Mount within £2500 range

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, alan potts said:

Olly, I was just dragging a name from thin air with 10 micron, I feel in truth all of these mounts are a little bit too big for my observatory. I have just fitted it up with a little work area and nice screen, 28 inch one, and I like to sit and use my binos on the sky whilst I check things out. As it is with the AZ EQ 6 I have a nice amount of room, even if the counter-weight is sometimes up my nose. I feel any of the larger mount would throw a spanner in the works here. It is surprising how many of these top line mounts have problems reading what you and others have said, Mesu though do seem very good but again rather larger than I have space for and for a CEM 60 the wife will not need to sharpen the knives.

Alan 

You always have the option of of a shorter CW arm and larger CW on any mount. Is there really much difference in space consumption between a bigger mount and a smaller? I haven't measured up but I'm surprised.

Olly

[ollypenrice]

6 hours ago, Rainer said:

Hi,

It is not quite that simple ... There is no Plug & Play equatorial mount in the same way that there is no " Simply want tog et on with imaging " ... and I eat my Hat if there is one ... I am doing this Sh.t since 20 years ...

The phrase in green is going to save you from an indigestible lunch! I have two plug and play equatorial mounts... 

Olly

[alan potts]

6 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

You always have the option of of a shorter CW arm and larger CW on any mount. Is there really much difference in space consumption between a bigger mount and a smaller? I haven't measured up but I'm surprised.

Olly

Maybe you right Olly, then can I draw your attention to the closing statement re the knives😎.  I am still mulling it over but I am never going to be so good to results I would like from the SC 12 inch, as you told me don't go there, maybe I should sell it and put a stop to it. I could always try the 180Mak even though it is slow with enough subs I would get something. It may even work with the meade F6.3 reducer.

Alan

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, alan potts said:

Maybe you right Olly, then can I draw your attention to the closing statement re the knives😎.  I am still mulling it over but I am never going to be so good to results I would like from the SC 12 inch, as you told me don't go there, maybe I should sell it and put a stop to it. I could always try the 180Mak even though it is slow with enough subs I would get something. It may even work with the meade F6.3 reducer.

Alan

Ah yes, the knives... Not an uncommon obstacle.

Olly

[Rainer]

On 17/09/2019 at 01:37, ollypenrice said:

The phrase in green is going to save you from an indigestible lunch! I have two plug and play equatorial mounts... 

Olly

MY answer was OFF TOPIC

Edited September 18, 2019 by Rainer
OFF TOPIC

[souls33k3r]

19 hours ago, Rainer said:

Hi,

It is not quite that simple ... There is no Plug & Play equatorial mount in the same way that there is no " Simply want to get on with imaging " ... and I eat my Hat if there is one ... I am doing this Sh.t since 20 years ...

My old NEQ6 was pretty much plug and play. Yes I did have to tweak the PHD2 settings but that was just about it. In my world I call that plug and play. I spent 5 nights (40hrs) on my new mount which did not even produce a single sub. I know its all down to the firmware. I'm not dissing the mount or it's capabilities but just at this time it's not for me because I can not wait for a proper firmware that works or me having to do tests. Unfortunately I don't have it in me. 

[ollypenrice]

14 hours ago, Rainer said:

Good for you 👍

It's perfectly true, I promise. One of them has been plugged and played for 7 years, the other only about three.

Olly

[souls33k3r]

Seems like I really only have 2 potential choices here. The SW EQ6-R or the CEM60 (non-EC) version. I see strong arguments from both. 

Anyone who has had or still has both mount? Just looking for a comparison in performance etc. 

[Rainer]

15 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

It's perfectly true, I promise. One of them has been plugged and played for 7 years, the other only about three.

Olly

My answer was OFF TOPIC

Edited September 18, 2019 by Rainer
OFF TOPIC

[souls33k3r]

Can stay on topic please?

[Rainer]

1 hour ago, souls33k3r said:

Can stay on topic please?

Sorry and deleted my OT answers 

😊

[souls33k3r]

6 hours ago, Rainer said:

Sorry and deleted my OT answers 

😊

Much appreciated buddy

[x6gas]

I'm very interested in this thread...

I returned to imaging this year after a bit of a hiatus and my trusty CEM60-EC - which I have been very happy with and which pretty much delivered nice round stars - has been causing me problems too.  I wasn't sure if it was because the mount hadn't been used for a couple of years or if it was because I'd done a better job of polar alignment (the RA guiding isn't bad but it's significantly worse than the Dec, ruining the star shape).  However, I was just beginning to suspect that it was the firmware (I upgraded to the newest version when recommissioning the mount) but my new CEM40 arrived before I could properly test this and I've been playing with the new mount since...

I strongly suspect that the firmware upgrades have significantly improved unguided performance but caused interference with guiding.  I have older versions of the firmware archived so can revert and I will be checking to see what the outcome is.  I really don't know why iOptron have never implemented a firmware option to disable the encoder - that was a request pretty much from launch.

The CEM40 is a lovely bit of kit, by the way.  Nice looking thing (CNC machined, anodised ali), light, USB connectivity and it's delivering nice tight stars out of the box with default PHD2 settings albeit I've only tried it imaging at 450mm f/l so far.

[Jkulin]

On 14/09/2019 at 14:06, souls33k3r said:

You guys are not wrong with the choices that I do have here within this price range. Yes Mesu would've been a lovely mount to stretch for but looking realistically it would've been way out of budget (twice over my initial budget). 

I have had experience with NEQ6 and those Alt Az bolts are horrendous. Backlash will creep up sooner rather than later and that's something one wants to avoid. 

EQ6-R is a definite step up, carrying handle is a blessing because this mount weighs a lot and picking my old NEQ6 with a bear hug was an exercise for sure. Also I believe EQ6-R has belts which is an after market add-on for NEQ6 mounts so should reduce backlash. But the question is, how easy is it to tune the mount to minimise the backlash? I don't know that. 

The CEM60 is a beautiful mount, silky smooth. I already have the EC version which I'm trying to replace. The issue I know is to do with the firmware the EC has because unguided images are fine'ish but I didn't buy that mount for unguided imaging, it was to guide and let encoders help with the guiding but so far the firmware is the only let down factor hence the question to all. Other than that, CEM60-EC is a very well built mount. I know people who have the CEM60 mounts such as (sorry for tagging) @fwm891 has one, @Wiu-Wiuhas one too and so does @ChrisWhite who I would like to hear what they have to say about their mounts. 

I'm looking for some brutally honest reviews of their mounts and if there is anything I need to be careful of in terms of guiding and not being able to produce round stars due to guiding. I don't know why but I'm not a Celestron mount fan. I've only seen AVX in flesh which I'm never going to buy because the body is plastic in most parts. Other than that I have not seen one being used. 

Thanks

 

 

Hi Ahmed, I sent you the firmware that works 100% have you not installed that yet as providing it is the firmware then your problems are sorted?

[Rainer]

9 hours ago, x6gas said:

I'm very interested in this thread...

I returned to imaging this year after a bit of a hiatus and my trusty CEM60-EC - which I have been very happy with and which pretty much delivered nice round stars - has been causing me problems too.  I wasn't sure if it was because the mount hadn't been used for a couple of years or if it was because I'd done a better job of polar alignment (the RA guiding isn't bad but it's significantly worse than the Dec, ruining the star shape).  However, I was just beginning to suspect that it was the firmware (I upgraded to the newest version when recommissioning the mount) but my new CEM40 arrived before I could properly test this and I've been playing with the new mount since...

I strongly suspect that the firmware upgrades have significantly improved unguided performance but caused interference with guiding.  I have older versions of the firmware archived so can revert and I will be checking to see what the outcome is.  I really don't know why iOptron have never implemented a firmware option to disable the encoder - that was a request pretty much from launch.

The CEM40 is a lovely bit of kit, by the way.  Nice looking thing (CNC machined, anodised ali), light, USB connectivity and it's delivering nice tight stars out of the box with default PHD2 settings albeit I've only tried it imaging at 450mm f/l so far.

¿ Have you reported you problems to iOptron ? The more people draw the attention of iOptron to this the faster they can react and make corrections on the firmware. Well at least that is what I saw with my problems with both of my CEM 120EC2 ...

Reporting it to you dealer is useless as the dealer does not write the firmware and perhaps what the dealer reports to iOptron could be only the half of it ... " Broken Phone " game ...

[ollypenrice]

On 18/09/2019 at 17:45, Rainer said:

My answer was OFF TOPIC

 

20 hours ago, souls33k3r said:

Can stay on topic please?

Sorry, it all seemed highly 'on topic' to me. The 'plug and play' issue is a perfectly reasonable consumer priority and ought not to be beyond the wit of manufacturers at this stage in our imaging evolution. Maybe I've missed the point here: if so I apologize and will deftly disappear...

Olly

[souls33k3r]

53 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

 

Sorry, it all seemed highly 'on topic' to me. The 'plug and play' issue is a perfectly reasonable consumer priority and ought not to be beyond the wit of manufacturers at this stage in our imaging evolution. Maybe I've missed the point here: if so I apologize and will deftly disappear...

Olly

No you haven't missed any point Olly

I just want to be able to make a decision on the mount and quick because I'm missing out on clear nights. Seems to me CEM60 is a better option here. As much as I had a good run with NEQ6 and EQ6-R being the better (?) version, the backlash is a real thing and it's creeps up quite quickly. 

[x6gas]

2 hours ago, Rainer said:

¿ Have you reported you problems to iOptron ? The more people draw the attention of iOptron to this the faster they can react and make corrections on the firmware. Well at least that is what I saw with my problems with both of my CEM 120EC2 ...

Reporting it to you dealer is useless as the dealer does not write the firmware and perhaps what the dealer reports to iOptron could be only the half of it ... " Broken Phone " game ...

As I say, Rainer, I haven't got as far as definitively eliminating user error but once I have I will indeed get in touch with iOptron support.  Sadly they weren't as helpful in my most recent communications with them as they had been in the past and I note that there does appear to have been an update to the main board and RA board at the end of April this year and I can't 100% recall if I have this version installed...

But otherwise, I completely agree and gave a lot of feedback on the firmware of the mount in the first months after release.

[Rainer]

1 hour ago, x6gas said:

As I say, Rainer, I haven't got as far as definitively eliminating user error but once I have I will indeed get in touch with iOptron support.  Sadly they weren't as helpful in my most recent communications with them as they had been in the past and I note that there does appear to have been an update to the main board and RA board at the end of April this year and I can't 100% recall if I have this version installed...

But otherwise, I completely agree and gave a lot of feedback on the firmware of the mount in the first months after release.

I can feel you pain as I have had it for the last 10 months with my two ( not only one) CEM 120EC2. I knew I was buying an unproved thing but OK, I have spent a lot of time and do not regret and now after 10 months I can say it is working more or less as expected, nothing will work perfectly even some say so but that is OFF TOPIC.

iOptron has been responsive but what [removed word] me off mostly was their dishonesty. I might be stupid but not yet stupid enough in order not to see what BS they sometimes were writing and that is what makes me angry.

On the other side there is no mount in this carrying class for that price including encoders (which now work) ... All similar products cost at least double and upwards ... and honestly I see no reason to buy that just for maybe a 5% improvement ? All have problems and that is proven ... OK I will finish here so souls33k3r doe snot need to say to stay on topic  🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

[souls33k3r]

7 minutes ago, Rainer said:

I can feel you pain as I have had it for the last 10 months with my two ( not only one) CEM 120EC2. I knew I was buying an unproved thing but OK, I have spent a lot of time and do not regret and now after 10 months I can say it is working more or less as expected, nothing will work perfectly even some say so but that is OFF TOPIC.

iOptron has been responsive but what [removed word] me off mostly was their dishonesty. I might be stupid but not yet stupid enough in order not to see what BS they sometimes were writing and that is what makes me angry.

On the other side there is no mount in this carrying class for that price including encoders (which now work) ... All similar products cost at least double and upwards ... and honestly I see no reason to buy that just for maybe a 5% improvement ? All have problems and that is proven ... OK I will finish here so souls33k3r doe snot need to say to stay on topic  🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Don't tempt me 😂 you have a valid point there Rainer but I guess that's for another thread.