Yet another Newby to this Forum...

[rjonst]

Hello,
   Greetings from Great Falls, VA.  I've been a long time amateur astronomer, whose trusty sidekick for many years was an 8" Criterion Dynascope.  It, however was damaged beyond repair a while back and left me without any good means of viewing.  So the other day, I purchased a 12" Meade LX200 OTA.   That was step one.   Step two is getting a suitable mount and the one I've been looking at is an Ioptron IEQ45.   So this evening I get a call from a dealer on whose website I left a message last evening.  He was very eager to please, which led me to do a closer search. 
 This evening's session have shown that there are  a few versions of this mount...  The one I saw first was an IEQ45D, then there is an IEQ45M and the last one is an IEQ45-2013.   Does anyone have information I can use to determine what avenue to proceed?

thanks

BobJ

[Mike]

Hello and welcome Bob. As you probably know, Istar is an iOptron dealer. As far as I know all iEQ45 heads are the same. The only choice is standard tripod or optional piers in 42" and 48". Most mounts are under rated for their capacity but I would weigh your Meade with all the accessories including finder, diagonal, heaviest eyepiece and whatever else you plan on hanging on the scope. I have an iEQ45 myself as you may have seen posted here. Really good mount. I have been using it for about three months now and no complaints. Contact me before you decide. Email me at [e-mail] and I will be happy to discuss your needs or provide my phone number for a discussion.

Mike

[borispider]

I don't want to hijack, but, ioptron sells tripods/piers separately as an option?

[borispider]

Oh, sry, Welcome to the iStar club rjonst.

[Mike]

When you order an iEQ45 it comes with a tripod but for additional funds a pier is available in 42" and 48" heights.