iOptron GEM 28 - Setting up and first thoughts | Plus, autofocus mount for Redcat/Spacecat 51!
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- I recently bought an iOptron GEM 28. In this video I share my first initial setup and thoughts. Also, I was given an autofocus mount for my Spacecat 51! The link to the cable manager and autofocus mount are below. Clear skies!
EAF Mount : www.etsy.com/c...
Camera Cable Organizer : www.etsy.com/c...
Nick's ETSY Store : www.etsy.com/s...
#astrophotograpy #EAFmount #ioptron
Loved the sunset part
Thank you so much Filipe
Great equipment Isaac. Looking forward to seeing your results. Clear skies
Thanks Glenn. Hoping to get this thing working soon!!
Congrats on the new gear Isaac! I’m looking forward to seeing how you get on with your new mount. It looks super smooth and very well built.
Ah Joe... I'm hoping to find a solution for my issue right now hahah. Regardless, I'm doing a video on my learnings,/ experiences lol
Hey Isaac! - Hope you are good bro, that's looking like a really seriously swish setup!! - The mount size looks like a really good match for the Redcat, I know it could carry lots more load but it just looks right like that you know?
I hope you get the final little things sorted and are able to begin getting the most out of the setup, the levels of automation you'll enjoy now with that EAF setup will be so fun man! 😀
Really looking forwards to seeing more!
Clear skies my friend :-)
Thanks so much Luke!! I feel like the EAF will be a huge win for me! I recently trsted it and it worked lovely. The mount however... uhmm another story! Hoping to have some time to get the specifics sorted out. Clear skies my friend
Hey Isaac - That's a nice looking new mount, I must say the axis look much freer than on mine, mine are a bit more sticky. Hope your first test goes well.
Thanks Ollie. I'm still in the trail phase and need more time to say it's a good mount 🤣😅. But yeah, as mentioned it feels really smooth. Clear skies!
Congrats on the new mount. I have to say that setup with the Redcat looks super tidy - makes mine look like vomited spaghetti. Looking forwarded to seeing the results with the new setup.
😅😅😅🤣🤣🤣 vomited spaghetti huh ? Well that is a first hahah looks great but I want it to work great also, hopefully I can work out the specifics
Hi, thanks for your video. Good to see other GEM28 owners online. Regarding your iPolar issue the software is very quick, too quick in fact and if you aren't careful will take the image and plate solve the second position before you can even move the mount head by 90 degrees. That can give poor polar alignment. What I do is let iPolar make the first plate solve then cover the polar hole with a bath plug (no joke) and move the mount head to the second position, then click to confirm position 1 and take the plug off the polar opening and let the iPolar plate solve position 2. That should help you get better polar alignment. Good luck with the mount.
Steve, thanks so much for this information! I knew there had to be a fine print somewhere so to speak!! I'll have to try it out! I am still adjusting the meshing on the RA as the guiding is how would you say... rough 😅. I sincerely appreciate the information
Hope you have better luck then I did, mine was a lemon
Awesome! Can't wait to see some field tests. I'm looking for a new portable setup and the GEM28 is in the mix--and also a fan of iOptron.
Thanks Chris! The mount sure does feel alot like the CEM 25, which I know you have as well. So far I have had one night with it. Gonna have some more runs and video will follow! Thanks, clear skies!!
Nice gear! I run a cem26 and I've had to iron some kinks out related to the gear meshing in declination. Tracks fantastically for a stock configuration with a 70/350 quad thats around 11 pounds total. If you're having weird spikes in declination and sometimes it wont respond, I found that I have to loosen the meshing to where dec could wiggle if the switch isnt fully locked, but doesnt wiggle when fully locked. Kind of a sweet spot to find and my Dec performs great.
Thanks Nick. I'm still figuring out the specifics, but my issue is with the RA. I haven't had too much time to really test it out, but I'm hoping soon I can get it to work for my setup. Clear skies bro
@@IcemanAstro hmm dang I haven’t had any issues with the ra :(
Awesome video! I bought the GEM 28 couple of weeks ago and I too found some issues with ipolar.. I was not able to center the camera. Gonna try again. Looking forward for your review.
Great review Isaac, enjoy the mount.
Thanks Luke. Hoping I can work out the specifics to make it a great Mount
Looks like an awesome mount Isaac.. perfect for some widefield action. :)
Thanks James! That's the plan!
Hi Isaac, the ipolar alignment has to be carried out by doing a two position alignment. Unfortunately ioptron does not cover this in the manual for the mount. If you look for the ioptron ipolar dedicated manual, apparently there is an alignment procedure to get the ipolar setup.
Thanks Andy. I kinda figured it out . But I had to reset the settings and then so that 2 position alignment. I was going to cover that in the next video, hopefully. But I sincerely appreciate it regardless
awesome!!! Thank you for making these videos
Thank you for watching!! Clear skies!
I enjoyed the video. Hilarious though, I have almost the same setup right down to the smart components from Nick. The only difference is I use the ZWO OAG with the 120MM-S for guiding and I mount the ASIair Plus on the side bracket of the EAF Focuser mount just to balance out the EAF. I also don't use iPolar, kept it to the AccuAlign because I don't want to carry around a laptop in the field and iPolar doesn't work with the ASIair Plus. Other than that, IDENTICAL!
That's awesome man!! We'll unfortunately I had to return the GEM 28. It just did not work for me and I didn't want to wait any longer from a response from iOptron. Thanks for checking put my video man!!
@@IcemanAstro Dang, that's really strange about iOptron not getting back to you. I find their response time is crazy good, longest I've had to wait was 3 days earliest was 1 hour, then again I am not inquiring about mount problems in general. The one time I did need help they got back to me in 3 days and had supplied instructions that made the job so easy. Too bad and I am sorry for your experience. I hope it is smooth sailing with whatever mount you end up going with in the future.
I had the same thing happen from iOptron about 2 years ago. At that time I thought it was due to the pandemic, but now I realize that is who they are lol. Sucks but that is the awful truth.
That looks like such a sweet mount......if only I had the money.
I hope I figure it out so it CAN work bro!!
I have had a great experience with the GEM 28. It has been flawless from day one for me. I use the ASIAir Pro though.
Thanks for the info Andy!! So far, just a couple of things I have to hopefully work out, but other than that, feels great !!
Have you guys faced issue with balancing? It kind of finds perfect balance when put horizontally but when i move to any other positions it does not stay balanced.
Adwait, iOptron specifically told me that these mounts are meant to be that way. Initially that's what I thought that they had to achieve a perfect balance, but they don't. Balance the Dec first and then RA . Hope that helps, clear skies
@@IcemanAstro thanks for the confirmation. I thought I was doing it wrong. I hope to capture the first light soon. Clear skies to you 🙏👍
Nice informative video, just one quick question what is the weight of your spacecat rig in total ?
Thanks Phil! The Spacecat rig weighs close to 10 pounds .
Thanks for the video, enjoyed it. I’m looking to buy a GEM 28 and you just helped me in my decision making process. Would the EC version be worth my money or should I settle with the std version? I have my guide scope and EAF mounted on a Redcat using a Black Cat mount and that sits really nicely on the scope. Do you know how the GEM 28 connects to an ASIAIR Plus, any issues there?
Thank you for watching Esa. As far as I understand, the EC which have the encoders are mainly used for not guiding. It seems you will be guiding , so I wouldn't worry too much about the EC version. I don't use the ASIAIR but I know many people have used it with this mount. Also, if you haven't watched my other video, I actually returned this mount because it was not guiding well in RA and iOptron never responded. Regardless, if you do order one, I hope it works well for you. Clear skies
@@IcemanAstro I thought that I found a nice mount for my Redcat, not so sure of it any more. ZWO AM5 certainly looks interesting, too, but that’s impossible to get hold on. Anyways, thanks for your reply.
I thought so as well!! Specifically this mount was supposed to be for my cat .I am part of an iOptron forum and even now people are still experiencing quality issues with them. And iOptron customer support is just awful. Not trying to direct you in any way, but just sharing before you spend money on something that doesn't work and the company doesn't care .
Is it better than CEM26?
Hi Ishan. I actually returned this mount . If you watch another video I explained why I returned it. I'm not too sure which is better, but to my understanding they are both similar. The difference is one is a German equatorial and the other is a center balanced mount