IOPTRON TELESCOPE MOUNTS COMPARED
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- In this video I will discuss and compare three iOptron telescope mounts, a German Equatorial Mount, the GEM 28, with a couple of strain wave mounts-- one an equatorial/alt-az mount, the HAE29EC, and the other a strictly alt/az strain wave mount, the HAZ31. I have had my iOptron GEM 28 telescope mount now for almost a year and wanted to give my final impressions of it and also with the advent of so many new strain wave mounts wanted to make a comparison with a couple of other iOptron telescope mounts to consider. Maybe this will help you if you are in the market for a new telescope mount for light weight to medium weight telescopes.
Tsula, thank you for sharing your wonderful reviews. I think you have the best review channel out there for visual observers looking to see how these mounts work. You hit a unique market that others are not covering. Steady skies!
Thank you so much and thanks for watching. Steady skies to you too.
Thank you for this detailed review which is showing and confirming the poor customer service and quality control of IOPTRON. I have personally switched to an AM5: no problem anymore. This is unfortunate because IOPTRON has very good ideas and concepts like CEM.
Thank you. I think iOptron has good ideas but they are not well implemented due to a lack of well written manuals and a lack of staff who can respond to inquiries with well written emails. Often I have trouble understanding the manual and the emails because they are so poorly written. Other than that I am very happy with the products.
This was an *excellent* review of these iOptron mounts. I was looking for a review of HAZ31 and was scared after hearing your review of the HAE29 but glad you were happy with yours. I kind of believe in 'buy once, cry once' philosophy when buying things so I will be greatly favoring the HAZ31 mount. Thank you very much for such a detailed yet succint review of these mounts. Much appreciated :)
Thank you. I was very hesitant to buy it after I couldn't get the HAE29 to polar align but the HAZ31 turned out to be an excellent mount. Glad you found my review useful.
You have the patience of a Saint! Thanks for the thoughtful reviews!
Sometimes. Thank you.
Great honest reviews. I enjoy these videos even if not looking for a particular product. (Im a hardware nerd) i really enjoy your scope comparison videos too. I find comparisons between scope types and sizes even similar brands of similar scopes very interesting. Thanks for making these videos.
Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving.
Clear skies,
Chris
Chris: Thank you. These kinds of videos are hard to make but I enjoy making them. So, I'm glad you liked it. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. Take care.
Hiking with an 8" telescope rig? That's adventurous!
I won't be doing that again!
Hi Tsula! Greetings from Tokyo. Thank you so much for the insightful analyses/comparisons. After watching your video, I rushed to a local iOptron distributor and purchased the HAZ31 this afternoon. I plan to haul it up to the top of Mt. Fuji next summer!!! I had been hesitant about taking a telescope on long mountaineering projects due equatorial mount counter weight burden. Kudos to the iOptron team for their great design and engineering!
Love your channel, and good luck with your HomeDome project.
Clear skies!
Gene
Hello Gene: Thank you. Hiking up Mt. Fuji with your HAZ31 sounds awesome! I would love to do something like that. What telescope will you put on it? It about killed me to lug my HAZ31 and my 8" SCT just one mile into the Santa Cruz Mountains. You must have something much lighter than that. And yes hoorah for iOptron for making this lightweight option available to people who like to travel with their telescopes without the burden of a counterweight.
Hello Tsula, great video review, very helpful!
I seriously consider purchasing the HAZ31 mount, as from the description and specs, it seems to be perfect for my intended use profile. However, I am worried about your previous experiences with the other Ioptron mounts. Also, research resulted in generally mixed opinions on Ioptron mounts, several users report they had to return mounts due to failures...as you do in this video, as well.
I am interested in a short update of yours, did you experience any problems with the HAZ31 since you launched this video? Are you still satisfied with it? I think this would probably be of interest for other potential buyers, too, there are not so many reviews on this mount.
Clear Skies!
Stephan
Thanks for sharing your experience with those iOptron mounts. I recall some time ago your frustration with the GEM28. I've had my GEM28 for little over two years and am largely pleased with the equipment. I found two of the tripod legs scuffed, likely at the Chinese factory and later a problem with a defective iPolar device when the poor quality USB port simply broke. It is the only USB port I've found that was installed upside down! Regarding the iPolar iOptron have promised for years to develop an App to control the device but nothing worthwhile has come of it. I now use SharpCap Pro instead, it's very quick to use. The operation of the iPolar is very badly documented and has suffered from abysmal software updates. I never experienced your issue with precise alignment not turning green. The mount itself has performed fine though I use it for widefield imaging with a 135mm Samyang lens and filters so do not add a great deal of weight to the mount. I am able to carry the whole rig to the imaging area and control imaging from indoors using USB over Ethernet. Hope you don't mind me adding my 2 cents about the GEM28.
Cheers,
Steve
Hi Steve: No problem. My GEM28 operates great if I don't tax it too much. It can just handle my 203mm SCT and now that iOptron fixed it I am very happy with it. I'm glad I got the optical polar scope for it and not that horrible iPolar scope which I hated. I had no idea it was so problematic. The alt-az mount is great and I'm very happy with it.
Thank you for a Very well explained comparison 👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you!
Thank you for the review. I'm happy with my Losmandy G11 that I upgraded with a Titan RA. I'll put up with the weight, as I have never had problems with it.
If you don't mind the weight then Losmandy mounts are the absolute best mounts. I have a Losmandy GM8 that is an excellent mount but it is hard to move that beast around.
Thank you for the review. 👍👍
New to Astronomy & Astrophotography so have found your channel very helpful and informative. I was out last night for the first time with my gear to photograph the Moon. Gear is simple and entry level for sure but figured it was a good start, Celestron SE4 and using my Nikon D7100 DSLR. The SE4 seems to have have enough focal length for the Moon and I enjoyed the visual observation with the toggle-switch going between eyepiece and camera. However a few lesson learn, first make a check list I did make a few mistakes. Example had my camera in wrong format setting should have been in RAW not JEPG Fine. Second lesson which relates to your video here is the Mount maybe more important than the Scope itself. The Mount that comes with my SE4 is ok but can see now there is a lot of movement even when just trying to view through the eyepiece. Thanks again for your work have been learning a lot. Oh BTW pictures although wrong format were not to bad but going to try again tonight and fix what I got wrong. Shopping for new mount is next but need to make sure it can accommodate growth going forward.
Thanks. The mount is definitely more important than the telescope. Most telescopes are capable of doing a good job visually and photographically but if you don't have a good mount both are going to be frustrating. I didn't like that mount that came with the SE8 I rented for my Shootout video. It was a real dud and I eventually had to take the telescope off of it. When you decide to get a new mount definitely give yourself some room on the weight capacity for future growth. Thanks for watching and good luck.
Tsula is an OG of astronomy
Thank you (I think).
@@tsulasbigadventures And you are a very pretty lady
@@Venomstriked4 That's very sweet of you to say.
Thank you. I like my GEM 28 but had the same of the same issues you did. I essentially live on the moon and you validated that I'm not a COMPLETE idiot.
Thank you. I know exactly what you mean; I also felt like an idiot for months because I could not get that GEM28 to work properly. When I finally found out it was the worm gears I was actually relieved. Now that it is fixed it works great but for months I went through hair pulling around that mount.
Hi Tsula. Nice review of the iOptron lightweight mounts! Thanks. I really wasn't familiar with these until watching your review. (I think I'll stick with my two AM5s, though. 😀 I really do wish the AM5 database was a bit better. I have to say, though, polar alignment on average takes no more than 5 min and the interface for it is great and extremely simple to use. No iPolar; it works through the main scope and it's really terrific. It also has a controller you can use either in Eq or Alt-Az config.) I don't know if they implemented the same (silly) strategy with the GEM28, but when I had my iOptron Sky Guider Pro, I had to point the counterweight bar 'up' in order for the polar scope light to come on. Really dopey, but they may have implemented the same thing. The HAZ31 looks terrific for visual observing! So glad you found that mount and it works for you for visual/planetary work.
Hi Greg: Thanks. I looked at the AM5 but decided against it because it weighs more than the iOptron version and I didn't want to completely buy into the ZWO family since I was never really a fan of the ASIAIR. But I am very happy with the HAZ31. I have never heard that about having to point the counterweight bar up to get the light to turn on and iOptron never mentioned it. I finally gave upon the light; it was just another cord to keep track of and attach. Thanks again and happy Thanksgiving.
@@tsulasbigadventures Yes, I definitely understand about the 'investment' in the ZWO ecosystem if you go with the AM5, Tsula. (And I know you had problems getting your Sony camera to work with the ASIAir.) Oh, geez, I didn't know you had to use another cable for the polar scope illuminator. The SkyGuider Pro had the power source for the polar scope light built in. Well, I'm very happy you found a nice, lightweight Alt-Az mount to use and to travel with! Hope you get some nice clear skies this week, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Tsula, i spent months over months to try getting a mount for a good price and finally landed on the ioptron gem28, just to say i wanted a mount which would be sturdy and have a great accuracy because i have a 6" rc telescope and by so this doesnt tolerate any tracking issues, btw the total weight on the mount is 8kg and goes all butter and when everything arrived i was very happy, tbh i still didn't know much of it even tho i saw reviews complains in forums and even this vid and another one i think abt the gem 28, however i didn't bother much since i thought It couldve been a case over like 1000, i actually struggled more with the mount than with the scope, i found it well collimated and i actually even got my first results like 1/2 weeks ago, even unguided and and with the acculign scope, however i spent the first month when the mount arrived at figuring out what i was doing wrong, initially nobody said i had to lock both gears to allow the mount slew, i thought it worked as a skywatcher one, second i always couldnt succeed in getting targets in the field of view because i used to polar align with nothing on the mount and then add counterweights and the ota, finally around 2 weeks ago after movinf around discord astrophotography servers one dude i knew told me that i had to polar align with everything on, btw i hate too the fact of the tightening know on the saddle, it scratched a bit the mounts powder painting like on first day it arrived cuz i didn't notice, luckly today not even a millimeter, then i gotta say, the knobs on the literock tripod to lock or not the legs are very unconfortable, just because is the same thing of the saddle, if u put them in a certain way they scratch on the floor, now talking abt accuracy i found no issues in my gear except for the fact that the lock switches expecially the dec one 2/3 days after i got the mount did a weird sound when moved, like it wasnt greased or idk, however i put some quality spray lubrificant in the smaller hole on the cases (the ones where if u look thru when moving the switch u can see it going formward and backwards, did this for both axises and i didnt succeed in the ra axis however partially fixed ye, tracking luckly for me is good and i didnt have issues here thanking god, still i found out to have a 20' cone error cuz to balance atm i have to put the dovetail exactly where on the saddle the know to tight is, luckly its not bad at all and so i hope ill be albe to fix everything when ill put on my 60mm guidescope, if u wanna see the pic i can drop it to you, i still don't know if tracking is as its supposed to be cuz i can't use phd2 yet, tho ill come back in case
I always polar align with the telescope and everything on the mount but be careful because it's very easy to accidentally knock it out of alignment. It's so light weight that it's easy to do and not even realize it. I have been out with the GEM28 and it's very accurate and then all of sudden nothing is in the field of view and it's because I accidentally knocked it with my leg. Ever since iOptron fixed the mount it tracks very well now and I really like it because it's light weight and easy to transport but I worry about dropping those little screws in the dirt. That would be terrible because it would be hard to find them in the dark. I worried about cone error at first thinking that was the problem with the bad tracking and iOptron told me that was the problem but the mount should be able to account for any cone error especially if you leveled the mount and achieved a good polar alignment. Yeah, send me a link to a photo of your set up.
@@tsulasbigadventures Hi, that's the setup, i didn't add the dslr however i use a canon 70D unmodded: drive.google.com/file/d/1pGSGt5-qyvcjX7P490wnsBLFXlYZ9zrm/view?usp=drivesdk
That's my first successfull astropic, 55 mins of data but without guidescope clamp and top dovetail cuz i didn't buy them yet:
drive.google.com/file/d/1pXlmAloBuekPQn8RPKnxW_u9Up54tH1l/view?usp=drivesdk
Hey Tsula, I really enjoyed this video. I also have an iOptron HAZ 31, and now I know I made a good choice. 😊 I am really happy with it too. I agree with your conclusion on accuracy. Even with a 27mm I still have to search around a little. However, after using the synch to target option once I get the object centered in the eyepiece, it is pretty good, and the tracking as well. I have a long refractor so I got the mini-pier. Not sure why it can’t just be flush mounted? Only small could be betters are it would be nice if the hand controller light stayed on, and the balance dial is too small. I got a larger one on Amazon.
Hi Elray: Yes, I think it was a good choice and I agree with you that the hand controller light goes off too soon. I have a hard time seeing it also but other than that I am very happy with it. I think by balance dial you mean the bubble level and if so, I think it is a little bit too finnecky.
that LX85 looks brand new...nice..
Thanks but you know how amateur astronomers are about their equipment. That little scratch really bothers me even though it is just superficial. It's a great telescope though.
Hey Tsula nice overview of these mounts. The polar align issue of the strainwave mount seemed very weird, how annoying. Your new AZ mount however looks very good. Ive had a few mounts for Astrophotography and although my CEM60 is pretty good the most consistent I had was the AZEQ6 just a solid all rounder. Oh finally good work on the crazy hike😂 I hope you at least took a energy bar and a cuppa.
Cheers Tsula.
Hi Ollie. Thanks! That hike was hard as hell to the point I considered curling up in a ball and sleeping up there rather than dragging all that gear back down the mountain. I think I looked into the AZEQ6 or maybe 5 but I can't remember why I ruled it out. I think it wasn't available maybe. But I'm happy with the HAZ31.
@@tsulasbigadventuresBoth mounts are... HEAVY!!
At least for me.
@@andrecoleman9549 The HAZ31 only weighs eight pounds. I don't konw of a lighter mount. What mount do you use that is lighter than that?
@@tsulasbigadventures No, not the HAZ31 but the AZEQ5 and 6.
I had the 6 but sold it and went with the 5.
I wish the HAZ31 was out then.
@@andrecoleman9549 Oh OK. I have never used the AZEQ 5 or 6. They are always on back order but if I were in the market today I would go with the iOptron strain wave. I wish iOptron would send me another HAE29EC to try again and see if I just got a bad one. But I really just want to use it in AZ mode.
I got an ASI Air Mini and ASI120 guide camera for my Vixen Sphynx mount. It all worked so well, that I just bought and received the AM5. Seems mine is working beautifully. Although I have a polar alignment scope in my old mount, the polar alignment using the ASI Air software with the guide camera works really well for both the Sphynx and the AM5. I hope you find a good solution for you.
Sounds like a nice set up. Well, since making this video my GEM28 mount and my HAZ31 mount were both stolen. The criminals had no interest in the ASI Air or guide scope. I wonder why.
@@tsulasbigadventures 🤕 Ouch. You mentioned Santa Cruz mountains; that’s where I live. Luckily my home is tucked away just enough to avoid most burglary. Digital camera theft is way up these days. They case you at a photo location, then follow you home and steal your gear in your driveway. Famous RUclips photographers Chelsea and Tony North are on a campaign to get the camera companies to put anti-theft security in the cameras, similar to what we have in our smartphones. Seems like maybe something similar could be done for expensive astronomy gear, at least the electronic bits. The thieves took your mounts because they look and are expensive. But they will be harder to move on the black market since they are a niche item. I wonder if your insurance will cover the loss? I’m thinking of hiding an Apple tag in my gear so I could track it if it ever gets stolen.
@@swagonman I love the Santa Cruz Mountains. This guy Steve Waldee told me he used to have access to a remote location up there where a TV station had their antennae and had nice dark skies up there. My mounts and a bunch of other gear was stolen right out of the driveway in San Mateo with the whole thing caught on a Ring Video. I do believe they followed me there. Fortunately my gear was covered by insurance but it is sickening nevertheless. I hope it never happens to you. You're lucky to live in your tucked away place in the mountains.
Nice video - happy Thanksgiving! 🦃
Hi Walter: Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
Another great review! I have a Meade LX85 OTA on an Ioptron HEM27EC and just getting things going and am interested in your advice on adding a modified dovetail saddle under the Meade vixen for more room to mount without fear of dropping the scope and replacing the side mount lever as it does come close to rubbing the tube. I also have skywatcher evoguide 50ed guide scope that I'm having trouble focusing so looking to replace with?
Thanks. I think adding a modified saddle for more room and replacing the side mount lever would be good ideas if those things are not too involved to do. I have never done either one before and I didn't even move the LX85 to the top of my HAZ31 mount. It scared me at first and I thought it would topple over but actually is quite stable.
I have an Orion 50mm Guidescope that I like and that I think works well. It's easy to focus because of the helical focuser. It accepts an eyepiece and can also be used as a finder scope. But also you can put an eyepiece in it to focus it.
@@tsulasbigadventures Appreciate the advice. Will the Orion accept a ZWO asi120mini camera for guiding? Or will my HEM27EC not need guiding?
@@PhilDelVecchio Yes. I think it has the 120 mini has the same size as a 1.25 eyepiece. The HEM27EC claims you don't need to guide but I would anyway.
Hi Tsula great video on ioptron stuff. You inspired me too get out my old CUBE and mine still works great after all these years! I have the orange cube but they came in. Blue pink green also do you remember those? And have you used one ? Clear skys forever!
Hi Eric: Thank you! I'm sorry but could you remind me what the CUBE is, please? Clear skies forever!
The cube is a goto altazi mount made in the mid 2000s it is no longer available.
@@ericfrizzell2450 Oh. OK. I looked it up--only $270! Does yours work?
Thanks for sharing. Cheers.
Tsula, hey I have several of your videos, all great info! Let me ask you something, I know you have owned a Losmandy mount. Do you still have it and if so, how is it doing for you? I have a total bum an older Ioptron CEM 40 EC…. Trying to figure out what my next GAMBLE is gonna be as I have some real sour taste in my mouth due to my original experience with the CEM40. Thanks much!
Hello: Yes, I still have my Losmandy mount. It is by far and away the most reliable and accurate mount I have ever owned. I just use a polar scope to polar align and then I point to a couple of bright stars and after that it will go straight to every single target every time. It's almost like magic. My only complaint about the Losmandy mount is that it is heavy and a couple of months ago it fell on my face and I had a nasty black eye and now a permanent dent in my cheek. I can't really blame the mount though. I was so dumb to try to put it away in the garage without taking the counterweight off first. In the summer when it does not rain in California I can leave it outside for a few days which is great. But I always take it apart now before putting it away in the garage. I would not hesitate to recommend the Losmandy mount.
@@tsulasbigadventures thanks Tsula! Appreciate your feedback. Damn I am on the fence of just throwing in the towel after such a criminally insulting experience with Ioptron that TOTALLY took advantage of a very serious LONG term chronic illness I have that ebbs and flows. On the Losmandy , do you know if they offer their mounts with any Encoders on them? Being quite I’ll and with very limited time and energy and abilities, I was hoping not to have to learn how to guide, which I as WHY I bought their EC model. Maybe that marketing message was just that, but it seemed others said people don’t guide with those kinds of mounts. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated Tsula..! Cheers and thanks so much:))
@@freeandcriticalthinker4431 I'm sorry to hear about your illness. I know what you mean about the iOptron mount. I thought the same thing you did when I bought the EC model but it was so inaccurate that I couldn't even get it to point correctly. I have never had that problem with the Losmandyf mount. It is incredibly accurate after polar aligning with the polar scope and pointing to one star it will go straight to every target every time. I don't think it came with encoders but you can purchase an encoder kit to add to it is my understanding. As an aside I don't think that autoguiding is very complicated but it does require a lot of extra equipment.
What is your favorite mount for visual with a refractor?
Do you mean of these mounts or any mount? I haven't tried to put a refractor on this HAZ 31. If your telescope doesn't weigh too much, I'm sure the HAZ31 would work great. The best and most reliable mount I have ever owned is the Losmandy GM8 but it is heavy and it's expensive. If weight and expense are not a concern for you then I would recommend the Losmandy. If weight is a concern then I would recommend this HAZ31 but get the pier extension for use with a refractor. How much does your refractor weigh and what size is the aperture? And do you want a goto mount or would you consider a manual mount?
Good questions. The az go-to concept is good if kept simple. Thanks 👍
Using a 4 inch now on an Avx mount but thinking about the ones in your review. Thanks for the reviews
Also did you like the stellarvue mount? Thanks
@@GaryLittle-k4w If you want simple and the alt-az is a good option for you then I would highly recommend the HAZ 31. It's easy to set up, light weight, and pretty accurate.
Marketing hype does usually does not equate to a quality product. Quite the opposite. Consider the hype as Red Flags 🚩
Yes, I should have been very suspicious about that weight to payload claim and when they claimed the HAE29EC was so accurate it did not require auto-guiding for astrophotos. But live and learn.