Post by bn1777 on Aug 28, 2013 19:54:07 GMT -5
On a request from Mike as he is getting one of these great mounts , I am starting this thread on my Ioptron IEQ45 mount .
I have had it now for going on 3 years and it has only let me down once , before I even got to use it .
On the first start up the handset kept saying ' Unable to initialise 'Firmware' '
? . damn.
I went and joined the yahoo groups Ioptron IEQ45 club and asked if anyone else had this problem ? within 10 miniutes I was away . Thanks guys ! .
All it was , was the micro sim in the handset was loose in its holder , unscrewing the back and slipping it back in was all it needed , cool as I was happy not to have had to send the HS back for repair .
One more thing , it may be my software v8406 but every time I power up the RA direction buttom wont work ?? but on further inspection , looking on the right side of the display just below the speed ( eg. 64x , 128x etc. )is the word 'STOP' , but if you hit the '0' button on the HS that changes the speed rate thru Solar , Luna , King etc then you are away , but you have to do this every time you power up , its in the 560 page manual but I missed it and found this thru a stroke of luck , all's good and it aint a computerised mount without at least one quirk , now aint it ? .
On using the IEQ45 its so easy , Ioptrons software is much easier to use than Celestron , SW and especially Meades ! , I had it sorted within 20 miniutes of first light , really easy .
I have done a 2 star alignment only twice in 3 years of use as I find the 'Sync to target' function easier and quicker , its used like this ,
Take the mount out side , point south ( roughly ) and power up ,
By the time I am back and have the Mewlon 210 ready to fit the mount has made GPS lock and on the HS is a circle with a line sticking out ( like a ping pong bat ) all I do is turn the mount in AZ until the line ( ping pong bat's handle ) points straight up ( away from the cord ) and that's south , easy as ,
Balance the OTA fit an eyepiece and slew to any star ( I use the moon or a planet ) using the HS direction buttons or using one of the 400,000 object's in the data base , then hit the 'Sync to target ' button , manually align the object to the centre of the eyepiece , press 'Enter' and that's it , go to as many targets as you want , after the 1st Synch the objects are in the field of my 40mm AT Titan eyepiece every time . Easy !
As the night progresses I 'Sync' a few more times at random , just to keep the computer up with the play and the goto's get better and better , a cool feature .
All in all I love this mount , sorry to say but because I have used Celestron's goto's and the horrible Meade autostar and was not impressed at all by goto mounts , totally un-reliable one night and perfect the next ?? a pain in the you know what ! .
But Ioptrons software is bug free , easy to use and realiable , time after time , nice .
Now onto the mechanicals ,
The mount is very well made for the $1799 I payed for mine .
A notch above the Synta mounts out there , nicely proportioned with a well machined and painted finish .
I like the belt drives , smooth and quiet .
I like the spring loaded worms against the wheels , a safety feature if you have a tripod leg clash ( I know it works and I don't ever want to hear that sound again ! ) without damage , a neat feature for sure .
It holds my 127mm f8 istar with ease .
It holds my Takahashi M210 easier , super sturdy and sexy !
I have viewed Saturn at 806x this season with the M210 and it held the image for an hour without moving out of the field of my 3mm TV radian , smooth as, a very impressive mount in this area and that's even after a rough alignment using the 'ping pong bat's handle ' .
All in all I don't think there is a better mount for the money , awesome features , great build and software and all .
Oh yes as always there has to be a con , so here it is ,,,,
,,, The TRIPOD ! as usual with these chineese mounts , is OK , a little small and short , but it is the weak link in an otherwise great mount .
I changed mine out for a William Optics hard wood version and its very sturdy now , it also gives you a much needed 200mm in hight as Istar owners know our long refractors need all the hight we can get and don't we now it ? .
Hope you enjoyed this and pardon any mistakes , I aint the best typer out there .
Brian.
I have had it now for going on 3 years and it has only let me down once , before I even got to use it .
On the first start up the handset kept saying ' Unable to initialise 'Firmware' '
? . damn. I went and joined the yahoo groups Ioptron IEQ45 club and asked if anyone else had this problem ? within 10 miniutes I was away . Thanks guys ! .
All it was , was the micro sim in the handset was loose in its holder , unscrewing the back and slipping it back in was all it needed , cool as I was happy not to have had to send the HS back for repair .
One more thing , it may be my software v8406 but every time I power up the RA direction buttom wont work ?? but on further inspection , looking on the right side of the display just below the speed ( eg. 64x , 128x etc. )is the word 'STOP' , but if you hit the '0' button on the HS that changes the speed rate thru Solar , Luna , King etc then you are away , but you have to do this every time you power up , its in the 560 page manual but I missed it and found this thru a stroke of luck , all's good and it aint a computerised mount without at least one quirk , now aint it ? .
On using the IEQ45 its so easy , Ioptrons software is much easier to use than Celestron , SW and especially Meades ! , I had it sorted within 20 miniutes of first light , really easy .
I have done a 2 star alignment only twice in 3 years of use as I find the 'Sync to target' function easier and quicker , its used like this ,
Take the mount out side , point south ( roughly ) and power up ,
By the time I am back and have the Mewlon 210 ready to fit the mount has made GPS lock and on the HS is a circle with a line sticking out ( like a ping pong bat ) all I do is turn the mount in AZ until the line ( ping pong bat's handle ) points straight up ( away from the cord ) and that's south , easy as ,
Balance the OTA fit an eyepiece and slew to any star ( I use the moon or a planet ) using the HS direction buttons or using one of the 400,000 object's in the data base , then hit the 'Sync to target ' button , manually align the object to the centre of the eyepiece , press 'Enter' and that's it , go to as many targets as you want , after the 1st Synch the objects are in the field of my 40mm AT Titan eyepiece every time . Easy !
As the night progresses I 'Sync' a few more times at random , just to keep the computer up with the play and the goto's get better and better , a cool feature .
All in all I love this mount , sorry to say but because I have used Celestron's goto's and the horrible Meade autostar and was not impressed at all by goto mounts , totally un-reliable one night and perfect the next ?? a pain in the you know what ! .
But Ioptrons software is bug free , easy to use and realiable , time after time , nice .
Now onto the mechanicals ,
The mount is very well made for the $1799 I payed for mine .
A notch above the Synta mounts out there , nicely proportioned with a well machined and painted finish .
I like the belt drives , smooth and quiet .
I like the spring loaded worms against the wheels , a safety feature if you have a tripod leg clash ( I know it works and I don't ever want to hear that sound again ! ) without damage , a neat feature for sure .
It holds my 127mm f8 istar with ease .
It holds my Takahashi M210 easier , super sturdy and sexy !
I have viewed Saturn at 806x this season with the M210 and it held the image for an hour without moving out of the field of my 3mm TV radian , smooth as, a very impressive mount in this area and that's even after a rough alignment using the 'ping pong bat's handle ' .
All in all I don't think there is a better mount for the money , awesome features , great build and software and all .
Oh yes as always there has to be a con , so here it is ,,,,
,,, The TRIPOD ! as usual with these chineese mounts , is OK , a little small and short , but it is the weak link in an otherwise great mount .
I changed mine out for a William Optics hard wood version and its very sturdy now , it also gives you a much needed 200mm in hight as Istar owners know our long refractors need all the hight we can get and don't we now it ? .
Hope you enjoyed this and pardon any mistakes , I aint the best typer out there .
Brian.
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