Hey Mark well the EQ6 is certainly a solid reliable mount, so should help. Very surprised your ioptron is not handling above 3 mins subs, especially with something like only the Redcat on. You may want to look at posting your PHD2 log files on cloudy nights some folks might be able to help you work it out.
I’ve read several threads on there, it seems like a good forum for getting suggestions. IOptron had me send them the phd2 logs before they had me send it in for servicing. But they didn’t recommend any course of action or different settings aside from the service they did on it.
What were your PHD2 RMS errors reported with your iOptron. What guide camera and main camera. Focal reducer? Focal length? I’m surprised because I have an AVX mount and if I can keep the RA and DEC under 1” I can shoot up to 5 minutes I once tried a 10 minute exposure with success. I’m using a C8 SCT with OAG at 1442mm. I thought iOptron were solid mounts. It’s on my list as a possible mount upgrade, CEM40 or GEM45. The EQ6 has a good reputation. Good luck with it. Didn’t want to go strain wave?
I just checked the log folders for PHD2 and noticed no log is getting created because I don’t have that checkbox enabled. So I can’t check history from a recent session to give a precise statistic. However, my recollection is that for the most part the line on the graph in PHD2 stays between -2¨ and +2”. However, there are spikes out to -+4 and even -+6. I have the mounts PEC disabled and have the Predictive PEC enabled in PHD2. I found PHD2’s PEC works better than that of the mount. Also, I’ve been getting my polar alignment down to under 1 arc minute. Usually, I’m able to get that down to around 20 arc seconds on both alt/az. Guide camera is a ZWO 120mm mini guide camera. Main camera is a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro. Telescope is a WO Redcat61 with focal length of 300 and f4.9. No focal reducer involved with this scope. I have seen many positive reviews of the CEM40 and GEM45. But I’ve found several people’s threads facing similar guiding issues as mine with the GEM28. Unfortunately, I didn’t find those threads until after I had it a while. In no way am I trying to cast a negative light on iOptron. As long as I stick with 3 minute or less exposures, the mount does well. It is also quite portable and I’ve taken it on multiple trips to other sites//states. I did multiple attempts at 5 minute exposures and just got tired of discarding so many bad subframes. I can still get decent results at 3 minutes even with narrowband. That being said, I’d still like to do 5 minute exposures. As a side note, I did send my GEM28 back to iOptron early on to have them service it. This resulted from a series of support communications. They replaced a drive belt, replaced the grease in the gearbox and adjusted it and said it was fine. Regarding strain wave or harmonic, I guess I might try that in the future for a grab n go mount. But in this case, I’m going to put this EQ6-R Pro on a pier. I don’t plan to be swapping out mounts on the pier or using this at other sites. Thus as a personal preference I like this mount for this use case. For now if I travel, I’ll take the GEM28. Thanks for the interest and watching - clear skies!
Hey Mark well the EQ6 is certainly a solid reliable mount, so should help. Very surprised your ioptron is not handling above 3 mins subs, especially with something like only the Redcat on. You may want to look at posting your PHD2 log files on cloudy nights some folks might be able to help you work it out.
I’ve read several threads on there, it seems like a good forum for getting suggestions. IOptron had me send them the phd2 logs before they had me send it in for servicing. But they didn’t recommend any course of action or different settings aside from the service they did on it.
What were your PHD2 RMS errors reported with your iOptron. What guide camera and main camera. Focal reducer? Focal length? I’m surprised because I have an AVX mount and if I can keep the RA and DEC under 1” I can shoot up to 5 minutes I once tried a 10 minute exposure with success. I’m using a C8 SCT with OAG at 1442mm. I thought iOptron were solid mounts. It’s on my list as a possible mount upgrade, CEM40 or GEM45. The EQ6 has a good reputation. Good luck with it. Didn’t want to go strain wave?
I just checked the log folders for PHD2 and noticed no log is getting created because I don’t have that checkbox enabled. So I can’t check history from a recent session to give a precise statistic. However, my recollection is that for the most part the line on the graph in PHD2 stays between -2¨ and +2”. However, there are spikes out to -+4 and even -+6. I have the mounts PEC disabled and have the Predictive PEC enabled in PHD2. I found PHD2’s PEC works better than that of the mount. Also, I’ve been getting my polar alignment down to under 1 arc minute. Usually, I’m able to get that down to around 20 arc seconds on both alt/az.
Guide camera is a ZWO 120mm mini guide camera. Main camera is a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro. Telescope is a WO Redcat61 with focal length of 300 and f4.9. No focal reducer involved with this scope.
I have seen many positive reviews of the CEM40 and GEM45. But I’ve found several people’s threads facing similar guiding issues as mine with the GEM28. Unfortunately, I didn’t find those threads until after I had it a while. In no way am I trying to cast a negative light on iOptron. As long as I stick with 3 minute or less exposures, the mount does well. It is also quite portable and I’ve taken it on multiple trips to other sites//states. I did multiple attempts at 5 minute exposures and just got tired of discarding so many bad subframes. I can still get decent results at 3 minutes even with narrowband. That being said, I’d still like to do 5 minute exposures.
As a side note, I did send my GEM28 back to iOptron early on to have them service it. This resulted from a series of support communications. They replaced a drive belt, replaced the grease in the gearbox and adjusted it and said it was fine.
Regarding strain wave or harmonic, I guess I might try that in the future for a grab n go mount. But in this case, I’m going to put this EQ6-R Pro on a pier. I don’t plan to be swapping out mounts on the pier or using this at other sites. Thus as a personal preference I like this mount for this use case. For now if I travel, I’ll take the GEM28.
Thanks for the interest and watching - clear skies!
Looks heavy.
yes, heavier than my Gem28 mount for sure! But once I get it on the pier, i don’t plan on moving it from there.