOptron, and I hope they are listening.

[Jkulin]

@SurfinJoe I had a CEM60EC and it produced wonderful guiding, it took iOptron a couple of years to fix since its launch in 2014, but I would never go back to a SW, sadly mine developed a similar sounding fault as @fwm891 so I returned it in exchange for the 120EC.

The 120EC is not guiding better than the CEM60EC, but I know that it will eventually be a lot better with a higher carrying capacity.

The workmanship of the iOptrons is so much superior to the SW (and yes I have owned 3 SW's) iOptrons only fault is the software development, which does irritate, but is perfectly useable.

I think I paid about £4200 for my 120EC and there is nothing in that price bracket that is anywhere near comparable, I would have loved a 10 Micron but just could not stretch or justify it with my skies.

I would not hesitate to buy another CEM60EC if needs must, but will probably opt from the new CEM25EC2 or a CEM40EC2 for portability as there simply isn't anything else to compare to the build quality and as they would be portable units then would want the dual encoders.

[fwm891]

My CEM60 standard is back with FLO after the long wait for iOptron to deliver. I had and sold a very nice quiet and smooth tracking iEQ45 Pro to get the CEM60. Although I've been hit by all I can think is poor  quality control because iOptron had to get some CEM60's fast. I've not being tempted by either CEM40 or CEM60 EC or going down the SW route. After all the headaches with my NEQ6 Pro I won't go back to SW.

I'm in Rob's capable hands now hoping he can do what iOptron should have done. If the mount is beyond repair I just pray the replacement doesn't have to go back...

Time will tell.🙏

[JamesF]

I'm sorry to hear it's had to go back, Francis.  Must be very frustrating now you have the observatory all set to take it, especially having had to wait to get it in the first place.  Hopefully it can be sorted quickly.

James

[FLO]

Another delivery of iOptron mounts and accessories is incoming 🙂 

This was collected from the factory late last week so is probably already here in the UK, working its way through Customs. 

 

[SurfinJoe]

@FLO don't know how you guys in UK are getting these.. Must be a trick. There is no news in the US.

@Jkulin nothing against CEM60ECs. I am sure they are a great product. I am frustrated at iOptron's (lack of) customer management. They are not picking up phones in the US, and the retailers are clueless. At least two retailers I know on west coast have given-up their iOptron account and don't carry iOptron products on the reasons of "bad account management". I personally know the founder/CEO of one of those.

SW / Orion - well they are a different category. You get what you get what you pay for. As long as they don't start shipping plastic dovetails - they will be around.. You use them for star parties.

[FLO]

You appear to have joined SGL only to bash iOptron? 

Steve

[JG777]

Are there any Mak 150s on that Pallett? 😎

[FLO]

Just now, JG777 said:

Are there any Mak 150s on that Pallett? 😎

No, that one was ordered before our discussion. Hopefully have something for you on the next one 🙂 

[Icesheet]

Hi @FLO,

Any news on the iOptron delivery? Do you expect to have any CEM40's amongst it??

Edited August 13, 2019 by Icesheet

[FLO]

11 hours ago, Icesheet said:

Hi @FLO,

Any news on the iOptron delivery? Do you expect to have any CEM40's amongst it??

A number of deliveries have arrived and have already sold, the factory are currently preparing another order for us. 

Generally speaking ETA for the next delivery (includes CEM40 mounts) is end-Aug / early-Sep but if you email us the model/version that most interests you we will do our best to be more specific. 

HTH, 

Steve 

[Icesheet]

Thanks, will do 👍🏻