Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

Explore Scientific EXOS-2 PMC Eight Review - Part 1

Chris

By Chris
in Discussions - Mounts

 Share

Recommended Posts

Chris

Chris

Posted
Posted

There doesn't seem to be great deal of information out there with regards to these mounts plus I couldn't find any users when I asked on SGL a while ago, so when FLO recently started stocking the EXOS2 PMC8 I decided to buy one to both review and install in my observatory. If all goes well this could be a viable alternative to the usual Skywatcher and Celestron mounts we all love so much but are in short supply now days. 

This is part one in a series of maybe 2 or 3 videos. On paper this mount looks almost too good to be true for the money, but lets do the practical and see :) 

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
RobertI

RobertI

Posted
Posted (edited)

Great video Chris, looks like a very well speced mount for the money, very solid and well put together. It seems to be quite ‘traditional’ in concept (eg: the bolt and safety screw on the saddle, which I personally like from a safety POV, but is quite ‘old school’) but I like the 2” tripod and heavy counterweights - says that this mount means business! Seeing you putting all the different pieces together made me realise how convenient something like the Celestron EVO Mount is with everything built in, but obviously a very different proposition, not an observatory mount, and you can’t buy it without the scope!

Looking forward to seeing how the EXOS-2 does in the field! 

Edited by RobertI
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks Rob, yeah it's outwardly quite traditional for sure so would probably look fab with a long refractor onboard. I initially went into the design origins from the 80's Vixen GP mounts, and talked about how it was basically a souped up Bresser EXOS two with possibly better bearings and motors, plus added belt drives and PMC8 module, but there was a lot that made the cutting room floor to keep things concise. I think I got 70 minutes down to 13 minutes lol

I'm hopeful that I'll have a better experience than with the Astro FI :) 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Greymouser said:

Good video. Eagerly awaiting part two. what will you be trying it out with, OTA wise? I am curious how it will handle longer refractors...

:thumbright:

Cheers! Sadly I don't currently own any long refractors despite a long standing obsession with them 🤩 I'm slowly building up my telescope arsenal again, so I can't imagine it will be long before I get my hands on another long frac. The obsy where the mount will live would be too small for a really long frac, but certainly a 4" f/10 would fit. 

I can give you an educated guess regarding the mount. I think it would handle long scopes better than say an EQ5 because of the more substantial 2" tripod and really nice bearings on both axis. My guess is that it would sit somewhere between an EQ5 and an HEQ5 in terms of payload. 

Initially I will be using a WO Megrez 72, but I'm in talks with someone about something more observatory class. The old bank account needs to brace itself :D

  

 

Edited by Lockie
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 minutes ago, chaotician said:

Thanks for doing this Lockie, I'm currently looking at buying one of these on account of the lack available Skywatcher/Celestron Mounts.

I'm quietly excited...

No worries. Lack of Skywatcher/Celestron availability is one of the reasons I decided on the EXOS2. Also Some of these Skywatcher mounts are fairly long in the tooth now days so I feel it's good to explore other options. So far so good with it, I've controlled the mount using the ExploreStars App for Windows 10 and all went well. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
nephilim

nephilim

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, chaotician said:

Thanks for doing this Lockie, I'm currently looking at buying one of these on account of the lack available Skywatcher/Celestron Mounts.

I'm quietly excited...

I've just bought this mount & have to say it's a really good quality, solid piece of kit. I'll be hopefully using NINA through ASCOM. Lockie's videos have proved very helpful. Good luck running it on Linux 😬

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chaotician

chaotician

Posted
Posted
On 21/10/2020 at 09:12, chaotician said:

I guess that explains why this terrible weather has arrived.

Well, I managed to place the order today, hopefully I'll have it with me this week... I guess those clouds are going to be here for another few weeks yet....

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
chaotician

chaotician

Posted
Posted

Woohoo!

It arrived, after a little bit of fiddling in the Ubuntu WiFi settings I was able to get a rock solid connection to the mount, and with some extra fiddling around in the terminal I was able to expose the web interface for the PMC-Eight's onboard WiFi Module, hopefully this'll mean I can put the thing into Client Mode and have it run as a device on my network... 

Thanks for exposing me to this mount @Lockie

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris

Chris

Posted
  • Author
Posted
12 minutes ago, chaotician said:

Woohoo!

It arrived, after a little bit of fiddling in the Ubuntu WiFi settings I was able to get a rock solid connection to the mount, and with some extra fiddling around in the terminal I was able to expose the web interface for the PMC-Eight's onboard WiFi Module, hopefully this'll mean I can put the thing into Client Mode and have it run as a device on my network... 

Thanks for exposing me to this mount @Lockie

Great stuff, and you're welcome :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nephilim

nephilim

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, chaotician said:

Woohoo!

It arrived, after a little bit of fiddling in the Ubuntu WiFi settings I was able to get a rock solid connection to the mount, and with some extra fiddling around in the terminal I was able to expose the web interface for the PMC-Eight's onboard WiFi Module, hopefully this'll mean I can put the thing into Client Mode and have it run as a device on my network... 

Thanks for exposing me to this mount @Lockie

Nice one, our owner numbers are growing 😁

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
KP82

KP82

Posted
Posted

Great review.

I've got the smaller/lighter iEXOS-100 PMC8. It's very well built and has a smooth quiet belt drive. It's now part of my main portable visual setup. Very good and solid piece of kit for its price. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.