iOptron SmartEQ

[yltansg]

Bought the SmartEQ mount for solar imaging. It came in one box.



It consists of mount head, tripod (resonably solid) and a controller.



It is light and highly portable. Can be operated using 8 AA size batteries.

Setup is straight forward.



Two things to note -

1. Like the iOptron iEQ45, the counter weight will hit the tripod leg. I fabricated a smaller signature counter weight to overcome this problem.

2. It does not have autoguiding capability and you would need to do a good polar alignment to have good tracking. It works ok for my Borg 76mm scope for solar imaging. Will be trying it for wide filed imaging using the SV70 ED with Canon 450D.

[Gary]

Good stuff! Thanks for the info and sharing!

[roma_my]

Look a lots of string you're using for your signature counter weight. Lol.

[yltansg]

Hi Roland,

I was too lazy to remove the string Here is a close-up of an improvised CW made of few pieces of mild steel glued together. Doesn't look great but does the job

[cataclysm]

The mount looks very light weight. Good improvisation with the counterweight!

[Airconvent]

Looks very sturdy ad heavy too!