Telescope Reviews: iOptron Mini Tower

I recently purchased a 102mm f/7 achromat from Astro Telescopes to complement my CPC800. I was looking for a grab 'n go scope. While the CPC is a great scope with a rock steady mount, it is a 'lug n' tug' rather than a grab n' go.

The big question for me was, "what mount should I use?" I wanted a lightweight but sturdy alt-az mount with GOTO capabilities. It also should be able to hold my CPC800 should I choose to defork it. I had seen a number of reviews and comments about the new iOptron Mini Tower mount in magazines and on CN. I decided that this was the mount that I wanted.

The iOptron Mini Tower is advertised as being able to handle up to a 25 pound payload. My achromat weighed in at around 8# and the CPC800 OTA was about 13#. So the iOptron looked like it would fit the bill.

The next question to answer was from whom to buy the mount. All the vendors sell the mount for the same price, $799. I eventually settled on Trapezium Telescopes out of New Hampshire since they were offering free shipping at the time AND the owner, Steve Forbes, personally tested each unit before shipping it to the customer. Trapezium also sends a summary report of the testing results. A nice valuable touch. At this point I should add the standard discliamer that I am in no way affiliated with Astro Telscopes, Trapezium Telescopes or Celestron.

So I ordered the iOptron Mini Tower from Trapezium. It arrived intact in two shipping cartons, one for the tripod and one for the aluminum boxed iOptron unit.

I finally caught a clear night a few days later and got my first opportunity to test out a new 102mm achromat and the Mini-Tower.

First I oriented the scope to the south by aiming the arrow on the base of the unit towards the south. Then I attempted to use the built-in bubble level to level the scope. I found it very difficult to level the scope using the three adjustment screws. Apparently what I failed to consider was those 3 screws could not compensate for the tripod being seriously out of level! So I adjusted the tripod legs to make the iOptron appear level to the eye. Then it was very easy to use the 3 adjustments screws to finish the job. Finally I pointed the scope to the zenith and leveled the scope by eye.

Being that I was doing all this in my front yard with towering trees and homes all about and where I can see more street lights than stars, I did not have much choice about how I was going to do my alignment. A One star alignment it was!

I figured this would give me a very good indicator of just how well the iOptron can handle alignment. I flipped on the power, got a 'GPS ON' signal. I did not have to reconfigure the hand control settings since they were already configured by Steve in NH. I got a 'GPS OK' signal in about 30 seconds. So, with Jupiter in plain view in the south, I picked it for my alignment object. I then did a "sync to object" from the menu. Then I did a GOTO to M8. Now mind you I could not see any nebulosity due to the light pollution and moon light but I knew from the star pattern that I was on target.

But to be sure, I did a GOTO to Alberio. Bang, just to the right of dead center. Then on to Vega. Ditto. Then back to Jupiter. No problems. At this point I knew I was going to like this mount!

So with the moon on the rise, I said time for a look. Slew to the moon. No Moon! What? How can it miss the moon? Well, it didn't. That huge tree in front of it blocked the moon...

So, I thought, here is a real test. I picked up the whole rig and stepped back about 2 or 3 feet to clear the tree. Then I manually slewed to the moon and did a sync. Then I did a GOTO to Jupiter. It was off (predictably) but only by a degree in altitude or so. So I manually slewed again and did another sync. To make a long story short, after that everything that I did a GOTO on was now back in the FOV.

So I am very impressed with the ease of use and accuracy of the iOptron Mini-Tower. The only question left for me now is do I defork my CPC800 and put it on the Mini-Tower! The CPC is a great scope on a totally rock solid mount. But that puppy is super heavy and does not lend itself to grab 'n go. The iOptron on the other hand is perfect for grab 'n go.

With a light rap on the tube, I found settling times to be about 1/2 second. If I really banged the tube, it took about 1 second to settle. Not bad at all.

Since the scope only weighs in at around 8.5#, it was not necessary to use the counterweight. The motors were reasonably quiet and very smooth in operation. If I mount the CPC, at 13#, it will be necessary to use the counterweight.

I found the mount to be more than adequate to handle the 102mm scope. There was no flexure or instability. At only 5 pounds more, it ought to handle the C8 OTA easily as well.

All in all, my experience with the iOptron Mini Tower has been a thoroughly great experience.

Clear Skies,

--------------------
David
CPC 800 XLT
102mm f/7 Achromat
41º32'N 81º32'W
http://astro.lightarts.net

Edited by StarsAbove (09/21/08 07:07 AM)