iOPTRON - Astronomy Technology Today

THE LITTLE MOUNT THAT COULD
Image 7: Captured using the iOptron
iEQ30, this image of M44, the
Beehive Cluster, demonstrates
excellent tracking.
Lyra © Double Double
Mounting System
No More Tube Rings
or Tools!
fect bang-for-buck for my scope and
CCD. Yes, in the years ahead I might get
something higher-end to refine my work,
or, if I got a bigger scope (I’m eyeing a
really nice 9-inch MakCass for planets).
But all choices have tradeoffs, and with
the goals I have, this mount is great!
The Good
1. It is light with a nice payload for
its weight. Damps down quickly.
2. Good price for this range of mounts.
3. Setup is easy. 4. The polar scope and
HC routine is very good to excellent
(nice level on the polar scope, lighted reticle
on it, easy picture on the HC to follow
– very repeatable). 5. Go-tos with
the HC or otherwise are very good. 6. PE
on my scope is very good. 7. Customer
service is EXCELLENT. I want to thank
John and the anonymous Tech2 from
iOptron whose support and quick
responses to even the stupidest of my
questions were always helpful and sometimes
sky-saving (they sent out a pierplate
the day the Nemo storm hit, even
before charging me, in the hopes of having
me receive it before the next weekend’s
viewing). Good support is worth its
weight in gold!
The Not As Good
1. The ASCOM driver is a bit fluky.
It doesn’t play well with others. TheSkyX
had trouble with it, and despite Daniel
Bisque’s help, I had to scrap it and go to
TheSky 6. I’ve read about others having
trouble with it on differing software as
well. 2. I could never get this mount to
work with SkySafari. But, I had to use
Bluetooth and a crappy Android phone
(no iPhones on T-Mobile), so it may
have been the Bluetooth. Still, I have
read reports that it can be tough for others
as well. 3. The fine-tuning alt-knobs
are so-so, but there are nice mods put up
on the web for the iEQ45 (same mount
but bigger) that make them more accurate.
Have grinder, will travel. 4. I got the
very first mount case (as far as I know)
and the foam was put in backwards on
top. All other small quibbles (a missing
bolt, a broken reticle cord), iOptron took
care of quickly and painlessly, but this
one thing still irks me: I ripped foam out
to make it work, but it looks like something
the cat coughed up.
The envelope please:
There you have it, a born-again
astro-newbie’s look at the iOptron
iEQ30. For my stated goals, a great buy.
Your mileage may vary, but no one gets a
Ferrari for Honda prices (despite a lot of
whining I hear on online sites). I’d rank
this as a solid Volvo: well-thought-out
build, good performance, sturdy and
always does what it’s supposed to. Now,
if I could just find more free time to get
out to my dark site, I could take some
more pictures and actually get good at
this stuff!
Quick mounting of guide scopes, cameras
and finder scopes on telescopes with just
the click of two buckles!
Replaces two sets of two mounting rings
and all the nuts and bolts.
FAR LABORATORIES
www.dynapod.com
34 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY