Telescope Reviews: New iOptron heavy duty GEM

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amys
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/12/06

Loc: Groton, CT

New iOptron heavy duty GEM
#3052121 - 04/19/09 07:42 AM Attachment (223 downloads)

I was at NEAF yesterday and saw this new iOptron heavy duty GEM. It's supposed to be available in about 3 months.

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: amys]
#3052237 - 04/19/09 09:10 AM

Quote:

I was at NEAF yesterday and saw this new iOptron heavy duty GEM. It's supposed to be available in about 3 months.

I saw it on video durin' Tom's walk-about and was impressed by its looks.

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Gord
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/06/04

Loc: Toronto, ON, Canada

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: rmollise]
#3052352 - 04/19/09 10:20 AM

I saw that too!

My feeling is it looks like a scaled down cross between an ME and an AP-900/1200. I could dream otherwise, but I'm sure it won't be even remotely close to the same quality class though.

I like the way the alt forks are setup with the central pivot point and locks above and below. Nice looking c/w setup too. I think I heard them say around 25lbs capacity?

Very nice looking at any rate!

-Gord

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codemonkey
super member

Reged: 09/16/08

Loc: Lafayette, CO

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: Gord]
#3052431 - 04/19/09 11:18 AM

nice, looks interesting. Any word on price?

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: Gord]
#3052454 - 04/19/09 11:31 AM

Quote:

I saw that too!

My feeling is it looks like a scaled down cross between an ME and an AP-900/1200. I could dream otherwise, but I'm sure it won't be even remotely close to the same quality class though.

I like the way the alt forks are setup with the central pivot point and locks above and below. Nice looking c/w setup too. I think I heard them say around 25lbs capacity?

Very nice looking at any rate!

-Gord

What surprised me? Tom said "25 pounds payload" I believe...looked a little heftier than that to moi.

It might not be close to those mounts in payload, but there is no reason it cannot be high in quality.

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Ricky
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/09/03

Loc: Nor Cal

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: rmollise]
#3052475 - 04/19/09 11:43 AM

That mount looks SWEEEEEET! Anyone have an idea what the cost is?

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rob cos.
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 03/11/04

Loc: New England

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: Ricky]
#3053107 - 04/19/09 05:50 PM

It was $500 at Neaf.

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joelwhicker
sage

Reged: 07/24/08

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: rob cos.]
#3053154 - 04/19/09 06:22 PM

Is this the same that has been on OPT's website for about a month as a preorder? There it says the capacity is 35 lbs., and looks like a CG-5.

http://www.optcorp.com/ProductList.aspx?uid=105-439-278

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amys
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/12/06

Loc: Groton, CT

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: rob cos.]
#3053159 - 04/19/09 06:25 PM

This is the new, not previously seen heavy-duty GEM, not their other GEM. It will cost much more than $500. I was told by one iOptron dealer that it will cost 20% less than the comparable A-P mount. A 25-payload limit doesn't make any sense to me. I think it probably was carrying more than that yesterday. This is a BIG, heavy mount.

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amys
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/12/06

Loc: Groton, CT

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: amys]
#3053197 - 04/19/09 06:40 PM Attachment (130 downloads)

Just a follow-up. The iOptron SmartStar GEM supposedly carries a 35lb payload and looks comparable to a CG-5. This one is much larger. Another photo might give you a better perspective:

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EspacioProfundo
Vendor-Espacio Profundo

Reged: 02/16/07

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: amys]
#3053232 - 04/19/09 06:59 PM

It's rated at 65 lbs, and 5 arc/s pec.

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amys
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/12/06

Loc: Groton, CT

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: EspacioProfundo]
#3053287 - 04/19/09 07:18 PM

That makes more sense.

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RAKing
Postmaster

Reged: 12/28/07

Loc: West of the D.C. Nebula

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: amys]
#3053315 - 04/19/09 07:32 PM

I thought it was an AP900 when I first saw it - that's me in the photo for scale.

We pushed Steve Forbes for more info, but he would not tell us the price. This mount was a big secret until Friday night in Suffern, NY.

BTW - did anyone mention those are also iOptron scopes mounted on it? One Mak; one refractor - I have zero info on these.

Ron

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Tom Trusock

Reged: 02/26/02

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: RAKing]
#3053350 - 04/19/09 07:52 PM

65lbs - I mispoke, sorry guys. It is a sweet looking mount! Looks lightyears above the cube.

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amys
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/12/06

Loc: Groton, CT

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: Tom Trusock]
#3053354 - 04/19/09 07:56 PM

There's no info about it on the website yet.

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Nocturnal
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/14/05

Loc: CT, USA

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: amys]
#3053627 - 04/19/09 10:07 PM

I was quite impressed with the fit an finish of that mount. It will not be cheap but it will be less money than the alternatives. Together with the CGE-Pro it looks like we're finally getting a few more options in the mid-range for mounts.

I recommended that they also sell it without the pier (which looked really good by the way) but with an adapter to facilitate a permanent mounting. The mount will ship with a case to allow it to be transported easily. That's nice but I'd be more interested in a no-frills model that's optimized for an observatory setting.

The hand controller wasn't powered so I couldn't look at it but I'm sure it's similar to the Cube ones. Nice large screen. Personally I don't care about the controller but it's a necessity of course. I'm more interested in adapting EQMOD to drive this mount

Maybe I should contact them about that.

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LLEEGE
True Blue

Reged: 03/03/05

Loc: Cloud-chester,NY

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM new

[Re: Nocturnal]
#3053745 - 04/19/09 11:02 PM

It looks impressive. I was a bit concerned with the amount of play in the RA bearing when lifting on the CW shaft. Maybe <5ach sec with some adjustment, but I doubt it "out of the box".

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Nocturnal
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/14/05

Loc: CT, USA

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM [Re: LLEEGE]
#3053792 - 04/19/09 11:22 PM

That brings up another important point. The mount should be easily serviceable. While it would be ideal to have a mount that's perfect right out of the box you have to be realistic and assume it's maybe 90% there initially and that it declines a bit after the first few months of use which will allow components to settle. You should then be able to reduce play in the various components and adjust gear alignment where needed. I should have asked if they could show the gearing. That would have been educational. I just put my Atlas back together after replacing the bearings so I know the value of maintainability

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Telescopeman54
Vendor - Trapezium Telescopes & Services, LLC.

Reged: 08/17/07

Loc: New Hampshire

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM [Re: Nocturnal]
#3053947 - 04/20/09 01:39 AM

My understanding is that mount will handle a 75 pound load, has an RS-232 port, USB port, GPS interface, has the center of gravity directly over the pier at all times, has huge gears, shaft encoders AND motor encoders, travel cases and will actually be available instead of having to wait for years. I am told that the mount will sell for under $8500.00!! Pre-orders will be accepted in about three months. iOptron has pulled out all of the stops on this mount! Guess what will be my next love affair?

The OTAs are the 150mm MAK that I used last week and the 127 Triplet that I hope to test very soon. The MAK is fantastic! It smoked my 1975 C8 with no effort at all! Saturn looked like a picture from Cassini, M13 was breathtaking and the Ring Nebula was just shy of revealing the Central Star.

CS

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Nocturnal
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/14/05

Loc: CT, USA

Re: New iOptron heavy duty GEM [Re: Telescopeman54]
#3054342 - 04/20/09 09:29 AM

The CGE Pro is $5000. For this new mount to make a dent it'll have to come in quite a bit below that price point unless it's significantly better in terms of PE.

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