How to connect to a laptop. Here is the links to downloads. ASCOM Platform: ascom-standard... PMC-Eight Drivers: explorescienti... Astrophotography Tool (APT): www.astrophoto...
Crazy that after all this time they haven’t figured out a way to simplify this process. I no longer use this mount, I actually gave it away not long ago. I stopped using it about 2 years ago. Now…I use the ZWO Seestar. Lol. I love simplicity now as I’m older.
Thanks for this. Much appreciated. I've just got the mount and am slowly learning it. Really understand what you mean by looking through a straw to find polaris. I don't have the alt-azimuth adjuster and so am a bit worried at the moment. Will have to look into buying one. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
I'm planning on doing another video tomorrow showing how I connect to my laptop. I'll be happy to answer any questions. For a short time i stuck a green laser through the hole to get me as close as possible to polaris..even then I couldn't get over 30 sec subs
@@daveshad74 is there any way to connect to the mount with out the wifi my laptop wifi dose not work and for some reason i cant get it to work i think its hardware some where in the laptop drivers are updated i have used a phone to tether to the laptop for wifi but i don't know if i can still us that as i will be using the laptop for the camera and mount but over the internet using a program called anydesk
@@MTX95000 In the 3rd video, I walk through the process of connecting it wired, without WiFi.You have to download PMC-Eight Configuration Manager and Utility. from Explore Scientific website.
@@daveshad74 that is the part i for got to get i was over tired getting ever thing together for it been working on the laptop so i can us it as the sec pc and control from my shed using another pc thanks for the help now just need some clear skys and to get it set up better in stellarium
It'd be great in the next iteration of this mount, if they'd imporve the Polar Alignment... from what I've read, it's bare bones at best. I'm wanting to buy the mount, due to me being a newb and the price... it seems like a good bet. I'm fairly familiar with polar alignment, stars and their positions... so I think I could swing it. I would just want it to be as precise as possible.
David, great series of short information videos about the iEXOS 100. Obviously time has moved on since you shot these videos back in 2020, do you still use the iEXOS 100 mount, and if so how is it performing and what's it's reliability like? I'm considering a relatively small lightweight equatorial mount and this seems like a bargain compared with the Skywatcher/Orion alternatives.
I have since moved on to a different mount, for about a year now. I still have the iEXOS mount (collecting dust in a corner now) with no plans on using it any time soon. Reliability at that price point is unbeatable, in my opinion. It does have some negative points. No polar alignment scope, the pencil sized hole to look through is useless, get a guide scope and use Sharpcap for PA. BUT, without the ability to move left and right..you'll never get it aligned..read further. The shipped tripod is a bit flimsy, I upgraded to the medium duty with the right and left pin built in. Then I bought the adapter to adjust left and right. Once I had all of these adapters, and software...it was flawless using APT and PHD2. I tried the Wifi and program it came with..garbage. I went direct wired to laptop. My set up weighed approximately 10lbs and I had to add another counterweight. Hope this was helpful, I'd be happy to answer any other questions.
Hey bud, thanks for the videos as someone recommended this mount and like you said, there is nothing really on here. What is the payload like .. can you have a small refractor and a dslr attached to it without any problems ? I'm contemplating purchasing this with a small refractor for imaging :)
ES says 15lbs, but I believe it can handle the 20lbs mentioned by Daniel. Yes, I have the AT60ED with Orion SSAG, and a DSLR attached. I did, however, have to modify the counterweight shaft by 6" to balance it, weird, since i have just under 10lbs on it.
Hi David. New subscriber here. I bought one of these several months ago but have had little time to work with it. Keep em coming. You sre meeting a need.
I have the same exact mount with an ES 80ap, 900Mm FL scope, polar scope is useless because u cant align Polaris offset correctly when using PS. Align pro, and u still need that az adapter as well to be accurate. Would u recommend i use sharp cap or Nina to plate solve after a rough alignment? Will i get decent exposure still with good orientations? Just wanna know if im wasting my time or not any input appreciated ! Ty!🤙🏽
@@mistafrags6113 What I did before buying the AZ adapter was I bought a laser pen, a cpvc adapter and re threaded the male thread side and screwed it into the back of the mount (where you look through), turned on the laser so it shined through the mount and I visually aligned polaris with the laser. I basically pushed the cpvc adater on the tip of the pen. Not sure this makes sense...hard to explain. BUT, it got me close to PA and with a one star alignment using plate solving, I was able to get 3-4 min exposures with guiding. Any other questions please ask.
Thanks so much! I just bought this mound because of your videos and you're right, there's almost no independent info on this mount. Could you do a polar alignment video on this?
@@attockonian I ended up getting frustrated and selling the mount to upgrade to an AVX. That said, the best method is to get a polar scope or if you shoot astrophotography, use something like sharpcap to get a plate solved polar alignment. I have an ASI Air and its polar alignment it’s a thousand times better than I could ever get doing it the analogue way
I have the same exact mount with a ES 80ap, 900mmFC scope, ordered a dedicated zwo for it. Polar alignment is the biggest struggle with this mount. Like u said withought az adapter almost impossible, Straw size hole is useless because u cant offset Polaris accurately. I can get a rough alignment while holding Stellarium up agiasnt the nose of the telescope to get my az and latitude north and polaris. Will sharp cap or Nina plate solve correctly from there on and let me take decent exposures with correct orientation? Any input much appreciated just wanna if im wasting time or not 🤙🏽
Now..I think 900mm FL may be too much for the mount without precise alignment. Heck, with any mount actually. Since you mentioned plate solving, I can assume you have the mount direct wired to a PC. The software it comes with was junk, in my opinion.
Have you looked at the Asiair pro? I use it with the skywatcher star adventurer tracker. It works well, but doesn't have goto. The iexos 100 and asiair might be the solution. unfortunately out of stock everywhere.
I plan on it. Time just hasn't been a friend of mine lately. An issue I've been encountering lately is the clutches aren't keeping the mount locked very well. I tighten them, and can still rotate the axis. Almost easily. But it doesn't seem to effect tracking/guiding. I don't have a lot of weight on it either, maybe 9lbs max.
I do plan on doing another short video showing how i connect to my laptop and APT, PHD2, and SharpCap for polar alignment. I don't use the ST4 guide cable, I let ASCOM connect via POTH HUB and pulse guide
@Daniel Velazquez it all goes together pretty smooth for me. I can expose for 5 mins easily with tracking, I had to hide the graph in PHD2, it makes a LOT of adjustments to keep it on track. My 'hiccup", is while doin PA in SharpCap, I get excellent PA, but while rotating it back to home, it goes out by 2 arc seconds..kind of annoying
Primero gracias por el vídeo. Habrá que estudiarlo. No entiendo por qué no te conectas por wifi. Soy bastante novato. Ojalá pudieras mostrar en el vídeo los cables y dónde conectarlos. Saludos.
Buddy you saved the day...I know this video is 4 years old but it's still relevent today. Thanks.
Crazy that after all this time they haven’t figured out a way to simplify this process. I no longer use this mount, I actually gave it away not long ago. I stopped using it about 2 years ago. Now…I use the ZWO Seestar. Lol. I love simplicity now as I’m older.
David, great series of videos. Would you share where you bought your mount?
I bought it from Explore Scientific about 2 years ago.
Thanks for this. Much appreciated. I've just got the mount and am slowly learning it. Really understand what you mean by looking through a straw to find polaris. I don't have the alt-azimuth adjuster and so am a bit worried at the moment. Will have to look into buying one. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
I'm planning on doing another video tomorrow showing how I connect to my laptop. I'll be happy to answer any questions. For a short time i stuck a green laser through the hole to get me as close as possible to polaris..even then I couldn't get over 30 sec subs
@@daveshad74 is there any way to connect to the mount with out the wifi my laptop wifi dose not work and for some reason i cant get it to work i think its hardware some where in the laptop drivers are updated i have used a phone to tether to the laptop for wifi but i don't know if i can still us that as i will be using the laptop for the camera and mount but over the internet using a program called anydesk
@@MTX95000 In the 3rd video, I walk through the process of connecting it wired, without WiFi.You have to download PMC-Eight Configuration Manager and Utility. from Explore Scientific website.
@@daveshad74 that is the part i for got to get i was over tired getting ever thing together for it been working on the laptop so i can us it as the sec pc and control from my shed using another pc
thanks for the help now just need some clear skys and to get it set up better in stellarium
@@daveshad74 what dovetail would work for it cant seem to find any info on it is it a vixen style
It'd be great in the next iteration of this mount, if they'd imporve the Polar Alignment... from what I've read, it's bare bones at best. I'm wanting to buy the mount, due to me being a newb and the price... it seems like a good bet. I'm fairly familiar with polar alignment, stars and their positions... so I think I could swing it. I would just want it to be as precise as possible.
David, great series of short information videos about the iEXOS 100. Obviously time has moved on since you shot these videos back in 2020, do you still use the iEXOS 100 mount, and if so how is it performing and what's it's reliability like? I'm considering a relatively small lightweight equatorial mount and this seems like a bargain compared with the Skywatcher/Orion alternatives.
I have since moved on to a different mount, for about a year now. I still have the iEXOS mount (collecting dust in a corner now) with no plans on using it any time soon. Reliability at that price point is unbeatable, in my opinion. It does have some negative points. No polar alignment scope, the pencil sized hole to look through is useless, get a guide scope and use Sharpcap for PA. BUT, without the ability to move left and right..you'll never get it aligned..read further. The shipped tripod is a bit flimsy, I upgraded to the medium duty with the right and left pin built in. Then I bought the adapter to adjust left and right. Once I had all of these adapters, and software...it was flawless using APT and PHD2. I tried the Wifi and program it came with..garbage. I went direct wired to laptop. My set up weighed approximately 10lbs and I had to add another counterweight. Hope this was helpful, I'd be happy to answer any other questions.
Hey bud, thanks for the videos as someone recommended this mount and like you said, there is nothing really on here. What is the payload like .. can you have a small refractor and a dslr attached to it without any problems ? I'm contemplating purchasing this with a small refractor for imaging :)
@Daniel Velazquez thanks Dan ! I look forward to your verdict ... what guide scope will you use ?
ES says 15lbs, but I believe it can handle the 20lbs mentioned by Daniel. Yes, I have the AT60ED with Orion SSAG, and a DSLR attached. I did, however, have to modify the counterweight shaft by 6" to balance it, weird, since i have just under 10lbs on it.
Hi David. New subscriber here. I bought one of these several months ago but have had little time to work with it. Keep em coming. You sre meeting a need.
I have the same exact mount with an ES 80ap, 900Mm FL scope, polar scope is useless because u cant align Polaris offset correctly when using PS. Align pro, and u still need that az adapter as well to be accurate. Would u recommend i use sharp cap or Nina to plate solve after a rough alignment? Will i get decent exposure still with good orientations? Just wanna know if im wasting my time or not any input appreciated ! Ty!🤙🏽
Im also doing astrophotography with it too and maybe a little visual with family around
@@mistafrags6113 What I did before buying the AZ adapter was I bought a laser pen, a cpvc adapter and re threaded the male thread side and screwed it into the back of the mount (where you look through), turned on the laser so it shined through the mount and I visually aligned polaris with the laser. I basically pushed the cpvc adater on the tip of the pen. Not sure this makes sense...hard to explain. BUT, it got me close to PA and with a one star alignment using plate solving, I was able to get 3-4 min exposures with guiding. Any other questions please ask.
Thanks so much! I just bought this mound because of your videos and you're right, there's almost no independent info on this mount. Could you do a polar alignment video on this?
Yes, haven't had a lot of clear nights. Possibly do a daytime mock run
Would love to see this as well
@@attockonian I ended up getting frustrated and selling the mount to upgrade to an AVX. That said, the best method is to get a polar scope or if you shoot astrophotography, use something like sharpcap to get a plate solved polar alignment. I have an ASI Air and its polar alignment it’s a thousand times better than I could ever get doing it the analogue way
I have the same exact mount with a ES 80ap, 900mmFC scope, ordered a dedicated zwo for it. Polar alignment is the biggest struggle with this mount. Like u said withought az adapter almost impossible, Straw size hole is useless because u cant offset Polaris accurately. I can get a rough alignment while holding Stellarium up agiasnt the nose of the telescope to get my az and latitude north and polaris. Will sharp cap or Nina plate solve correctly from there on and let me take decent exposures with correct orientation? Any input much appreciated just wanna if im wasting time or not 🤙🏽
Now..I think 900mm FL may be too much for the mount without precise alignment. Heck, with any mount actually. Since you mentioned plate solving, I can assume you have the mount direct wired to a PC. The software it comes with was junk, in my opinion.
Hi David, have a question about this mount.. I have a scope sky watcher dp200 /1000 weight 8.5 kg, for this scope mount will be ok?
I wasn't getting notifications for comments. I do apologize. I'm sure by now you know it should be ok.
Have you looked at the Asiair pro? I use it with the skywatcher star adventurer tracker. It works well, but doesn't have goto. The iexos 100 and asiair might be the solution. unfortunately out of stock everywhere.
Hi. How is it going with your iExos100? A lot of us would like to know. Keep those videos coming please.
I plan on it. Time just hasn't been a friend of mine lately. An issue I've been encountering lately is the clutches aren't keeping the mount locked very well. I tighten them, and can still rotate the axis. Almost easily. But it doesn't seem to effect tracking/guiding. I don't have a lot of weight on it either, maybe 9lbs max.
Hola. Quiero usar el PoleMaster con esta montura. Sabes que adaptador le puede servir?
De antemano, gracias.
I do plan on doing another short video showing how i connect to my laptop and APT, PHD2, and SharpCap for polar alignment. I don't use the ST4 guide cable, I let ASCOM connect via POTH HUB and pulse guide
@Daniel Velazquez it all goes together pretty smooth for me. I can expose for 5 mins easily with tracking, I had to hide the graph in PHD2, it makes a LOT of adjustments to keep it on track. My 'hiccup", is while doin PA in SharpCap, I get excellent PA, but while rotating it back to home, it goes out by 2 arc seconds..kind of annoying
how much weight does it hold without a problem
Mine has 6lbs and works fine. I believe it says it can hold 12? but i wouldn't even try
Primero gracias por el vídeo. Habrá que estudiarlo. No entiendo por qué no te conectas por wifi. Soy bastante novato. Ojalá pudieras mostrar en el vídeo los cables y dónde conectarlos.
Saludos.
So you made this 20 min video without actually connecting a computer to the mount ? What’s the point ?
It was going to be my next video, just haven't gotten around to doing it yet