iOptron or Vixen ?

[Gasman]

Hi peeps

Still looking for a mobile mount capable of goto, able to carry an ed80 plus dslr plus guide cam. Very interested in the Vixen Gpdx that one of the SGL members is selling but for not much more came across the iOptron SmartEQ Pro+ GoTo which FLO is selling. Never had any iOptron gear before (or Vixen come to that;-))

Anyone have any experience of the iOptron mount and if you can use Eqmod with it please?.

Regards

Steve

 

[pete_l]

I have a smarteq. It is good enough for  camera + lens. But it is far too "light" for an ED80 and astrophotograhy.
EQMOD only works with Skywatcher mounts.

A GPDX is a good mount if it has been looked after. But you will need a Skysensor 2000 handset to control it from a PC. Depending on the firmware level, people have mixed experiences of "computerising" them.. There are aftermarket controllers you can buy for a few £ hundred that will attach instead of the SS2K and that emulate a Skywatcher mount (so work with EQMOD). But I have not tried one of those.

[Davey-T]

Got an iEQ45 that wasn't without it's problems but had it for a few years now so hopefully iOptron QC has improved, it wont work with Eqmod  so doubt the SmartEQ will.

Dave

[Gasman]

Thanks for the info guys. The iOptron does look more capable perhaps than it is although I agree the 6kg capacity is pushing it a bit. Al's GPDX has a Synscan kit fitted so I assume eqmod ready.

Steve