I started with the AZGTi in Alt-az mode as intended, but then I converted into an EQ mount, like you did. I would rank it as C, because of not so great tracking- which could be only specific to my sample , although being so cheap and that I made some images with it on low focal length, I'd rank it as a B minus. See, just changed my mind in one post LOL! I don't particularly recommend it to beginners, because the modifications it needs and downloading new firmware etc, I usually steer people to the adventurer instead, which is basically the same thing, but actually was intended for EQ- star tracking and no modifications needed. Currently using the EQ-6R pro, and it's excellent in many ways, but the weight of it is starting to get to me. I don't like to leave it outside even if it's covered, because of humidity and moisture started to effect it and needed lubrication. Meanwhile I had an injury to my right elbow, and lifting things is no longer easy and not recommended, and this metal dinosaur is not helping with it. I'll keep it of course, but I'm also thinking getting a smaller mount and I'm leaning towards iOptron too. Just for those 3-4hrs night imaging, since that's all I'm getting lately. Maybe the CEM26? I don't need 100% perfect tracking, I'd be using a short focal length refractor with it. Skywatcher needs to come out with a mid-range mount, because what they have is either obsolete or too cheap or too expensive. No middle of the road really, the new SW GTI is not a step forward with its 11lb max capacity, it's more like an AZGTI reinvented as an EQ mount. I hope SW is reading youtube, LOL, Hey! give us a mount for $800-1000 that tracks good and newer tech!
What a great video! My first was an all in one Celestron Edge HD 8" with the fork alt-az mount, used it mainly for visual. Next mount was a Celestron CGEM 2 with the same Edge HD 8" OTA that I added a losmandy dovetail to adapt to the mount. I then sold the Edge HD and bought a SW Esprit 100 refractor andalso sold the CGEM 2 and am currently using a Saxon AZ-EQ6 GT mount on a Berlebach Planet tripod. So far, so good as this mount has a direct USB connection vs. USB to serial via the hand controller on the CGEM 2. Your guide on removing backlash really helped me dial in the mount so a big thank you for that one!
I have a losmandy gm811g, and I love it. You do need to adjust the worm tension between cold and warm seasons, but after that it just works. The support is excellent, the first time I called for support I spoke with the owner / inventor and he guided me through an adjustment.
I've always believed that astrophotographers should always have two mounts - the workhorse that caters to the endgame gear, and the practical, tough-as-nails, off-grid-capable trackers (the StarAdventurer GTi as the upper bound, and the SWSA 2i or the iOptron SGP as the lower) for those nights where you want to do widefield on the side, when you're very limited in terms of the gear you can carry (going on a plane, hiking up a mountain), or for those very chill sessions where it's more for starshine soaking than getting data. I really need a starshine soaking session soon. The weather hasn't been kind for months already =|
My first scope mount was made in 1967 when I was barely a teenager, some 1-1/2” galvanized pipe fittings attached to a 4x4 wood post. It held my square-tube 6” Newt with a home-made Edmund mirror. Many years passed and then I bought a used Takahashi EM-2 in 1998. This was the first “real” mount for me and it allowed astrophotography. The next ten years were a dark time and I wasted way too much money on this hobby. I ended up with a Paramount ME in a permanent obsy - a beautiful mount that couldn’t be moved. In 2016 I moved and sold all the obsy gear. My new rig was a CEM60 and I still own it today.
I bought the Vixen SXD2 for imaging a year or so ago after looking at the options. It was more expensive than the alternatives in Europe, but I wanted the assurance of Japanese manufacturing quality and control. So far it has been great, worked right out of the box with Asi Air Pro, from +40C in Saudi to -10C in Helsinki, go-to and tracking are excellent, and I love the Starbook 10. Currently have a 90mm TS CF Apo and FMA 180 mm guidescope, tracks better than 0.4 arc sec on a good night. Also love the offset head design which means light counterweights and relatively portable!
Living with a very restricted sky views in the city (house totally obscures the celestial pole) I have settled on an iOptron AZ Mount Pro - which is a dream to set up now. I also set up with a modded iOptron tri-pier (replaced the stainless steel legs for longer sections which was a cheaper solution than adding the official mount extension). My next mount if I move house will be the CEM70 probably. I do also have an AZGTi which was a kind of gateway for me staying with AZ technology. I should add I’m heavily into high-speed lucky imaging … for small deep sky objects and planetary.
That is awesome! I wish mount manufacturers would have an expensive option with truly high precision worms... And not just encoders like what iOptron does.
Vixen for the win! I try to tell everyone how great vixen mounts are. My SXP works near flawlessly with excellent tracking. I am installing a 10 micron mount in my observatory but I will continue to use my SXP outside of the dome and if it ever dies or breaks I won't hesitate to get another one. So far it has been the best mount I've ever had. Love it!
Hey Cuiv! I currently have an AP mount, which I bought manual but gradually motorised when I started imaging, and I love it to bits. It's my favorite piece of equipment with its companion SD81S OTA. Yes, framing objects precisely on multi-night projects is a bit of a chore but as a mobile astronomer the AP is an absolute joy to use for both visual and imaging. With the "spare" manual modules I've made an APZ which is my manual "even more grab'n'go" mount… In my still limited experience, Vixen stuff really kills it, and I can only say that you've stoked the fire for an SXD2! Thanks for the comparo!!
Only after watching one of your videos, I purchased AZ-EQ5 about a year ago. I am so happy with it. And you doubled my happiness and confidence by giving it 'B' or as you also said "Almost A' rank. BTW, thanks for all your videos Cuiv 😊👍
Thank you for the video Cuiv! Good one! I have EQ6-R Pro and after about 2 years I had to deal with backlash. I watched your video and adjusted by backlash- thank you for that. I do not have much experience on mounts like you, but I am looking for my next mount now. I saw 75kg capacity Trident JTW mount. It would be a good video to see how it works. Not so many of them in existence yet. It costs only (!!!) 3,500 euros and it is cheap for that capacity and class. Thank you again!
Thanks for a fun video. I was suprised to see that your first mount was the Meade LT6. I have just started out with astrophotography, and as I try not to spend too much, I ended up with an old Meade LT8 mount - but without the Meade tube - I managed to 3d print a connector so I am able to put on it anything I want - and I use an old William Optics ZS 70 refractor with SVBONY SV705c camera, and get really nice results. With alt-az tracking I easily get very stable 16 seconds per frame in this setup. I really like this LT8 mount and as it can work also in EQ mode, I am thinking about building a wedge for it...
Hey Cuiv. A great and instructive video just like all others. I will just like to add a final note regarding sky watcher AZ/EQ 5 PRO. It's the same, unless if I'm wrong, as the AZ/EQ 5GT. At a certain point I had that one and the HEQ5 PRO, and the former was performing better. It had slightly better payload capacity and the tracking was as good. It tracked sometimes to sub arc seconds when balancing was perfect with no wind, while supporting 10.5kg of telescope and accessories. It was more multitasking and lighter than the HEQ5, which I finally sold to buy the work horse, the EQ6R PRO. Out of the box, the tracking of this mount with 15kg of load, was sub arc second. It might be two mounts I'll ever use as a nomad astro photographer.
Started with a star adventurer, now started building a portable imaging rig around the Redcat 51 and an EQM35 Pro and the asiair. So far been fantastic, had the guiding down as low 0.4 arc seconds normally cruising aroud 0.5-0.6 arc seconds. Some people seem to have had issues with the EQM35 but overall it’s been great so far for a small refractor imaging rig. I think the AM5 would be my next venture for some larger scopes.
I've been doing it since 2010 myself. Although, i was always more of a Solar system imager than DSO. I've never had access to Polaris which has made DSOs a major challenge. But using NINA lately on your advice and teachings i've had some reasonably good success with polar alignment. Mounts:- 1. Celestron EQ3-2MD (with F5 130mm Newt) with a terrible RA motor. I had a friend adapt it for a mains and hand controlled Sky Watcher RA motor and could track for over 10 minutes without have to adjust DEC. It still works today. 2. Celestron 127SLT (with F11.8 5" Mak) which is amazing little planetary scope, with bright DSOs in it's range too. This one had a cord wrap issue and was dragged over, and fell. Luckily it kind of scraped down the deck door. The scope wasn't damaged (phew!!!!!). But the mount's casing split and broke away in some parts. Onced taped back up it still worked for over 2 years, but you could clearly here one of the motors struggling. Eventually it died. 3. I was sent a used Ioptron CEM25 next by a frined in the US. Pretty much as per your ZEQ25 experience. A great mount when it's working well. I still have it but it won't power up at the moment. Not sure why and needs an electronic expert to check it. Although it appeared to have died once before after hearing a loud bang moments after switching from power tank to mains. After a few days of being miffed i tried it again, and hey presto it came on and worked fine. So maybe that daft bugger will do it again. 4. Now i have an SW AZ GTi converted to EQ with a Sharpstar 130 (that US friend again). I really hate the wifi control aspect, so i'm waiting to get the funds for a handset instead. I'm in complete agreement with you about this amazing little product. It could be the pick of my bunch with this upgrade. But for now my best so far is surely the Ioptron. Looking foward to your camera review, and i will add my experiences in the comments as i've done here.
Thanks for the feedback, this is a great list of mounts! Interesting that the CEM25 electronics seemed to die, like the polar scope LEDs in my ZEQ25 haha! I agree on Wifi control - a controller is simply better, especially for visual....
I'm sorry to hear about your motivation hiatus. Burnout hits us all, but you have a legacy of extremely helpful videos as a testament to your love of astronomy. I just purchased an az-gti in part because of your excellent videos and because I can take it camping.
Every time I watch your channel it blows my mind that you are doing astrophotography in Tokyo. I lived in Tokyo for two years, and between the extreme light pollution and permanent haze, I don't think I ever saw a star.
Cuiv, this was great. You have easier access to certain brands in Japan, so it's interesting to hear your thoughts on them. I'm starting out with an AVX, but I know at some point I'll upgrade, so this is very insightful for me.
One can never have too many mounts. :) My current collection includes EQ6-R Pro (I'll give it B+ because it sometimes misbehaves and the board was replaced under warranty), AZ-EQ5 (B-, because tracking is only average, even after tuning), AZ-GTi (A, works well out of the box, great for travel), iOptron Skyguider Pro tracker (B+, tracks well, but pointing to a target is not easy). In the past, I had iOptron ZEQ25 (C-, my first mount, lightweight, but the servo motors are a weak point), iOptron Skyhunter (F, didn't work, returned it), and Star Adventurer GTi (F, bad tracking, serious design flaws related to the mesh adjustment mechanism, returned it). I am now considering getting AM5 because the EQ6-R is too heavy to transport and set at remote locations.
I'm using SkyWatcher mounts for well over 12 years now. From EQ3-2 to EQ8, I think I've used pretty much ALL of their mounts. I currently own AZ-EQ6 which has been my workhorse for the last 6 years, AZ-EQ5 and our astro club also has EQ8 which is fantastic !
That is really great to hear! My only mount is the Sphinx SX. While it works just fine, even with a pretty heavy load, I always wondered about how other mounts would be and thought I should upgrade at some point, just for the sake of it. But can't afford to do so. Now I know it isn't even necessary and the Sphinx is in fact pretty good! (although it is not exactly the same model). Thanks fas always for your video.
I would definitely like to hear your ranking of telescopes. Cameras, being electronic, get outdated so probably less interesting. I have a CEM40EC, and I love it. Happy to see that your CEM is your favorite mount as well.
I also have a CEM40 (non-EC) and I'm very happy with it. The only problem with the 40 is that its shape doesn't let me place my newtonian the way I would want to for optimal balance, the RA motor gets in the way. From what I can see the CEM60 doesn't have that issue. I should have gone for the CEM60 when I had the chance, but TBH it would have been too much of a stretch for my budget (which is why I went for the CEM40).
I've only had a couple of mounts. My first was a celestron asgt that I bought used (and still have it). It's really loud, but except for a few goto errors which were my fault, tracks great! I've even used it to hold my Meade lx200 10" sct OTA! I got 2 ioptron cubes. A blue one and a black and gray Cube Pro. Plop either one outside, align it and their accuracy was amazing for an alt-az. The blue one died one day and I couldn't get it going again. Ioptron sent me drive parts, but I think the motherboard failed. It's still on my bench downstairs... 2 small clock drives on 2 Bausch & Lomb criterion 4000's just work. No guiding but I sold one and missed it so I bought another. Recently got an ioptron sky tracker that I have yet to set up... Finally picked up an lx200 fork mount for my 10" sct that I still have. I replaced some caps in it and it now works. (the lx200 10" emc sct was a dream scope from the 80's of 90's that even though it's old, I still had to get one! And I still have it! Great views from this particular example!) I should take a lesson from you, Cuiv! Sell stuff so I can get other stuff... Guess I'm more of a hoarder than I thought... 🙄
My iOptron CEM60 has been working extremely well without issue for nearly three years now. My favourite mount is my CEM120 but that thing is definitely not portable but is perfect for my obsy. It currently has a SkyWatcher Esprit 120 and a Meade 10" SCT on it ( twin setup) and still guides with an rms error of between 0.35 and 0.5.
Hi Cuiv great video, Still have my Vixen SXD2 has a SXP style head fitted love it with HAL130 Tripod ,previous were a Skywatcher AZEQ6 and I had a Meade LT6 but the mount died in like two days bought used actually all were bought used still have the 6" ACF scope great optics.
Another great video - I share your love of iOptron - I bought a CEM26 used and it tracks and guides extremely well even with my 130pds Newtonian, camera, electronic filter wheel & electronic focus, guide scope and camera. Glad to hear your views on the CEM60/70 - I’m looking at getting one maybe - I have a CGX I got for half price used - currently it is in the UK being very hyper tuned by Dave at darkframe optics. I live in the US and there’s nobody in the US able & willing to do a similar quality hypertune. And yes, you helped me get the astrophotography bug! Stay safe & well.
Great Vid, good insight on previous mounts, my current mount is an AZ-EQ 6 pro swinging a 10" newt with sub arc sec guiding. Thanks for the great Vid's you produce
EQ6-R Pro is an amazing workhorse of a mount. But I also have to give a nod to the Losmandy G11 series. Excellent build quality and payload and with included heavy duty folding tripod, becomes an exceptional value when compared to other mounts in a similar payload class that would charge upwards of another 1000$ for including a similar class tripod.
I always wanted to get a Losmandy G11 mount!!! But they were so crazy overpriced in Japan when they finally became available here... I had also seen countless threads on CN about users adjusting them, so I was worried about being able to do it myself...
@@CuivTheLazyGeek They're built to be tinkerer's mounts, so if you don't have the drive to mess with the mount, I wouldn't suggest them for a beginner. But given your experience and your ability to fix or modify your mounts, you would make it sing. I bought one secondhand and did a full rebuild with new grease and some replacement parts. Now it guides ~0.5-0.8" rms on a good night (image scale is 1.62"/px) and I don't need to adjust for seasons due to my very consistent climate. My next project is to get a galaxy scope going, but I need to get the scope automated first.
What mounts have you used? How did you like them?? Support me on Patreon!: www.patreon.com/cuivlazygeek Channel Membership: th-cam.com/users/CuivTheLazyGeekjoin
I have an EQ3-2 along with a CGEM 1. If I had to pick, I'd take the EQ3-2 due to its portability and reliability. I've already almost fallen down the stairs while transporting the CGEM, so I've grown to love that mount. Also, if I ever decide to start wide field imaging, I can put an OnStep kit on it and control it with my pc. Some people have gotten it to run with a total error of 0.8 RMS while using 8kg of equipment.
My first tracker was a Skywatcher Star Adventurer. It has and still serves me well. I use it with lenses up to 1600mm. After decades of wanting a SCT I finally purchased one this year. Instead of buying the scope with their accompanying mount I decided to get a mount that hopefully will last me years so I went with Losmandy. Buy once, cry once. The wait time is a killer since it’s over a month, the cost bring tears to my eyes and my bank account, and everything was ala carte even equipment that should be standard. It gets a bit infuriating after a while. Hopefully once it comes in and I use it I’ll forget about all downsides.
I have used a skywatcher eqm35. The go to was dramaticly poor because during slewing the mount went full speed which the motors could not handle. Tracking and guiding was perfect. So I sold it and temporarily used a given mount. I can't even recall the model because I did not like it. The starbook was outdated and unsupported. I now own an Avalon M-uno. Tracking, guiding and goto finallywork with astroberry. But I love this mount. Light weight without balance weights. No meridian flip necessary and the mount looks awesome. Beautifully crafted aluminium. This one will stay for awhile. P.s. I like your video. You have not yet been taken over by one of the large manufacturers and that makes you keep experimenting like the rest of us.
Great Video! The only mount on your list that I have owned was the Smart EQ Pro +. It was my first EQ GoTo mount, and once I paired it with the ASIAIR v1, with guiding, it worked very well as a mount for a lightweight wide field refractor. Guiding was usually between 1-2" RMS and I created many astro images with it. I used it for several years, never had an issue with it and finally sold it as I was starting to accumulate too many mounts. I would have given it a "B" rating.
Thank you Cuiv! Always informative. My first EQ mount is the iOptron CEM26 and so far I love it. I am currently using is with a William optics zenithstar 81 with great results. I'm already looking to upgrade to the iOptron CEM 40 to carry my Celestron EVO 9.25 SCT. Keep up the great work.
@@CuivTheLazyGeekI know! I was thinking Hyperstar but would be using it with the Alt Az Mount it came with. I'm sure it would work. The mount tracks pretty good but not like a EQ mount.
Great video Cuiv, as usual. My first was a manual eq2 Antares, then i switch to nextar se (i still have the c6, great optic), and finally the eq6r pro fine tuned and improved with geoptik counterweight, losmandy morse and bar , it is working really great with my RC8 carbon and with my c6, now i am planning to take in addition the new full armonic ioptron hae29 ... always travelling it is not so... comfortable with eq6 ... i will send you my impressions, according to the spec it is even better than the AM5 ...
\o/ Ehhh!!! Cool vid!!! got to comment this one :) .. Old EQ5 I got for 100eur 10yrs ago...Over the years, replaced all bearings from slip type (bushings) to ballbearings, even on the worm. Then, realized I need motor.. tried dc servo, but couldn't get it to work slow enough with PWM. Then stepper (0.9`/step NEMA 17)..put togeter the electronics (driver, oscilator, then another one for slewing..and so on) .. belt driven the worm..and seems to work well on my breadboard... Now waiting for new pulley, (stepper shaft smaller then dc servo) and new narrower belts (new pulley is more narrow ) .. Today I received a package with potenciometer for slewing, knob, few other little bits.. The stepper only on RA axis..for now. Got a cool green laser to stick in the middle for polar align :) looking forward to trying it out.
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Yes I know what you mean, it's had it's moments when it wakes up and thinks it's a toaster! but I can generally re-adjust it's brains then it's brilliant again. Use it with an ED80 and a Celestron Edge HD8 f7, and Hyperstar V4 in the f2 position.
Everyone keeps telling me about it!! I'd need ZWO to send me a full astro set lol. I'll get to it at one point I'm sure, and thanks for supporting the channel! :)
Nice first-hand description of what you thought were the strong and weak points of the mounts you used, Cuiv. Good info. I'd love to have one of those primo mounts (10K and up) but for right now at my level of experience (or inexperience) my little ZWO AM5 harmonic drive mount suits me just fine and works very well with my 107PHQ. The AM5 is simple to use, lightweight and portable, and really does a great job tracking when used with guiding. I'm very happy with the AM5.
Very interesting video Quiv, well done again, keep those series absolutely coming, many people will be interested in your experience. For me, a) EQ-6R PRO, b) CEM 26, c) Star Adventurer GTI, d) Star Adventurer, that's my usage now at the moment in that order
Great video Cuiv thanks for the detailed GPU driver installation video. My son is building me a PC with a fast video card for Pixinsight so I'm excited to see the speed boost with all the Russell Croman tools. Will it also speed up other time consuming operations like WBPP, etc? Keep up the great videos. My son really enjoyed watching because you are funny and enthusiastic!
GPU will only speed up AI tools! But if your CPU also gets upgraded (along with fast dual channel RAM and good SSD) you will see improvements in WBPP :)
My ranking, top to bottom, based on multiple factors like size, price, performance, issues experiences on the goto mounts I've owned: 1. AM5 2. AZEQ5 3. Mesu200 / EQ6-R 4. AZGTI 5. CEM120 6. NEQ6-Pro 7. Nexstar 4SE
After 12 years of using Celestron CG5, I decided to migrate to AM5. I love CG5 but AM5 is just amazing! I have rounded starts with a 1270 mm focal length of my C8 f/6.3 without OAG :). Thank you for your great videos! Clear skies!
Hi Cuiv, Nice video! It would be interesting to see this with your scopes. I have the CEM26 (with iPolar) and the AZ GTi, you ranked both as B. But I would put the CEM as A and the AZ GTi as C, for a couple of reasons: 1) Balancing / clutch design - for me the AZ GTi is almost impossible to balance, I spent hours trying to fine tune the clutches but it's either too stiff or too loose. I which it had the same design as the CEM mount where you can totally disengage the worm gear using the clutch. 2) Polar alignment - this is of course different from your experience, but iPolar is fast and it just works! and in the AZ GTi you need a third party (SharpCap) to polar align which is more time consuming... 3) ASCOM vs Synscan - one of the most frustrating things in the AZ GTi was that I used it with Synscan. Connectivity with CEM26 just works. I'm still not sure if I want to keep my AZ GTi, it's very portable so maybe I will use it for Milkyway/Constellation photography, or maybe I will turn it into a smart scope, like you did.
Great video. My first real mount was for my celestron nexstar 5. Alt az but with a finicky wedge. Outgrew that real fast and went to the celestron cg5. Mount worked well but i was definitely overloading it and decided in my infinite wisdom to “hypertune” it. Probably made it much worse. I am now on the celestron cgem dx. It has served me very well over the years. Only have an issue with dec backlash which i can never really get rid of. Only becomes a really bad issue when dithering occasionally. Other than that, guiding 5 minute subs at 2000mm is not so much of an issue.
I like my ZWO AM5, as it's very easy to handle and it guides without any issues. I can't spend too much of time for the hobby, therefore I can be a little bit lazy with such lightweight setup. Just carry it out of the garage, place, polar-align and start shooting within a few minutes.
I currently use an AVX and two EQ6Rs. The EQR is a workhorse. It's the benchmark. The AVX is great visual.. and okay for astrophotography at shorter FLs (currently using it with the FL @416mm). Thinking about getting an AM5 for the little scope. Would love to get a premium mount one day.. something like an astro-physics Mach2.. but that's not going to happen any time soon, lol.
Two EQ6Rs!! Nice!! I had an AVX for visual, but never used it for astrophotography. I'm sure I had a lemon because the RA tracking would jump like crazy until I physically slapped the mount. I wish I was joking 😂
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Yikes! Currently running three rigs at one. The 65phq is on the avx. The Edge 8 and an at115edt are on the two EQ6Rs. Keeps me flush with data when the weather doesn't cooperate :)
Just wait till you try an AM5, super light guides great right out of the box. I replaced my Orion Atlas EQ with it, they both perform fantastic, but the AM5 is a fraction of the weight.
@@chandraxrayobs Its rated up 13kg without any counterweights and 20kg with. I would put some weight in the tripod sling to lower the center of gravity with that kind of a payload.
Very informative and entertaining video, Cuiv as usual! I recently bought a used CEM60, but not getting the precision from it that you do (and that I hoped for).
Thank for putting this content out there. I really enjoy your videos. I wanted to ask a question, though. Why you didn't includ3 the EmCan Astro EM31Pro that's shown on your videos supporting the "Franken-scope" dual Newtonian. And how this mount would rank here?
Hey Cuiv - love your posts, your energy and enthusiasm…..makes up for months of cloudy nights here. Question - I will be in Tokyo in April, can you recommend best Astro shop(s) to visit…..especially for Takahashi. Thanks
curious - is the rooftop observation platform occupied by others - I noticed 3 scopes up there when you were showing your last/most recent mount. I have 2 mounts currently - a SkyAdventurer 2I Pro and an EQ-6 Pro. They perform different functions for different setups. The Skyadventurer can barely handle the weight of my Sony Camera and the 600mm lens combo but can work with some of my smaller lenses. The EQ-6 works with my borrowed Z-16 and ASI Camera. It also worked with my 8" SCT (which is under the weather). I ended up moving from NINA to an ASIAIR which simplified my process when I stepped up to the EQ-6. You seem to have a large assortment of mounts that you have used over time - it would be nice to have a sample of pictures and a time frame for ownership. I bought my Meade SCT in the early 1990's and it went into mothballs around the year 2000 and I started back up around 2020 with astro photography. Amazing the difference in camera equipment with doing film pictures in the 90's and everything is now digital. The scopes have not changed that much (today's SCT appear to not be that different from my old SCT). The Mounts went from hard to polar allign and gear driven to an assortment of methods and of course the huge difference that guide scopes now play in the game. Appreciate everything that you bring to the field.
Cuiv, great video! I started into astrophotography four years ago. My first mount, before moving to the EQ6R- Pro was a used Vixen GP2 Mount with the Hal130 tripod. I loved everything about this mount. Portable, reliable and the tracking, even unguided, was superb. It was a great for learning how to use an equatorial mount I still have it and am reluctant to ever sell it.
yup ... more like this ... by this time you have a lot of experience and all of us could use some reassurance before we click the buy button ;) AS-GT mount from Celestron.... bit of a grand daddy by now ... I took care of it and guides about 8.5 kgs of scope anywhere from 0.7 to 0.3 depends where it's pointing in the sky ...
@@CuivTheLazyGeek no, it's the ancestor of the CG5 .... ancestor of the avx ... but they built them better then ... they don't mind the C11 even ... much like your vixen mount from the past ... I went planet hunting with the C11 I got on loan from the university and did ok ... that's until all my components of the 3.3 visual back come to me so that I can use the reducer with the 2" adaptor so as to maximize its potential ... till then ... clear skies my friend from afar!
Cuiv love your channel, my first mouth was celestron advance GT then in 2011 I got a used Vixen SXD mount, and it’s been my workhorse ever since it handle my Galaxy season scope VMC 200L(big Bertha)with ease.
It’s an awesome telescope if you pair it with its focal reducer. I do it on a budget and I use Antares 2" 0.5x Focal Reducer so my stars are not that perfect but i don't care it’s a pretty awesome telescope with that mount. Though the old SXD doesn’t have much drive support, I found a good driver that would work good with N.I.N.A. Vixen good Japanese quality.
I have had a AZ-GTi for years now. It's just so versatile, I can use it for almost anything except heavy telescopes. I would rank it as an A , for the value alone.
I hope you will have the opportunity to check out some of the new harmonic drive mounts, like AM5 and HEM27; I use the AM5 and am loving it so far. My other mount is the CEM40, which I also love.
@@CuivTheLazyGeek I think you'll like it; it kinda combined the best of few of the mounts you had in the past (compact/light, accurate, can also do alt-az, etc.). Let us all know what you think if you do!!
@@rayyanimran1557 im drawing up some parts and getting som belts and stuff. got the DEC axis motorised and guiding now. just RA axis to go and new mainboard.
My ranking is a bit different: of all my mounts, the 10 micron 2000HPS wins hands down. Although I also still enjoy my Vixen SXD2 a lot, as my Losmandy G11G. From all my mounts I would put the AP mounts I owned (Mach1, 400, 600, 900, 1100, 1200) between the 10 micron and the Vixen.
Thank you for the explanations, Cuiv! I use my only Sky Watcher Star Adventurer (with 1-axis guiding) which I find pretty OK for the price, paired with a digital camera that I already owned. It cannot be compared to your experience but I have fun with my humble gear. I'm curious to see your experience with DSLR lenses and telescopes too. Cheers!
Hi cuiv, excelente review… i ask your question? I have SXD2 and my setup is around 10-11 kg for Astrophotography, Do you think it's too much weight for sxd2, or should I lower it?
Wow Cuiv - wish you could add insight onto more of your experience with mounts, you had the Alt-Az Eq5 + on the impact of the weight of the mount. I just broke my AVX mount (my stupid mistake), and while I am trying to fix it, I am also looking for an alternative, and what I am hoping is that people like you, versed in both Nina and ASIAIR, can shed some more insight on the mounts with the sense of what can work with what ++ that Vixen , was it better than the EQ6 ? Was it just the guiding computer or the actual mount itself ? And one last item - can you shed more light onto the "hit miss" with the iOptron mounts?
Great video, but.....I only find one mount in a pricerange for a beginner. The Skywatcher AZ-GTI. I am looking to find a setup after my son and I bought a used Astromaster 130EQ, very very cheap, and just realizing that a EQ mount are not for really new beginners, but we have so much interest that we want to find a mount with motors, and goto, and possibility for auto tracking, but No matter which video we look at, all say buy big. Your load x 2, as a minimum, which means that everything under 10kg load capacity are not good. Prices for such mounts begins at around €1000, for Skywatcher EQ5 Pro(not the AZ-EQ5-GT or the HEQ5), Skywatcher EQM-35, Bresser EXOS-2 EQ, Explore Scientific iEXOS-100PMC-8 WIFI, EXOS-2-PMC-8, and I could accept this price range, but none of them gets good and painless reviews. They all have some kind of fault, bad design or just really poor built quality(EXOS-2-PMC-8). That is probably why it is so hard to fins reviews of them. Manufactures must know that and do not send them out as review-samples. After seeing your video, I can understand that also expensive mounts have issues....so I will buy a lottery ticket, and hope to get money enough to buy the best mount in the world, (no matter the cost). 🙂
I had the AZ GTI once. Don't know why but I never liked it. Aligning could go well for a few times and suddenly it went South (even literally). Goto was hit or miss and I had to send it in for repair because something was not happy inside. Sold it as soon as it was back from repair. I love my NEQ-6 though. I have the CEM25P but only used it 2 times so far but it looks promising:)
That's a shame of the AZ GTi, although I'm not surprised there can be equipment lottery, true a bane of the hobby... You need to use that CEM25P!! Just send it to me if you don't you use it hehehe :p
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Haha shipping it from Belgium to Japan might be expensive :) I don't know why I don't use it. Maybe because my goto transformed GP-DX feels sturdier? I don't like the clutch mechanism on the CEM. That I do know!
Found a SXD2, mount only no tripod, second hand for sale in 1600usd... And as I research seems to be a pretty good mount, it even looks new. Is it a good deal?
Yes you can, although I don't remember the exact steps - there is some config to allow tracking past meridian (I think I had 5 degrees), as I recall there are some instructions on cloudy nights somewhere
You can illuminate the polar scope by putting glow in the dark tape inside it and blastong it with a flash light. Also, this wasn't my invention. I came across it on someones TH-cam channel.
I have the eq8 and it carries a celestron c11 and a meade Apo 115mm. Heavy stuff but it works very well in my baader Dome in my school. (I am a teacher) disadvantage: the school is in a city so i have the same problems as you have! ;)
IOptron70G 2022 - ranking solid Z. AVX 2013 - ranking T. AVX 2013 remade by me 2022 - ranking B. This is where I stand now: remade AVX, 8 months experience. Next upgrade 10 micron or Mach2, whichever comes first. No messing around.
@@CuivTheLazyGeek 10um is in. Ranking S++! It is very rear occasion when mount is better than specs. 4” refractor (Vixen) unguided for 15’ with 0.4” drift. This is after just 25 star-model. Now, I just do 5-7 star-model manually and no guiding for 5 min (I don’t need more). No problem! Thank you very much. Eccentricity is perfect 0.4. One more thing. It is not so smooth with Celestron SCT. Floppy mirror is the reason. What a surprise, eh!
Cuiv, your videos are always great! You're one of the rock stars of this hobby.
I appreciate that! Thank you!!
I started with the AZGTi in Alt-az mode as intended, but then I converted into an EQ mount, like you did. I would rank it as C, because of not so great tracking- which could be only specific to my sample , although being so cheap and that I made some images with it on low focal length, I'd rank it as a B minus. See, just changed my mind in one post LOL! I don't particularly recommend it to beginners, because the modifications it needs and downloading new firmware etc, I usually steer people to the adventurer instead, which is basically the same thing, but actually was intended for EQ- star tracking and no modifications needed.
Currently using the EQ-6R pro, and it's excellent in many ways, but the weight of it is starting to get to me. I don't like to leave it outside even if it's covered, because of humidity and moisture started to effect it and needed lubrication. Meanwhile I had an injury to my right elbow, and lifting things is no longer easy and not recommended, and this metal dinosaur is not helping with it. I'll keep it of course, but I'm also thinking getting a smaller mount and I'm leaning towards iOptron too. Just for those 3-4hrs night imaging, since that's all I'm getting lately. Maybe the CEM26? I don't need 100% perfect tracking, I'd be using a short focal length refractor with it.
Skywatcher needs to come out with a mid-range mount, because what they have is either obsolete or too cheap or too expensive. No middle of the road really, the new SW GTI is not a step forward with its 11lb max capacity, it's more like an AZGTI reinvented as an EQ mount. I hope SW is reading youtube, LOL, Hey! give us a mount for $800-1000 that tracks good and newer tech!
What a great video! My first was an all in one Celestron Edge HD 8" with the fork alt-az mount, used it mainly for visual. Next mount was a Celestron CGEM 2 with the same Edge HD 8" OTA that I added a losmandy dovetail to adapt to the mount. I then sold the Edge HD and bought a SW Esprit 100 refractor andalso sold the CGEM 2 and am currently using a Saxon AZ-EQ6 GT mount on a Berlebach Planet tripod. So far, so good as this mount has a direct USB connection vs. USB to serial via the hand controller on the CGEM 2. Your guide on removing backlash really helped me dial in the mount so a big thank you for that one!
I have a losmandy gm811g, and I love it. You do need to adjust the worm tension between cold and warm seasons, but after that it just works. The support is excellent, the first time I called for support I spoke with the owner / inventor and he guided me through an adjustment.
I eyed Losmandy for a long time, but they were either not available, or really expensive here. Glad it works well for you!!
I've always believed that astrophotographers should always have two mounts - the workhorse that caters to the endgame gear, and the practical, tough-as-nails, off-grid-capable trackers (the StarAdventurer GTi as the upper bound, and the SWSA 2i or the iOptron SGP as the lower) for those nights where you want to do widefield on the side, when you're very limited in terms of the gear you can carry (going on a plane, hiking up a mountain), or for those very chill sessions where it's more for starshine soaking than getting data.
I really need a starshine soaking session soon. The weather hasn't been kind for months already =|
My first scope mount was made in 1967 when I was barely a teenager, some 1-1/2” galvanized pipe fittings attached to a 4x4 wood post. It held my square-tube 6” Newt with a home-made Edmund mirror. Many years passed and then I bought a used Takahashi EM-2 in 1998. This was the first “real” mount for me and it allowed astrophotography. The next ten years were a dark time and I wasted way too much money on this hobby. I ended up with a Paramount ME in a permanent obsy - a beautiful mount that couldn’t be moved. In 2016 I moved and sold all the obsy gear. My new rig was a CEM60 and I still own it today.
I bought the Vixen SXD2 for imaging a year or so ago after looking at the options. It was more expensive than the alternatives in Europe, but I wanted the assurance of Japanese manufacturing quality and control. So far it has been great, worked right out of the box with Asi Air Pro, from +40C in Saudi to -10C in Helsinki, go-to and tracking are excellent, and I love the Starbook 10. Currently have a 90mm TS CF Apo and FMA 180 mm guidescope, tracks better than 0.4 arc sec on a good night. Also love the offset head design which means light counterweights and relatively portable!
Cuiv your love for the art is contageous. I just bought an EdgeHD 11 just because of how happy astronomy seems to make you.
Living with a very restricted sky views in the city (house totally obscures the celestial pole) I have settled on an iOptron AZ Mount Pro - which is a dream to set up now. I also set up with a modded iOptron tri-pier (replaced the stainless steel legs for longer sections which was a cheaper solution than adding the official mount extension). My next mount if I move house will be the CEM70 probably. I do also have an AZGTi which was a kind of gateway for me staying with AZ technology. I should add I’m heavily into high-speed lucky imaging … for small deep sky objects and planetary.
I have a Losmandy G11-Gemini 2 with the French Ovision work. Very small PE (
That is awesome! I wish mount manufacturers would have an expensive option with truly high precision worms... And not just encoders like what iOptron does.
Vixen for the win! I try to tell everyone how great vixen mounts are. My SXP works near flawlessly with excellent tracking. I am installing a 10 micron mount in my observatory but I will continue to use my SXP outside of the dome and if it ever dies or breaks I won't hesitate to get another one. So far it has been the best mount I've ever had. Love it!
Completely agree! They're like premium mounts in disguise :)
Hey Cuiv! I currently have an AP mount, which I bought manual but gradually motorised when I started imaging, and I love it to bits. It's my favorite piece of equipment with its companion SD81S OTA. Yes, framing objects precisely on multi-night projects is a bit of a chore but as a mobile astronomer the AP is an absolute joy to use for both visual and imaging. With the "spare" manual modules I've made an APZ which is my manual "even more grab'n'go" mount… In my still limited experience, Vixen stuff really kills it, and I can only say that you've stoked the fire for an SXD2! Thanks for the comparo!!
Only after watching one of your videos, I purchased AZ-EQ5 about a year ago. I am so happy with it. And you doubled my happiness and confidence by giving it 'B' or as you also said "Almost A' rank. BTW, thanks for all your videos Cuiv 😊👍
Excellent Pinak! It's a really neat mount :)
Thank you for the video Cuiv! Good one! I have EQ6-R Pro and after about 2 years I had to deal with backlash. I watched your video and adjusted by backlash- thank you for that. I do not have much experience on mounts like you, but I am looking for my next mount now. I saw 75kg capacity Trident JTW mount. It would be a good video to see how it works. Not so many of them in existence yet. It costs only (!!!) 3,500 euros and it is cheap for that capacity and class. Thank you again!
I'm really wary of that one! If it sounds too good to be true... :)
Thanks for a fun video. I was suprised to see that your first mount was the Meade LT6. I have just started out with astrophotography, and as I try not to spend too much, I ended up with an old Meade LT8 mount - but without the Meade tube - I managed to 3d print a connector so I am able to put on it anything I want - and I use an old William Optics ZS 70 refractor with SVBONY SV705c camera, and get really nice results. With alt-az tracking I easily get very stable 16 seconds per frame in this setup. I really like this LT8 mount and as it can work also in EQ mode, I am thinking about building a wedge for it...
That's awesome to hear! Also the LT6 and LT8 mounts are one and the same :) It's really a solid AltAz mount!
Hey Cuiv. A great and instructive video just like all others. I will just like to add a final note regarding sky watcher AZ/EQ 5 PRO. It's the same, unless if I'm wrong, as the AZ/EQ 5GT. At a certain point I had that one and the HEQ5 PRO, and the former was performing better. It had slightly better payload capacity and the tracking was as good. It tracked sometimes to sub arc seconds when balancing was perfect with no wind, while supporting 10.5kg of telescope and accessories. It was more multitasking and lighter than the HEQ5, which I finally sold to buy the work horse, the EQ6R PRO. Out of the box, the tracking of this mount with 15kg of load, was sub arc second. It might be two mounts I'll ever use as a nomad astro photographer.
Started with a star adventurer, now started building a portable imaging rig around the Redcat 51 and an EQM35 Pro and the asiair. So far been fantastic, had the guiding down as low 0.4 arc seconds normally cruising aroud 0.5-0.6 arc seconds. Some people seem to have had issues with the EQM35 but overall it’s been great so far for a small refractor imaging rig. I think the AM5 would be my next venture for some larger scopes.
お疲れ様です
とても面白い動画で参考になりました。ありがとうございます😊
お時間があれば、最新版のランキングも見てみたいです
こちらにZWO AM3やAM5N、Star Adventurer GTiなどが入ると、
どのランクになるのかなあと気になります🤔
WAVE100iやWAVE150iはまだ情報が少ないですね
そうなんですよね、多分150iをテストできるかもしれないので、その後２０２４年更新版もいいアイディアです!ありがとうございます!
I've been doing it since 2010 myself. Although, i was always more of a Solar system imager than DSO. I've never had access to Polaris which has made DSOs a major challenge. But using NINA lately on your advice and teachings i've had some reasonably good success with polar alignment.
Mounts:- 1. Celestron EQ3-2MD (with F5 130mm Newt) with a terrible RA motor. I had a friend adapt it for a mains and hand controlled Sky Watcher RA motor and could track for over 10 minutes without have to adjust DEC. It still works today.
2. Celestron 127SLT (with F11.8 5" Mak) which is amazing little planetary scope, with bright DSOs in it's range too. This one had a cord wrap issue and was dragged over, and fell. Luckily it kind of scraped down the deck door. The scope wasn't damaged (phew!!!!!). But the mount's casing split and broke away in some parts. Onced taped back up it still worked for over 2 years, but you could clearly here one of the motors struggling. Eventually it died.
3. I was sent a used Ioptron CEM25 next by a frined in the US. Pretty much as per your ZEQ25 experience. A great mount when it's working well. I still have it but it won't power up at the moment. Not sure why and needs an electronic expert to check it. Although it appeared to have died once before after hearing a loud bang moments after switching from power tank to mains. After a few days of being miffed i tried it again, and hey presto it came on and worked fine. So maybe that daft bugger will do it again.
4. Now i have an SW AZ GTi converted to EQ with a Sharpstar 130 (that US friend again). I really hate the wifi control aspect, so i'm waiting to get the funds for a handset instead. I'm in complete agreement with you about this amazing little product. It could be the pick of my bunch with this upgrade. But for now my best so far is surely the Ioptron.
Looking foward to your camera review, and i will add my experiences in the comments as i've done here.
Thanks for the feedback, this is a great list of mounts! Interesting that the CEM25 electronics seemed to die, like the polar scope LEDs in my ZEQ25 haha!
I agree on Wifi control - a controller is simply better, especially for visual....
I'm sorry to hear about your motivation hiatus. Burnout hits us all, but you have a legacy of extremely helpful videos as a testament to your love of astronomy. I just purchased an az-gti in part because of your excellent videos and because I can take it camping.
Every time I watch your channel it blows my mind that you are doing astrophotography in Tokyo. I lived in Tokyo for two years, and between the extreme light pollution and permanent haze, I don't think I ever saw a star.
Cuiv, this was great. You have easier access to certain brands in Japan, so it's interesting to hear your thoughts on them. I'm starting out with an AVX, but I know at some point I'll upgrade, so this is very insightful for me.
Glad this is helpful Larry!
One can never have too many mounts. :) My current collection includes EQ6-R Pro (I'll give it B+ because it sometimes misbehaves and the board was replaced under warranty), AZ-EQ5 (B-, because tracking is only average, even after tuning), AZ-GTi (A, works well out of the box, great for travel), iOptron Skyguider Pro tracker (B+, tracks well, but pointing to a target is not easy). In the past, I had iOptron ZEQ25 (C-, my first mount, lightweight, but the servo motors are a weak point), iOptron Skyhunter (F, didn't work, returned it), and Star Adventurer GTi (F, bad tracking, serious design flaws related to the mesh adjustment mechanism, returned it). I am now considering getting AM5 because the EQ6-R is too heavy to transport and set at remote locations.
That's a nice collection - and the AM5 seems to be exceedingly popular!
I'm using SkyWatcher mounts for well over 12 years now. From EQ3-2 to EQ8, I think I've used pretty much ALL of their mounts. I currently own AZ-EQ6 which has been my workhorse for the last 6 years, AZ-EQ5 and our astro club also has EQ8 which is fantastic !
Woohoo, a Skywatcher fanatic lol! Have you tried the StarAdventurer GTi?? It looks amazing!
That is really great to hear! My only mount is the Sphinx SX. While it works just fine, even with a pretty heavy load, I always wondered about how other mounts would be and thought I should upgrade at some point, just for the sake of it. But can't afford to do so. Now I know it isn't even necessary and the Sphinx is in fact pretty good! (although it is not exactly the same model).
Thanks fas always for your video.
I would definitely like to hear your ranking of telescopes. Cameras, being electronic, get outdated so probably less interesting. I have a CEM40EC, and I love it. Happy to see that your CEM is your favorite mount as well.
Thanks Randy!
I also have a CEM40 (non-EC) and I'm very happy with it. The only problem with the 40 is that its shape doesn't let me place my newtonian the way I would want to for optimal balance, the RA motor gets in the way. From what I can see the CEM60 doesn't have that issue. I should have gone for the CEM60 when I had the chance, but TBH it would have been too much of a stretch for my budget (which is why I went for the CEM40).
I've only had a couple of mounts. My first was a celestron asgt that I bought used (and still have it). It's really loud, but except for a few goto errors which were my fault, tracks great! I've even used it to hold my Meade lx200 10" sct OTA! I got 2 ioptron cubes. A blue one and a black and gray Cube Pro. Plop either one outside, align it and their accuracy was amazing for an alt-az. The blue one died one day and I couldn't get it going again. Ioptron sent me drive parts, but I think the motherboard failed. It's still on my bench downstairs... 2 small clock drives on 2 Bausch & Lomb criterion 4000's just work. No guiding but I sold one and missed it so I bought another. Recently got an ioptron sky tracker that I have yet to set up... Finally picked up an lx200 fork mount for my 10" sct that I still have. I replaced some caps in it and it now works. (the lx200 10" emc sct was a dream scope from the 80's of 90's that even though it's old, I still had to get one! And I still have it! Great views from this particular example!)
I should take a lesson from you, Cuiv! Sell stuff so I can get other stuff... Guess I'm more of a hoarder than I thought... 🙄
My iOptron CEM60 has been working extremely well without issue for nearly three years now. My favourite mount is my CEM120 but that thing is definitely not portable but is perfect for my obsy. It currently has a SkyWatcher Esprit 120 and a Meade 10" SCT on it ( twin setup) and still guides with an rms error of between 0.35 and 0.5.
That's amazing performance with such a huge payload, excellent!
Hi Cuiv great video, Still have my Vixen SXD2 has a SXP style head fitted love it with HAL130 Tripod ,previous were a Skywatcher AZEQ6 and I had a Meade LT6 but the mount died in like two days bought used actually all were bought used still have the 6" ACF scope great optics.
Keep using that SXD2 :-)
thanks for the ranking
ive had an evolution mount with the wedge, but eventually replaced it with an ioptron gem45 which im happy with
Another great video - I share your love of iOptron - I bought a CEM26 used and it tracks and guides extremely well even with my 130pds Newtonian, camera, electronic filter wheel & electronic focus, guide scope and camera.
Glad to hear your views on the CEM60/70 - I’m looking at getting one maybe - I have a CGX I got for half price used - currently it is in the UK being very hyper tuned by Dave at darkframe optics. I live in the US and there’s nobody in the US able & willing to do a similar quality hypertune.
And yes, you helped me get the astrophotography bug! Stay safe & well.
Great Vid, good insight on previous mounts, my current mount is an AZ-EQ 6 pro swinging a 10" newt with sub arc sec guiding. Thanks for the great Vid's you produce
That's great performance, well done!
EQ6-R Pro is an amazing workhorse of a mount. But I also have to give a nod to the Losmandy G11 series. Excellent build quality and payload and with included heavy duty folding tripod, becomes an exceptional value when compared to other mounts in a similar payload class that would charge upwards of another 1000$ for including a similar class tripod.
I always wanted to get a Losmandy G11 mount!!! But they were so crazy overpriced in Japan when they finally became available here... I had also seen countless threads on CN about users adjusting them, so I was worried about being able to do it myself...
@@CuivTheLazyGeek They're built to be tinkerer's mounts, so if you don't have the drive to mess with the mount, I wouldn't suggest them for a beginner. But given your experience and your ability to fix or modify your mounts, you would make it sing. I bought one secondhand and did a full rebuild with new grease and some replacement parts. Now it guides ~0.5-0.8" rms on a good night (image scale is 1.62"/px) and I don't need to adjust for seasons due to my very consistent climate. My next project is to get a galaxy scope going, but I need to get the scope automated first.
What mounts have you used? How did you like them??
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I have an EQ3-2 along with a CGEM 1. If I had to pick, I'd take the EQ3-2 due to its portability and reliability. I've already almost fallen down the stairs while transporting the CGEM, so I've grown to love that mount. Also, if I ever decide to start wide field imaging, I can put an OnStep kit on it and control it with my pc. Some people have gotten it to run with a total error of 0.8 RMS while using 8kg of equipment.
My first tracker was a Skywatcher Star Adventurer. It has and still serves me well. I use it with lenses up to 1600mm. After decades of wanting a SCT I finally purchased one this year. Instead of buying the scope with their accompanying mount I decided to get a mount that hopefully will last me years so I went with Losmandy. Buy once, cry once. The wait time is a killer since it’s over a month, the cost bring tears to my eyes and my bank account, and everything was ala carte even equipment that should be standard. It gets a bit infuriating after a while. Hopefully once it comes in and I use it I’ll forget about all downsides.
Good luck with the setup!
I have used a skywatcher eqm35. The go to was dramaticly poor because during slewing the mount went full speed which the motors could not handle. Tracking and guiding was perfect. So I sold it and temporarily used a given mount. I can't even recall the model because I did not like it. The starbook was outdated and unsupported. I now own an Avalon M-uno. Tracking, guiding and goto finallywork with astroberry. But I love this mount. Light weight without balance weights. No meridian flip necessary and the mount looks awesome. Beautifully crafted aluminium. This one will stay for awhile.
P.s. I like your video. You have not yet been taken over by one of the large manufacturers and that makes you keep experimenting like the rest of us.
Avalon gets such great reviews, I seriously considered getting one at some point, but... Very hard to get in Japan
I have been kicking around the idea of ioptron CEM70! Thanks for the fun and useful reviews!
You only live once, buy it l! 😂
Great Video! The only mount on your list that I have owned was the Smart EQ Pro +. It was my first EQ GoTo mount, and once I paired it with the ASIAIR v1, with guiding, it worked very well as a mount for a lightweight wide field refractor. Guiding was usually between 1-2" RMS and I created many astro images with it. I used it for several years, never had an issue with it and finally sold it as I was starting to accumulate too many mounts. I would have given it a "B" rating.
I'm so glad it worked well for you! If it had kept working for me, it would have earned that rating as well!
Thank you Cuiv! Always informative. My first EQ mount is the iOptron CEM26 and so far I love it. I am currently using is with a William optics zenithstar 81 with great results. I'm already looking to upgrade to the iOptron CEM 40 to carry my Celestron EVO 9.25 SCT. Keep up the great work.
Oh wow, astrophoto with a C9.25 (without Hyperstar) will be tough, but should be a lot of fun!
@@CuivTheLazyGeekI know! I was thinking Hyperstar but would be using it with the Alt Az Mount it came with. I'm sure it would work. The mount tracks pretty good but not like a EQ mount.
Great video Cuiv, as usual. My first was a manual eq2 Antares, then i switch to nextar se (i still have the c6, great optic), and finally the eq6r pro fine tuned and improved with geoptik counterweight, losmandy morse and bar , it is working really great with my RC8 carbon and with my c6, now i am planning to take in addition the new full armonic ioptron hae29 ... always travelling it is not so... comfortable with eq6 ... i will send you my impressions, according to the spec it is even better than the AM5 ...
That sounds excellent, hope that portable setup will work for you!
Please do a ranking for OTAs, targets and (definitely your area of specialty) filters. Good to see you pumping out content again.
Thank you, will work on other rankings!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek looking forward to it. 👍
\o/ Ehhh!!! Cool vid!!! got to comment this one :) .. Old EQ5 I got for 100eur 10yrs ago...Over the years, replaced all bearings from slip type (bushings) to ballbearings, even on the worm. Then, realized I need motor.. tried dc servo, but couldn't get it to work slow enough with PWM. Then stepper (0.9`/step NEMA 17)..put togeter the electronics (driver, oscilator, then another one for slewing..and so on) .. belt driven the worm..and seems to work well on my breadboard... Now waiting for new pulley, (stepper shaft smaller then dc servo) and new narrower belts (new pulley is more narrow ) .. Today I received a package with potenciometer for slewing, knob, few other little bits.. The stepper only on RA axis..for now. Got a cool green laser to stick in the middle for polar align :) looking forward to trying it out.
Oh wow respect for making that EQ5 work so well for you, and only 100EUR!! Do you use OnStep for the motorization software part??
I bought the iOptron ZEQ25, well made but I couldn't take to it so I returned it and bought a Skywatcher HEQ5, I have never regretted it.
I love to see such equipment journeys, glad you got what fit you in the end!
Thank you Cuiv for the content and your reinvigorated enthusiasm for the sport 👍👍 I too am a proud owner of a CEM60, and I love it!
Awesome!! The CEM60, if it's not a lemon, seems to be truly amazing!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Yes I know what you mean, it's had it's moments when it wakes up and thinks it's a toaster! but I can generally re-adjust it's brains then it's brilliant again. Use it with an ED80 and a Celestron Edge HD8 f7, and Hyperstar V4 in the f2 position.
My journey started 3 months ago, been using Skyguider pro with redcat 51 as a newbie. But this mount does track very well.
Congrats on starting, very nice starter set, enjoy!
Waiting for you to make the move to the ZWO AM5. A great lightweight mount.
Everyone keeps telling me about it!! I'd need ZWO to send me a full astro set lol. I'll get to it at one point I'm sure, and thanks for supporting the channel! :)
Nice first-hand description of what you thought were the strong and weak points of the mounts you used, Cuiv. Good info. I'd love to have one of those primo mounts (10K and up) but for right now at my level of experience (or inexperience) my little ZWO AM5 harmonic drive mount suits me just fine and works very well with my 107PHQ. The AM5 is simple to use, lightweight and portable, and really does a great job tracking when used with guiding. I'm very happy with the AM5.
I really, really want to try the AM5!!
Very interesting video Quiv, well done again, keep those series absolutely coming, many people will be interested in your experience.
For me, a) EQ-6R PRO, b) CEM 26, c) Star Adventurer GTI, d) Star Adventurer, that's my usage now at the moment in that order
Thanks, I'll keep making those! And good list you have here :-)
Thanks for this video. I'm befoe a decision which mount to buy and this rank gave me a confirmation.
Glad I could help!
Great video Cuiv thanks for the detailed GPU driver installation video. My son is building me a PC with a fast video card for Pixinsight so I'm excited to see the speed boost with all the Russell Croman tools. Will it also speed up other time consuming operations like WBPP, etc? Keep up the great videos. My son really enjoyed watching because you are funny and enthusiastic!
GPU will only speed up AI tools! But if your CPU also gets upgraded (along with fast dual channel RAM and good SSD) you will see improvements in WBPP :)
My ranking, top to bottom, based on multiple factors like size, price, performance, issues experiences on the goto mounts I've owned:
1. AM5
2. AZEQ5
3. Mesu200 / EQ6-R
4. AZGTI
5. CEM120
6. NEQ6-Pro
7. Nexstar 4SE
Seems everyone absolutely loves the AM5
After 12 years of using Celestron CG5, I decided to migrate to AM5. I love CG5 but AM5 is just amazing! I have rounded starts with a 1270 mm focal length of my C8 f/6.3 without OAG :). Thank you for your great videos! Clear skies!
That's amazing! Congrats - I really need to get my hands on one!
👍👍- Another phenomenal video. Thanks Cuiv!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Oooo, I have the CEM70 and this is very assuring.
Fun and informative video. Love the drag and drop rating system! :) I very much like my 'borrowed' iOptron too, but I do agree about the lottery.
Thanks Astro La Vista!! The astro lottery is such a problem, but I do feel like overall it is getting better!
Hi Cuiv,
Nice video! It would be interesting to see this with your scopes.
I have the CEM26 (with iPolar) and the AZ GTi, you ranked both as B.
But I would put the CEM as A and the AZ GTi as C, for a couple of reasons:
1) Balancing / clutch design - for me the AZ GTi is almost impossible to balance, I spent hours trying to fine tune the clutches but it's either too stiff or too loose. I which it had the same design as the CEM mount where you can totally disengage the worm gear using the clutch.
2) Polar alignment - this is of course different from your experience, but iPolar is fast and it just works! and in the AZ GTi you need a third party (SharpCap) to polar align which is more time consuming...
3) ASCOM vs Synscan - one of the most frustrating things in the AZ GTi was that I used it with Synscan. Connectivity with CEM26 just works.
I'm still not sure if I want to keep my AZ GTi, it's very portable so maybe I will use it for Milkyway/Constellation photography, or maybe I will turn it into a smart scope, like you did.
On the 3rd point, for the AZGTi I ended up using it with EQASCOM/GreenSwampServer, much much better (requires buying or making an EQMOD cable)
Interesting video. I look forward to the coming videos on cameras and scopes.
Scopes is out already!
Great video. My first real mount was for my celestron nexstar 5. Alt az but with a finicky wedge. Outgrew that real fast and went to the celestron cg5. Mount worked well but i was definitely overloading it and decided in my infinite wisdom to “hypertune” it. Probably made it much worse. I am now on the celestron cgem dx. It has served me very well over the years. Only have an issue with dec backlash which i can never really get rid of. Only becomes a really bad issue when dithering occasionally. Other than that, guiding 5 minute subs at 2000mm is not so much of an issue.
The CGEM DX and other higher grade Celestron mounts seem to be excellent workhorses, good that despite this little flaw it's working well for you!
Had a slew of mounts including CEM 60, use a G-11 now. No more Chinese stuff lol. Great Vid, Clear Skies.
I like my ZWO AM5, as it's very easy to handle and it guides without any issues. I can't spend too much of time for the hobby, therefore I can be a little bit lazy with such lightweight setup. Just carry it out of the garage, place, polar-align and start shooting within a few minutes.
I keep getting people telling me how amazing the AM5 is!!! I guess at some point I'll have to make the jump...
For what it's worth, also loving my AM5 as a beginner.
I currently use an AVX and two EQ6Rs. The EQR is a workhorse. It's the benchmark. The AVX is great visual.. and okay for astrophotography at shorter FLs (currently using it with the FL @416mm).
Thinking about getting an AM5 for the little scope. Would love to get a premium mount one day.. something like an astro-physics Mach2.. but that's not going to happen any time soon, lol.
Two EQ6Rs!! Nice!!
I had an AVX for visual, but never used it for astrophotography. I'm sure I had a lemon because the RA tracking would jump like crazy until I physically slapped the mount. I wish I was joking 😂
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Yikes!
Currently running three rigs at one. The 65phq is on the avx. The Edge 8 and an at115edt are on the two EQ6Rs. Keeps me flush with data when the weather doesn't cooperate :)
Keep these ranking videos coming, good stuff :)
Thanks, will do!
Just wait till you try an AM5, super light guides great right out of the box. I replaced my Orion Atlas EQ with it, they both perform fantastic, but the AM5 is a fraction of the weight.
Arghhh, I guess at some point I will have to get an AM5 everyone mentions it!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek You need a corporate sponsor to send one to you!
Can it handle 10kg ota for alt az for planetary?
@@chandraxrayobs Its rated up 13kg without any counterweights and 20kg with. I would put some weight in the tripod sling to lower the center of gravity with that kind of a payload.
@@zborkz That's some great advice 👍
Very informative and entertaining video, Cuiv as usual! I recently bought a used CEM60, but not getting the precision from it that you do (and that I hoped for).
Oh I'm sad to hear that... the lottery strikes again :(
Now the question is: should I try to make this mount work or play the lottery again?
Thank for putting this content out there. I really enjoy your videos. I wanted to ask a question, though. Why you didn't includ3 the EmCan Astro EM31Pro that's shown on your videos supporting the "Franken-scope" dual Newtonian. And how this mount would rank here?
I use the EQ6r pro and love it. The AM5 looks amazing though
The AM5 is a very good mount, at least the sample I got!
Hey Cuiv - love your posts, your energy and enthusiasm…..makes up for months of cloudy nights here. Question - I will be in Tokyo in April, can you recommend best Astro shop(s) to visit…..especially for Takahashi. Thanks
I don't really have recommendations for shops... I've almost never been to a physical astro shop in Japan!
curious - is the rooftop observation platform occupied by others - I noticed 3 scopes up there when you were showing your last/most recent mount.
I have 2 mounts currently - a SkyAdventurer 2I Pro and an EQ-6 Pro. They perform different functions for different setups.
The Skyadventurer can barely handle the weight of my Sony Camera and the 600mm lens combo but can work with some of my smaller lenses.
The EQ-6 works with my borrowed Z-16 and ASI Camera. It also worked with my 8" SCT (which is under the weather).
I ended up moving from NINA to an ASIAIR which simplified my process when I stepped up to the EQ-6.
You seem to have a large assortment of mounts that you have used over time - it would be nice to have a sample of pictures and a time frame for ownership.
I bought my Meade SCT in the early 1990's and it went into mothballs around the year 2000 and I started back up around 2020 with astro photography.
Amazing the difference in camera equipment with doing film pictures in the 90's and everything is now digital.
The scopes have not changed that much (today's SCT appear to not be that different from my old SCT). The Mounts went from hard to polar allign and gear driven to an assortment of methods and of course the huge difference that guide scopes now play in the game.
Appreciate everything that you bring to the field.
Cuiv, great video! I started into astrophotography four years ago. My first mount, before moving to the EQ6R- Pro was a used Vixen GP2 Mount with the Hal130 tripod. I loved everything about this mount. Portable, reliable and the tracking, even unguided, was superb. It was a great for learning how to use an equatorial mount I still have it and am reluctant to ever sell it.
Don't ever sell that GP2!!
yup ... more like this ...
by this time you have a lot of experience and all of us could use some reassurance before we click the buy button ;)
AS-GT mount from Celestron.... bit of a grand daddy by now ... I took care of it and guides about 8.5 kgs of scope anywhere from 0.7 to 0.3 depends where it's pointing in the sky ...
Oh wow isn't that the ancestor of the AVX? It's great you have it working so reliably!!!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek no, it's the ancestor of the CG5 .... ancestor of the avx ... but they built them better then ...
they don't mind the C11 even ... much like your vixen mount from the past ...
I went planet hunting with the C11 I got on loan from the university and did ok ... that's until all my components of the 3.3 visual back come to me so that I can use the reducer with the 2" adaptor so as to maximize its potential ... till then ... clear skies my friend from afar!
decided to get the AZ-GTi because of your videos of it, thanks.
Awesome!
Wow, Didn't realise you've been Into Astrophotography for 14 years. Great Journey!
Thank you!!
Cuiv love your channel, my first mouth was celestron advance GT then in 2011 I got a used Vixen SXD mount, and it’s been my workhorse ever since it handle my Galaxy season scope VMC 200L(big Bertha)with ease.
Ooh wow!! That's such a cool pairing, an SXD with a VMC200L!! How do you like the VMC? I always wanted to get one!
It’s an awesome telescope if you pair it with its focal reducer. I do it on a budget and I use Antares 2" 0.5x Focal Reducer so my stars are not that perfect but i don't care it’s a pretty awesome telescope with that mount. Though the old SXD doesn’t have much drive support, I found a good driver that would work good with N.I.N.A. Vixen good Japanese quality.
@@Robkhanoufhi my friend, please can you share your configuration PHD2?, i use NINA too but i dont good guiding, I hope you can help me :(
great stuff as always cuiv:) would love to see similar videos on scopes, cameras, etc
Thanks, will do!
Great Video Cuiv. I wonder if ZWO would give you an AM5 to test, that would would be interesting to see!
A little bird whispered in my ear that they might be sending me a loaner :)
Cuiv, thanks for the video. Great! Based on the rank that uou creared in this video, how do you rank the ZWO AM5? Thanks!
I'd say A tier!
I have had a AZ-GTi for years now. It's just so versatile, I can use it for almost anything except heavy telescopes. I would rank it as an A , for the value alone.
For sure that the price and versatility make it an amazing little mount!!
I hope you will have the opportunity to check out some of the new harmonic drive mounts, like AM5 and HEM27; I use the AM5 and am loving it so far. My other mount is the CEM40, which I also love.
I'll look if I could get an AM5 on loan!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek I think you'll like it; it kinda combined the best of few of the mounts you had in the past (compact/light, accurate, can also do alt-az, etc.). Let us all know what you think if you do!!
Another cracking video! Thanks Cuiv!
Thanks Dave!
my first mount Skyguider pro will not die peacefully, upgrading it to have full goto soon.
and be backwards swap able to stock for MW backpack action.
I have the same mount, how do you plan on making it goto?
@@rayyanimran1557 im drawing up some parts and getting som belts and stuff.
got the DEC axis motorised and guiding now. just RA axis to go and new mainboard.
That's some hardcore DIY adding a motor to Dec, wishing you well with the project :)
@@Astrolavista DEC is motorisec and guidable as its own mod atm. RA getting a different motor to get it all working as GOTO
Oh wow, good luck with that mod!!
My ranking is a bit different: of all my mounts, the 10 micron 2000HPS wins hands down. Although I also still enjoy my Vixen SXD2 a lot, as my Losmandy G11G. From all my mounts I would put the AP mounts I owned (Mach1, 400, 600, 900, 1100, 1200) between the 10 micron and the Vixen.
Aaaah you've tasted a poison I never have: the truly premium mounts! I'm jealous!
Thank you for the explanations, Cuiv! I use my only Sky Watcher Star Adventurer (with 1-axis guiding) which I find pretty OK for the price, paired with a digital camera that I already owned. It cannot be compared to your experience but I have fun with my humble gear. I'm curious to see your experience with DSLR lenses and telescopes too. Cheers!
Humble gear is always a lot of fun! Enjoy!
Hi cuiv, excelente review… i ask your question? I have SXD2 and my setup is around 10-11 kg for Astrophotography, Do you think it's too much weight for sxd2, or should I lower it?
Awesome! Very helpful!
Wow Cuiv - wish you could add insight onto more of your experience with mounts, you had the Alt-Az Eq5 + on the impact of the weight of the mount. I just broke my AVX mount (my stupid mistake), and while I am trying to fix it, I am also looking for an alternative, and what I am hoping is that people like you, versed in both Nina and ASIAIR, can shed some more insight on the mounts with the sense of what can work with what ++ that Vixen , was it better than the EQ6 ? Was it just the guiding computer or the actual mount itself ? And one last item - can you shed more light onto the "hit miss" with the iOptron mounts?
Another Great informational video. Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
Great mount the SXD2. I have one and confirm
Great video, but.....I only find one mount in a pricerange for a beginner. The Skywatcher AZ-GTI. I am looking to find a setup after my son and I bought a used Astromaster 130EQ, very very cheap, and just realizing that a EQ mount are not for really new beginners, but we have so much interest that we want to find a mount with motors, and goto, and possibility for auto tracking, but No matter which video we look at, all say buy big. Your load x 2, as a minimum, which means that everything under 10kg load capacity are not good. Prices for such mounts begins at around €1000, for Skywatcher EQ5 Pro(not the AZ-EQ5-GT or the HEQ5), Skywatcher EQM-35, Bresser EXOS-2 EQ, Explore Scientific iEXOS-100PMC-8 WIFI, EXOS-2-PMC-8, and I could accept this price range, but none of them gets good and painless reviews. They all have some kind of fault, bad design or just really poor built quality(EXOS-2-PMC-8). That is probably why it is so hard to fins reviews of them. Manufactures must know that and do not send them out as review-samples. After seeing your video, I can understand that also expensive mounts have issues....so I will buy a lottery ticket, and hope to get money enough to buy the best mount in the world, (no matter the cost). 🙂
You're right... I think the closest to a proper EQ mount that works decently these days in the SW StarAdventurer GTi or the EQM-35...
great video. Wondering if you would try one of the other harmonic drive mounts in the future? iOptron's HEM44 or the HAE43 or the ZWO AM5
I've been so, so curious about AM5 and HEM series... At some point I will get to them! :)
I had the AZ GTI once. Don't know why but I never liked it.
Aligning could go well for a few times and suddenly it went South (even literally).
Goto was hit or miss and I had to send it in for repair because something was not happy inside.
Sold it as soon as it was back from repair.
I love my NEQ-6 though.
I have the CEM25P but only used it 2 times so far but it looks promising:)
That's a shame of the AZ GTi, although I'm not surprised there can be equipment lottery, true a bane of the hobby...
You need to use that CEM25P!! Just send it to me if you don't you use it hehehe :p
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Haha shipping it from Belgium to Japan might be expensive :)
I don't know why I don't use it. Maybe because my goto transformed GP-DX feels sturdier? I don't like the clutch mechanism on the CEM. That I do know!
Found a SXD2, mount only no tripod, second hand for sale in 1600usd... And as I research seems to be a pretty good mount, it even looks new. Is it a good deal?
Nice video!
You should make more of them!
Thank you, will do!
Please, do you can automátic meridian flip with star book ten (ascom)? If you positive anwser please tell me your config for this step. Thank
Yes you can, although I don't remember the exact steps - there is some config to allow tracking past meridian (I think I had 5 degrees), as I recall there are some instructions on cloudy nights somewhere
Very nice comparison.
You can illuminate the polar scope by putting glow in the dark tape inside it and blastong it with a flash light. Also, this wasn't my invention. I came across it on someones TH-cam channel.
Hi Cuiv, amazing video! What about the SkyWatcher EQM-35 Pro?
I have the eq8 and it carries a celestron c11 and a meade Apo 115mm. Heavy stuff but it works very well in my baader Dome in my school. (I am a teacher) disadvantage: the school is in a city so i have the same problems as you have! ;)
Haha good setup, bad location, I know the feeling!
Got stuck with Celestron CGX, especially after buying 120mm triplet refractor 😅
Oh wow that's a big scope you have :D
IOptron70G 2022 - ranking solid Z. AVX 2013 - ranking T. AVX 2013 remade by me 2022 - ranking B. This is where I stand now: remade AVX, 8 months experience. Next upgrade 10 micron or Mach2, whichever comes first. No messing around.
10micron or Mach2 will be the dream!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Let’s hope they are as good as their reputation. We will see.
@@CuivTheLazyGeek 10um is in. Ranking S++! It is very rear occasion when mount is better than specs. 4” refractor (Vixen) unguided for 15’ with 0.4” drift. This is after just 25 star-model. Now, I just do 5-7 star-model manually and no guiding for 5 min (I don’t need more). No problem! Thank you very much.
Eccentricity is perfect 0.4.
One more thing. It is not so smooth with Celestron SCT. Floppy mirror is the reason. What a surprise, eh!
Can you tell ‘em what setup you are using to mount your 135mm at 14:40 in the video? THANKS!
Main element (in orange) was a Geoptik adapter, I believe it's this one: bit.ly/3SqBHes