Here is the place to talk about all those equipment(Telescope, Mounts, Eyepieces, etc...) you have. Not sure which scope/eyepiece is best for you? Trash it out here!
Good news to all existing owner and those planning to buy the ZEQ25 mount.
iOptron have made a new shorter hence lighter tripod that make the ZEQ25 even more portable as traveling set.
It weighs only 3.5 kg as against 5 kg for the longer 1.5” tripod (both with leg spreader taken into account).
The un-extended height is 460mm and fully extended is 720 mm.
The lower profile of the shorter tripod allows the telescope to point at higher elevation when shooting through balcony and windows.
Legs close and retracted is 500mm. Suitable to be put into the check-in luggage bag.
It is great that iOptron listen to customer feedback and make things that meet the customer needs.
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
Ah, I'm waiting on one arriving. I probably should've waited for the shorter tripod. Maybe I'll take a hacksaw to the one I get. I'm also going to try to get it to work with the AstroTrac pier. Most exciting mount in a long time.
"New toy! New toy!" - that's my warning that this is initial impressions and not anything like a review.
Initial impressions are: very positive indeed.
Mechanically, it's not quite up to Vixen quality, but very, very close. Overall presentation, machining and casting are fine and obviously a lot of thought has been put into the design. The main parts are cast, and "feel heavier than they should" - compared to e.g. a Vixen GP. So, I'm not sure what grade of aluminium/alloy they're using. This makes the mount feel a little cheaper. As well as Vixen, compare it to say, the AstroTrac mounts which are designed to keep weight down, and clearly use some high grade aluminium and are very nicely machined. This is really nit-picking though
A couple of issues with mine:
* It didn't turn on initially. That was worrying. Fiddling around with the power connector got it to work, and it's been fine since.
* The polar scope connection seems to be dodgy. I have to fiddle around with the wire to get it at the right angle and tension to illuminate the reticle. This seems to be persistent.
* Changing it to the low-altitude configuration was faffy. My mount was very tight on one side, so removing the washer between the fork and the RA unit, and then putting it in the new position was very difficult, and I now have a few scratches on my new toy. The other side was OK, and is probably what most people will/should experience. Not a huge problem, but it will be annoying if I take the mount on a trip.
* The Dec motor didn't work at first. Again, fiddling with the connectors sorted this, and it's been fine since. Some of the connectors seem to be spring loaded, which is nice.
* The hand controller feels a little small and cheap compared to the Celestron HC, but I expect this is just because it is lighter, not really any worse.
* Feels like I have to push quite hard on the controller keys - no big deal
* Tripod seems to be steel, so it's heavier (but also cheaper) than an equivalent alumnium tripod. Might be nice if this were an option. I'm going to try to see if I can use the AstroTrac pier.
Those are the main niggles that stuck out at first. I'm not worried about the initial dodgy connections - this could be anything, maybe some solder flux, dust or debris. I'll get used to the controller. I didn't have to get in touch with OPT or iOptron, so can't say anything about their after-sales service.
I've not used it in anger yet, but have played around with it.
* Tripod is nicely made. The spreader design is clever, linking the legs, to the bolt in the mount, "completing the box" - err.. pyramid. Very sturdy. Nice. Personally I'd prefer no holes instead of the eyepiece holders, but whatever. Again the spreader plate could be lighter.
* Really nice that it works at the equator without a wedge or pillar. Stays completely stable, too.
* Option of a pillar or half-pillar would be nice.
* The design is very clever and keeps the weight centered. It's clearly very stable. They've got the Dec motor box as close as it can be to keep the Dec axis in close to the centre.
* The CW shaft angle adjustment bolt made me a bit nervous at first, but it's clear it can handle a ton of weight.
* Generally very nicely made
* No metal shavings, gunk or misalignment (except the fork and RA axis being tight, and it looks like this can be adjusted).
* Controller is nice. Although it can only display a bit more info than the Celestron controller, this actually makes a big difference. It has plenty of features, and the interface is simple and well thought out. You quickly get used to it and then it "just disappears" - you don't have to overly think aboutwhat you're doing, or interpret what the thing is saying. IMHO this is what the Vixen mounts should have.
* Motors are nice and quiet and have a pleasant, constant sound (no coffee grinders)
* Tracking is silent (unlike the occasionally wailing SXW/SXD)
* The RA/Dec lock switches are clever, but I think I'd prefer if they were levers instead of a kind of dial. They feel a little flimsy - but this is just due to the design, not dodgy materials.
* Saddle plate has two knobs and effectively forms a pressure plate instead of one SS bolt that drives into the aluminium of a dovetail.
* The CW shaft has a nice large diameter bolt (M10?), so you should be able to add an extension bar without any fear of it shearing.
* The bearings are very smooth and seem to be good quality.
Overall, this is a very well thought-out, well designed and well-built mount. It's obviously built by people who *use* these things, or at least listen very closely to people who do.
I've seen some advice somewhere questioning "you get what you pay for". This isn't always true. Sometimes you get shoddy service, or get ripped off. A more accurate aphorism would be "you don't get what you don't pay for".
My experience with Chinese (PRC) astro products has generally been that they've been built to a price point (well, I have a mirror I need to build into a scope that should be excellent...). They're not bad, just cheap. QA could be a problem, and you ran a fairly high risk of getting a dud. Many years ago, I had a Synta EQ3-2 mount. I took it apart to tune it and found metal filings. It was very heavy as it was made from some cheap alloy. It was almost impossible to turn the worm directly by hand. The forums were full of people with problems - off-shape axes, bad bushings, etc... The Synta 120/5 achro I had had dodgy finish and really bad optics, but was "ok" (and light - it gave me my only view of Comet Holmes), a Synta Mak-Cass I had was very nice. I bought motors for the EQ3-2 and they didn't work. So, I decided to spend on value and rely on re-sale prices instead of going for cheap. Note that Kenko sell Synta products in Japan, but the QA is better (with the price only a little higher), so clearly this is a business decision, not any real limit in manufacturing, or at least, not any more.
Overall, it seems that Synta have improved greatly since then - the CG-4 mount is apparently quite a nice little mount, though I still doubt it's up to an old Vixen GP. Anyway, my point is that this stuff was cheap, and it was cheap. Money was saved on materials, QA and service, and these savings were passed on to the consumer leading to a whole new market of low-priced scopes, which is a good thing, though sometimes frustrating.
The iOptron stuff is not cheap, it is (relatively) inexpensive and excellent value.
The Z design is clever as it reduces the load on the mount, so a smaller mount can support a greater load. However, there is still the need for about the same amount of counter weight as a standard GEM. I think the Vixen Sphinx mounts still have the most clever mechanical design. For low to moderate loads, the Vixen, although heavier than the ZEQ needs no or very little counter-weight, while the ZEQ will still need a fair amount of counter-weight. I plan to deal with this by using batteries and cameras as counterweights (though you can do this with a Sphinx too). For heavier payloads, things even out and the overall weight of mount & counterweights should be about the same. It would be great to see if iOptron could somehow combine these two aspects, but I don't see how they could do it...
All of the positive feedback on this mount seems to be truly well deserved. I'm looking forward to using this mount for imaging, and am now curious about their larger mounts. I'm even tempted to get another to replace my (NexSXD modded) SXW and GP combo.
I have no affiliation with iOptron or OPT, just a happy customer. BTW OPT ship very quickly.
