Help Me Choose My New "Santa Approved" AP Mount!

[JayTee]

Crud,

Nobody will ship the CEM 60 free to Hawaii, not even Amazon Prime. The cheapest ($272) is OPT because they're in Cali. Some won't even ship the tripod pier period. I'm searching for a plan B.

Hmmmm,
JT

[Baskevo]

Jeez! That is a bummer! Sounds like Santa's sled isn't as beefy as your new mount will be!

$270 is ridiculous...

[JayTee]

WoooHooo Plan B!!!

My son is coming from Portland, OR to visit me late this month/early in Feb. OPT will ship the mount to him FREE! He will bring it with him on the plane and I'll pay the $25 excess baggage fee. Haaa! I knew there was a way around those exorbitant shipping charges.

Grinningly,
JT

[JimMinCT]

Nice! What else can you saddle the poor lad with while you're at it?
Anything from the mainland you miss? I can't see what, except maybe cheaper gas....
Well Done, ET!

[JayTee]

Nice! What else can you saddle the poor lad with while you're at it?
Anything from the mainland you miss? I can't see what, except maybe cheaper gas....
Well Done, ET!

Are you kidding! There is no Trader Joe's anywhere on this group of tiny rocks! Everyone who comes to visit has a mandatory list from Trader Joe' s that they must bring. And just so you know - there are no Krispy Kreme's on Oahu, and the worst one -- there is not a single In-n-Out burger anywhere within 2400 miles of here!

I'm telling you the deprivation is nearly unbearable!

Cheers,
ET

[AntennaGuy]

Re: "I'm telling you the deprivation is nearly unbearable! "
I've always been impressed with just how many sacrifices people are willing to make, simply to have more access to vowel-heavy seafood.
[http://hawaii-guide.info/food/seafood/ ]

[frant]

Possibly late to the party, I've not logged in for a while - AP has had a backseat for a few months - but I'll offer an opinion anyway

I like my CEM60, though initially I wasn't so sure, it took me 3-4 months to get it dialled in and the key issue was balance as Scott has mentioned, it is crucial to getting this mount to behave, though i still balance east/camera heavy just a hair. Keep meaning to try neutral balance but "if it ain't broke".

The RA and DEC "clutches" are fiddly, there's no getting around it, but once you find the right spot, mark it and you'll always be able to find it again. I was getting ~0.45" RMS guiding in average seeing for ages, and tightened the RA just a shade and started getting ~0.35". My typical RMS is now 0.35" average, 0.45"-0.55" in poor seeing, on occasion in excellent seeing (rare in the UK) I see ~0.25". Hard to argue with at this price point.

Generally I'm running with ~12-15kg payload, at either 1235mm or 642mm focal length, though recently I've been putting together a dual imaging setup, so probably pushing 20kg+ and am still seeing 0.35-0.4" RMS guiding.

As much as anything I think it was just the usual period of "getting to know" a new piece of gear, but after a considerable outlay on a new mount it can be frustrating when it takes lots of effort to get it working, Worth it in the end though.

You've probably already purchased, so I'll finish with this - BALANCE!

[JayTee]

Thank you for your post and some vital information Richard. I have yet to buy the mount due to shipping expenses. I have to wait till a family member flies out to the islands and brings it with them as excess baggage before I can get the mount so I haven't purchased it just yet.

Cheers,
JT

[Bigzmey]

Congrats on the soon coming new mount JT! Those shipping charges, and no Trader Joe's?!

I am having second thoughts about retiring there.

[yobbo89]

I payed $900 to ship my mount, I think it would of been cheaper to catch a flight and back and pay excess... International dilevery on medium sized items is so ridiculous...

[yobbo89]

Btw when you get your mount pls send lots of pictures, I love to hear a report back from Hawaii!

[JayTee]

Btw when you get your mount pls send lots of pictures, I love to hear a report back from Hawaii!

You can count on it.

JT

[STEVE333]

Congrat JT on your soon to be new mount.

I have the CEM40 EC and love it. I don't believe I ever use the EC capability because I guide with the simple Orion Magnificent Mini Autoguider package and PHD2. I tend to get around 1" rms guiding (worse at lower Altitude and better at higher Altitude). I love the almost zero backlash which allows me to do dithering in both RA and Dec with no problem. Without the EC option you save $1000 which lowers the price to $1648.

Just my input.

Steve

[SKEtrip]

Are you kidding! There is no Trader Joe's anywhere on this group of tiny rocks! Everyone who comes to visit has a mandatory list from Trader Joe' s that they must bring. And just so you know - there are no Krispy Kreme's on Oahu, and the worst one -- there is not a single In-n-Out burger anywhere within 2400 miles of here!

I'm telling you the deprivation is nearly unbearable!

Cheers,
ET

It was 10° F this AM here, I can go without doughnuts!
I had to go & look it up - it took $185 to get the SW AZ-EQ6 GT to the middle of the States from the UK (FLO).
Silly question - what if you ordered it outside of the states?
I'd plan on at least $50 for the airlines as likely the mount will be in 2 boxes - and check their "excess weight" policies.

Here's hoping it comes you way soon!

[Kanadalainen]

Congrats JT .... my 0.02: I have a small Ioptron mount, and the design and quality is excellent. Glad your son is helping out, thats cool.

[depratnt]

Another upvote for the cem60. Its so nice. All my CGX friends are jealous

[JayTee]

UPDATE:

I did it! Today I purchased the CEM60 from OPT but only the mount head, not the Tri-pier tripod also. Last week Amazon had the Tri-pier tripod on their site for sale. This was great because I could use my Xmas Amazon gift cards for this purchase - no cash outta pocket! I didn't move fast enough because this week it is no longer for sale on Amazon. I will continue to look there for another week and if it doesn't show back up I'll go to plan B.

Anyway, the most important part is done, but they (and everybody else I use) are out of stock (including iOptron!) but it should still make it to my son's house before he flies out here on the 21st of Feb. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for listening and tune in again in about 3 weeks when it hopefully arrives.

Cheers,
JT

[Baskevo]

Awesome!!! I can't wait to see what you can do with this mount, JT! I hope it works well for you

I had to send my mount back, because of an issue with the counterweight shaft... Hopefully you have better luck than me and your mount comes in pristine condition! (for that amount of money, It better!)

[JayTee]

UPDATE: My new CEM60 and the tri-pier tripod just arrived at my son's house today. Step one is complete. Now I have to find the patience to wait until the 21st when he flies out here.

So here's a kind of weird question, should I have him open the boxes to make sure that there actually is a CEM60 in one box and the tripod pier in the other because shipping from here is so exorbitant I'd hate to have the wrong thing brought out?

Excitedly,
JT

[Baskevo]

UPDATE: My new CEM60 and the tri-pier tripod just arrived at my son's house today. Step one is complete. Now I have to find the patience to wait until the 21st when he flies out here.

So here's a kind of weird question, should I have him open the boxes to make sure that there actually is a CEM60 in one box and the tripod pier in the other because shipping from here is so exorbitant I'd hate to have the wrong thing brought out?

Excitedly,
JT

Awesome! I'm looking forward to your images JT!

What is the negative side of opening to check it?