Thanks, I was about to buy a GEM28, but had a little doubt. Now I am sure this is not for me. When I invest in equipment, supporting a company to buy their products, I expect for my support to them, some kind of feedback, and help. It seems that Ioptron is what I call a "piss in the pants" company. Customers buy their products, and that gives them warm, after that, they go cold. Keep up the good work. Like the vids. 👍👍
Really sorry to learn of your issues. I think you have been a very patient customer through all of this. Enjoy the 533 mono camera when it finally arrives. Cheers, Steve
Had the same experience with CEM26. After six months fighting with my equipment and suffering I decided to return it back to the shop. Purchased EQ6rPro and happy with it.
So many people have told me this exact same thing. I honestly should have just gone with an EQ6 but since I have had a great ieq45 mount, I just felt like it was right. But no more. Until they fix their quality control
Hi Isaac. Feel your pain mate. This hobby can be frustrating enough without those issues and long wait times. I think you did the right thing. Shame as it looks an amazing mount but if it doesn’t track its no use. Look forward to seeing your next Alpha trip dude. Clear skies
No one should have to tolerate so much hassle with a brand-new mount. You displayed almost unbelievable patience with iOptron. They certainly seem to have have gone way downhill regarding their customer service. (I say this with much trepidation, since I'm the owner of a nearly brand--new GEM 28, which has yet to be well-tested, thanks to near continuous cloudy weather here in the Pac NW.) Best of luck with this summer's imaging. Clear skies!
Richard, I cannot agree with you more. Which is why I decided not to put up with them this time around. Summer is too hot for astrophotography, here in Arizona anyway 😅. Hoping the planetary stuff works out.!! Best of luck with your GEM man. Clear skies, thanks for checking out my video
They have always been sheeit. When only 60-70% of products are okeish, it should not be counted as a proper company. Their figured out that amateur astrophotographers will try to fix mount; and they will pocket money. Just great!
Hi Isaac - really sorry to hear of your frustrations. I have a CEM25p and have had to contact iOptron a couple of times after certain issues cropped up (replace RA worm due to "camming", and more recently RA issues after my rig got blown over during a monsoon storm). They've been generally responsive, though I have not heard back from them for a few days now. Am anxious as the RA ring gear seems stuck even with the grub screws removed). I have been in the market for a new mount, with the GEM28 top of the list due to weight, but I also looked at the EQ6R-Pro which is over the top heavy, but I found several instances of people sending those back for RA issues, too. It seems luck of the draw is the rule of the day these days. Good luck.
Ah man, sorry to hear about your CEM 25. Man, that is horrible. But I agree with you , seems like all these companies are selling lemons. Maybe we should all make videos of the mounts they are sending to expose then 😅. I hope your mount gets fixed and more importantly they don't take 45 days to respond. Good luck to you as well man, clear skies !!
@@IcemanAstro Thanks! I am hoping to get a DIY belt-drive Meade LX70 (CG5) mount online in the meantime. I am bummed about iOptron, but I see they are coming out with a harmonic drive, the HEM27. Might be worth looking into. ;) Clear skies!
Hey bro! - Man, this sucks to hear but I gotta say mad respect to you, you've got the patience of a saint my dude, you gave that mount a lot of your time and gave Ioptron every chance to make it right. I'm glad you've got your credit bro, that's nice to hear and I'm sure you'll love the 533! Can't wait till you get back out to Alpha Scorpii and start catching some photons once again, it'll be refreshing for you I bet my friend as stuff like this takes it's toll on your enjoyment! Thanks for sharing this whole journey and clear skies bro!
Luke!!! Man, patience was definitely tested, again!! 🤣 but yeah for now, I just pre ordered the 533. Hopefully that works !! 🤣 And yeah, only a couple of more days until we head out to the desert. BTW. my comment on your last video was rejected lol. Idk what is up with UA-cam man!! I hope that you can make a trip out here to the AZ desert soon bro!!! The Scorpion Brothers await you !!
@@IcemanAstro Hey bro! - re: comment rejected, I'll have to look into that - I'm really sorry you took the time to comment and then it got eaten by UA-cam bro! :-( I do have you added as an 'approved commenter' on my channel so that should cancel most auto flags, but clearly something can still go wrong 😅 Clear skies bro! Can't wait to see you back out in the desert P. S, I'd freaking love to visit you guys in AZ someday man 👌
WOW! It's really a shame that Ioptron has such poor quality and customer service. I love the form factor of their CEM26 and Gem28 and came close to purchasing one until I read so many issues of horrible quality control and lack of responsiveness of Ioptron to these issues. I too ended up buying a heavier but so far flawless Eq6r Pro instead. Hopefully Ioptron will turn around and fix their quality and customer service issues but for me I avoid all their products right now.
John, I honestly hope they do too. Their products (when working properly) perform really well!! But as I mentioned, 2 years ago and now this year... I think nothing has changed . I'm glad you did your research. And that's why I decided to do this video. To share my experience.
Thanks for the update on the GEM28. Really sorry about the trouble. I'm also an iOptron fan, even with the troubles. I bought my CEM25P summer of 2017, hoping to have it by the solar eclipse--didn't happen. It was out of stock everywhere, and the one I finally received had stepper motor issues. They were more responsive, so really sad to hear about the time you spent fixing and waiting to get your CEM and GEM going. With my CEM25P they immediately sent me a new RA stepper motor and the mount has worked great for years. They even offered to let me pick it up at their Massachusetts office, which is about 30 minutes from where I work. (I'd like to know about the tuning you did for your CEM25P. I need to get the CEM back in working order). Looking forward to seeing some planetary imaging with the dob and whatever you capture with the 533. Bravo to Highpoint Scientific. Here's to clear skies and low error guiding!
Hi Chris. That's why I bought my iEQ45 Pro back in 2017. I heard (at that time) nothing but great things about their products and customer service. I don't know what changed. And about the adjustments I did with the CEM 25 , it was all in PHD 2. I changed the RA algorithm to Predictive PEC. After about 2 hours of getting the setting to my liking, it really got my guiding numbers down. Joe Navara (Joe's Astrophoto) suggested it to me and it has worked well for my CEM.
@@IcemanAstro Hi, I have been enjoying your videos. I have two questions regarding to your CEM 25P, I have the same mount. First off it's regarding to your guide camera. I did notice that it was not connected into your mount or hand controller (HC), how are you guiding? I did notice that you have the PegasusAstro Powerbox Advance, would the HC connected to that box (if so how)? Second question, you said that Joe from (Joe's Astrophoto) gave you a pointer on the PHD 2. He is also someone that I follow, however I couldn't find that video (if he did one) on his youtube page. Can you give some guidance on how about getting that information as I believe that is what's wrong with my CEM 25P mount also. And third. Yes, I know that I said I only have two questions. Lol I have noticed in some of your videos that you're running 2 rigs, how are you running that with one laptop (are you switching profiles in APT)? As you see from my questions I'm still very new at all of this. Thanks for the help.
Hi and thank you. About the guide camera, the camera is connected to the USB hub on the camera. I have the 183 mono and the 6200 mono. Both cameras have a USB hub and I connect the guide camera to those hubs. The imaging camera then has one USB 3 cable that connects to my laptop. I don't use the ST4 cable for autoguiding. I use pulse guiding. The CEM 25 has the serial port on the grand controller and that's where I plug the rs 232 cable and that cable then goes to my laptop via a rs 232 to USB cable. Joe suggested i try that algorithm on PHD2 via email. We talk often so he never made a video about it. I was already getting good guide numbers , but this specific algorithm and the right settings really helped my numbers even better. And I have only one laptop per rig. If you watch some of my other videos when I go to the desert, you can see these setups in action
I was going to buy an Ioptron but with the assorted issues on various mounts i have decided to spend my dollars elsewhere. Thanks fo making the choice easy
Thank you for watching. I made this video to help people like yourself know the realities of this company. It really sucks , but it is the truth. I'm sure other companies will at least respond to their emails and care about their customers.
Hey Isaac, that’s a real pain having to deal with those issues and wait so long for a response! At least you got store credit! Hope your 533 turns up soon, looking forward to you & Jason heading out to Alfa Scorpio, good luck with the weather 😀 Clear skies!
I though so too Simon. I don't know if I want to buy iOptron again just because of my experiences . I'm hoping the 533 won't take all my life 🤣🤣. Clear Skies Simon!!
Hey Isaac. Man I feel really bad for you dude, it's so annoying that you've had to go through much and in the end had to return the mount. I can relate to this a bit with my first scope, I went through months and months trying to convince the shop I purchased it off something was wrong. It took me 4 months to convince them and another 3 months for them to finally send me the correct field flattener. To me it feels and unreasonable scenario to have the person who purchased the mount basically have to try figure out what's not working especially in your case where you have a lot of experience so it's not user error. Good work putting your experiences out there Isaac, I think it's good for people to know the real stories like this. Better luck in the future mate 👍
Wow Ollie, that is crazy! And I agree with you, we shouldn't have to worry about stuff especially if it's brand spanking new. And I do feel like we as youtube astrophotographers need to talk about this more. I'm sure there are many people going through this. And it is a reflection of the company . But I learned my lesson 😅. Clear skies Ollie
Bro, this breaks my heart. I just purchased a CEM70 and this makes me think twice about the mount. Hopefully when I actually get mine it won't be so bad.
Yea, you should think twice. I got CEM70-NUC. Total crap. Everything what he is telling is correct. I am returning mount for repair. Their customer support is sheeit as well.
@@anata5127 I live in Japan and we have a Japanese service center that supposedly checks and inspects all mounts before shipping. They also handle all repairs and don’t go through iOptron, so I feel safer ordering the mount. If Sky-Watcher had a mount in the 35kg range I’d pick that up, but I can’t justify the EQ8 since I don’t have an observatory.
@@budc6246 Gem is not CEM system. It is conventional equatorial mount. CEM system is problem. Moreover, problem with IOptron is perpetual “telling untrue”. Your GEM45 is probably for tiny refractor and you happy. CEM70 is going to guide scope with FL >1500mm. You need
@@anata5127 Update. The mount was backordered for so long that I just canceled the order. Maybe that was the best thing that could happen to me. I'll just save up for another EQ8-R mount or maybe another EQ6-R.
My first "real" EQ mount was the original ZEQ25 back when iOptron was new on the scene. It worked great out of the box, but the polar scope LED broke several times. But at the time contacting iOptron would always lead to a reply within hours, and they'd send me a new LED very quickly... It's weird to hear such lack of responsiveness from them when they used to be known as one of the most responsive vendors!
I have had such bad experience with iOptron. As mentioned in the video, I gave them the benefit of the doubt . But again, the same experience 2 years apart. That just says something about their customer service unfortunately.
Well this helps me. I've been looking at the ioptron mounts lately because they are the only ones you can reliably find sometimes. Now I think I will keep holding out for something else
I have 1 of those blue cubes and and 1 black cube pro... The old blue one worked great until it finally burned up a motor. They sent me a new board quickly but that didn't fix it... But, they responded pretty quick! The black pro cube works but won't Goto with any accuracy. I have mixed feelings about ioptron so I haven't purchased any more. Seems like all manufacturers have their weak areas... Thanks for this video about your experience. I hope ioptron is paying attention...
I hope they are paying attention as well. And you are absolutely right, every company has their weak areas, but I think communication should be at the top of their list. Thanks for watching
Excellent Video and TRUTHFULL ! iOptron basically SUCKS ! I have been in the same boat with you with my CEM40 and CEM60. Both had issue after issue after issue and iOptron customer service was HORRIBLE !. I ended up returning them and bought my EQ6-R Pro and Celestron CGX. Both worked right out of the box. (Pay attention to that word iOptron if you are reading ! "WORK" that's key word here). Quality control seems to be non existent with iOptron. I cant see how the stay in business with all these issues.
Thank you Nick. I just felt like I had to be truthful with this video. I am just like any other astrophotographer and a paying customer. When we buy things, they should work plain and simple. We shouldn't have to perform surgery, or be an engineer
Thanks Gerry. More than anything I just want to put ot out there of how the company has treated me for 2 times now. Everyone can make thier own judgment from there. But I felt it was the right decision. Thanks bro, clear skies
It's really sad to hear iOptron's customer service is so bad. I guess I was really lucky with getting help on my CEM120, but again, it should've just worked from the factory as advertised just like yours. I hope they fix their QC and support soon or else that'll be one less company to get a mount from. Thanks for the shout out as well man, looking forward to your desert video soon.
So sorry to hear that your issue with the mount wasn’t resolved. That’s very poor of iOptron to not respond especially with the money spent on these mounts. I’m lucky that I haven’t (yet) had issues with my two iOptron mounts so haven’t tested the customer service from them but by the sounds of things, it’s not good. On a more positive side, I hope you get the 533 soon and I’m really looking forward to a new video from the Scorpion Brothers at Alpha Scorpii.
I thought so too about their service Logan. It is what it is though. I hope if you do have ti reach out, they treat you like a regular human being 😅. Anyway, I am sooo looking forward to the desert. Clear skies
I've been struggling with a GEM28 for about a year. I have constant Dec spikes on PHD and I've tried everything from a software angle to no avail. I've been unimpressed with almost every aspect of the mount. For example, when polar aligning you lose the alignment as soon as you tighten either the DEC or RA locks, the hand controller won't keep time and the iOptron controller software is out of the dark ages. To have to use the USB socket on the hand control to connect to a pc is rubbish and the system regularly forgets where zero is and randomly choses where to go when it parks at the end of a session. I could go on but I suspect you get the picture. I've taken some good shots with it but it adds so much stress to every session I intend to bin it as soon as I can afford to!
Wow, it seems you had more issues than I did. Unfortunately you and so many others have struggled with that and so much more. I hope ita soon for you to get a working mount. A year is too damn long to be dealing with issues like that
Sorry about your mount bro. That sucks. It sounds like ioptron customer service is less than stellar which sucks as well because in my opinion that's what a business is based on. Looking forward to Jason and you getting back out to the desert and seeing some videos from you guys. Clear skies.
Dang man... so frustrating. This stuff costs too much to have an entire rig down due to a single faulty part. Glad HS took it back for store credit. CS!
Issac, I have had good luck with Ioptron. My CEM25EC works great, and the CEM40EC came with a bad Ipolar scope and mounting screw was stripped. After about 2 weeks, I got a new mounting screw after showing them a picture of the defective screw. I never had the polar scope serviced because i use the ASI AIR +. Both mounts work well for me.
There are ways to get refund even after 30 days. It took me 7 months, but I got it back. People in astrophotography hobby think that it is small market and no hope. Wrong! The same purchase protection law is applied whether you purchased mount or car. Here is an answer - complain to Massachusetts General Attorney office and go from there. I think their license to sell in USA should be not extended. By the way, it is on renewal in December 2022.
Hello ! I think I have the same problem as you, I had my GEM28 set up very well and I had a guidance between 0'35" and 0'65" then after an astro break of 4 months nothing works anymore! My RA guiding is going haywire and I can't seem to solve the problem, I've taken everything apart, checked everything and set it up again with no success... You said that Ioptron had managed to send you back a working mount, do you know what they had done exactly? Thanks!
Hi Fredo. Ioptron did not send me this specific mount back working. I returned this to High Point. In 2020 I sent my CEM 25P back to ioptron 3 times. Finally after the 3rd time. It was fixed. All they said was it needed adjusting... hoping you get your mount fixed. clear skies
Wow Brotha, That is surprising that Ioptron just sat on there laurels and that it took High-Point to do something on your behalf...That is screwed up....makes me think I might be going back to Celestron or SkyWatcher for my next Mount.....Clear Skies my Fellow Scorpion Hunter....
It is what it is man. If you buy iOptron and you get lucky, you won't have any problems and it will perform amazing. But if you get bad luck like me , forget about it
Oh man I'm sorry about your mount! You paid all this money for a good mount, it should just work? But glad you where able to get everything sorted out!! And awesome image of the eclipse btw! Clear skies man!
Hey brother. Wondering what you think about the Ioptrom Cem26, because at first I was looking at the adventurer gti but it carries only 11lbs and isn't available anywhere, also eqm-35 also unavailable, so what you think about these 3 mount which one would be best for beginning?
Hey man, I think these 3 mounts are great for beginners. You already know how I feel about iOptron customer service lol. In all, iOptron has some great mounts, as you know I have 2 working ones and they are amazing. If you do take the chance and buy one, I feel like it's just a gamble. If you get a good one, you are good. If you have to deal with iOptron customer service... good luck bro. I personally would go with either the eqm or CEM 26
Hi Isaac, such a frustrating process. I really like ioptron mounts, but they seem to have questionable quality control. Hopefully there are some really nice new mounts coming up over the next few months.
Hi Marvin, well I didn't make this video to scare you , but more so I can show everyone what experiences I went through with iOptron on two separate occasions. And it's not just me. I spoke to at least 10 different people, including some of my subscribers who have had the same experience with iOptron. I hope your mount works and works well. Clear Skies
@@IcemanAstro I'm now facing similiar issues and iOptron misbehaviour with my GEM45. It's a shame: great products (in my opinion) and poor quality control and customer support. If you're lucky, you get a good mount and you're happy; if not... you literally waste your money. Good you got to send it back for refunds. Thanks for sharing.
Matteo, they are truly great products, they are! But to get one and get one working is such a hassle. Their customer support on two separate occasions had me waiting and waiting. I hope you get your mount working, or at least a response from iOptron. Clear skies
@@marvinwhisman3333 I assume you've tested it by now? :-) How'd it go? I have a GEM28 in the shopping basket and this video made me think twice haha. Clear skies!
At the time there wasn't one available to replace. Also, I talked to another one of my astro friends. He indicated that he was on his second mount and had worse results than the first. I didn't want to take that chance to only have to reach out again to iOptron
Nice video I have a cem 26 what issues am I looking for guiding has been ok I think but I’m new to it. My other mounts are skywatchers eq6r pro has been the best but really heavy lol. Thanks for all your videos and knowledge appreciate it.
Thanks Dan. I'm glad it is at least acceptable to you . Mine was just bad right out of the box. I did get lucky with my iEQ45 and I hope it NEVER breaks 😅. Clear skies Dan
I have some spikes on my CEM70. Not insane ones but it guides great then spikes in Dec and RA to 1-1.5. Really frustrating but we’ve had terrible weather and work is insane so I’ve not had much time to adjust it
That's how it was for me Nick. Well except it would spike to 3 and even sometimes 5... I really hope it's something that you can fix and not something you have to contact them about. Clear skies
Hi Isaac sorry to hear you had so many issues with you mount. I understand you want to use your Dob for imaging. Let me tell you it will work well. I use mine and really like it for imaging. I have been able to do live stacking with Sharpcap with good results. If you look up Keep it simple channel on you tube there is a bunch of great information there. Hope this will help you. Cs Ray
Hi Ray. Thank you so much for the information! I want to record for stacking and processing more than anything. But live stacking will also be awesome! Especially when you have a crowd to please lol Appreciate it thank you
lol.. painful but all to common. I have a CGX-L that spikes on RA and tracks like garbage. I won't send it back, I make due with what I can for now... shipping something like that back and forth is a PAIN in the ASS... I just won't buy another celestron mount, and I will eventually fix mine on my own. my EQ6R is till the most reliable mount I have ever had haha.
I guess for me, if they were more responsive I would probably go along with the repair. But this is my second bad experience with them so I decided not too. And if you can do the maintenance, that's even better !! I am not an engineer so I want something that I paid for to work lol
I honestly would too. Unfortunately I am not the only one who has had this kind of treatment from iOptron. I would say probably 10 percent of their customers get a working mount. Otherwise it's a pain like I went through !
They don’t give sheeit. Totally atrocious company. Moreover, they are hiring some UA-camrs and bloggers sending them good mounts to get great references. I kicked ass one of such IOptron prizing dude for his totally biased review.
I am not a big person on UA-cam hahah. I don't have my channel 2 years ago and it was bad. I am getting the same treatment this time around. I myself don't think I will ever buy another product from them
Ask yourself: Where is Ioptron located? Ok, so either you already know or took a minute to look it up. Now, understand those people just like to sell products and make lots of money with not having to deal with "customer service"... Once They Get Your Money They Absolutely Don't Care!
Thanks, I was about to buy a GEM28, but had a little doubt. Now I am sure this is not for me. When I invest in equipment, supporting a company to buy their products, I expect for my support to them, some kind of feedback, and help. It seems that Ioptron is what I call a "piss in the pants" company. Customers buy their products, and that gives them warm, after that, they go cold. Keep up the good work. Like the vids. 👍👍
Really sorry to learn of your issues. I think you have been a very patient customer through all of this. Enjoy the 533 mono camera when it finally arrives.
Cheers,
Steve
Thanks Steve!! I hope I get it really soon as well. Clear skies!!!
Had the same experience with CEM26. After six months fighting with my equipment and suffering I decided to return it back to the shop. Purchased EQ6rPro and happy with it.
So many people have told me this exact same thing. I honestly should have just gone with an EQ6 but since I have had a great ieq45 mount, I just felt like it was right. But no more. Until they fix their quality control
Hi Isaac. Feel your pain mate. This hobby can be frustrating enough without those issues and long wait times. I think you did the right thing. Shame as it looks an amazing mount but if it doesn’t track its no use. Look forward to seeing your next Alpha trip dude. Clear skies
Thanks Glenn. I'm hoping for clear skies our next time out
No one should have to tolerate so much hassle with a brand-new mount. You displayed almost unbelievable patience with iOptron. They certainly seem to have have gone way downhill regarding their customer service. (I say this with much trepidation, since I'm the owner of a nearly brand--new GEM 28, which has yet to be well-tested, thanks to near continuous cloudy weather here in the Pac NW.) Best of luck with this summer's imaging. Clear skies!
Richard, I cannot agree with you more. Which is why I decided not to put up with them this time around. Summer is too hot for astrophotography, here in Arizona anyway 😅. Hoping the planetary stuff works out.!! Best of luck with your GEM man. Clear skies, thanks for checking out my video
They have always been sheeit. When only 60-70% of products are okeish, it should not be counted as a proper company. Their figured out that amateur astrophotographers will try to fix mount; and they will pocket money. Just great!
I had issues with my new one too, and returned it. I would have worked with them on it except for your video. Thank you. Saved me time.
Thanks for watching. I'm glad you didn't have to deal with the headaches I did
Just wanted to let you know how much your UA-cam vids are appreciated, you do a great job!
Thank you so much, I sincerely appreciate your comment.
All I needed to know to cross ioptron off my list for my next mount. Thanks!
Glad I can help man!!
Hi Isaac - really sorry to hear of your frustrations. I have a CEM25p and have had to contact iOptron a couple of times after certain issues cropped up (replace RA worm due to "camming", and more recently RA issues after my rig got blown over during a monsoon storm). They've been generally responsive, though I have not heard back from them for a few days now. Am anxious as the RA ring gear seems stuck even with the grub screws removed).
I have been in the market for a new mount, with the GEM28 top of the list due to weight, but I also looked at the EQ6R-Pro which is over the top heavy, but I found several instances of people sending those back for RA issues, too. It seems luck of the draw is the rule of the day these days.
Good luck.
Ah man, sorry to hear about your CEM 25. Man, that is horrible. But I agree with you , seems like all these companies are selling lemons. Maybe we should all make videos of the mounts they are sending to expose then 😅. I hope your mount gets fixed and more importantly they don't take 45 days to respond. Good luck to you as well man, clear skies !!
@@IcemanAstro Thanks! I am hoping to get a DIY belt-drive Meade LX70 (CG5) mount online in the meantime. I am bummed about iOptron, but I see they are coming out with a harmonic drive, the HEM27. Might be worth looking into. ;)
Clear skies!
Hey bro! - Man, this sucks to hear but I gotta say mad respect to you, you've got the patience of a saint my dude, you gave that mount a lot of your time and gave Ioptron every chance to make it right.
I'm glad you've got your credit bro, that's nice to hear and I'm sure you'll love the 533!
Can't wait till you get back out to Alpha Scorpii and start catching some photons once again, it'll be refreshing for you I bet my friend as stuff like this takes it's toll on your enjoyment!
Thanks for sharing this whole journey and clear skies bro!
Luke!!! Man, patience was definitely tested, again!! 🤣 but yeah for now, I just pre ordered the 533. Hopefully that works !! 🤣 And yeah, only a couple of more days until we head out to the desert. BTW. my comment on your last video was rejected lol. Idk what is up with UA-cam man!! I hope that you can make a trip out here to the AZ desert soon bro!!! The Scorpion Brothers await you !!
@@IcemanAstro Hey bro! - re: comment rejected, I'll have to look into that - I'm really sorry you took the time to comment and then it got eaten by UA-cam bro! :-(
I do have you added as an 'approved commenter' on my channel so that should cancel most auto flags, but clearly something can still go wrong 😅
Clear skies bro! Can't wait to see you back out in the desert
P. S, I'd freaking love to visit you guys in AZ someday man 👌
WOW! It's really a shame that Ioptron has such poor quality and customer service. I love the form factor of their CEM26 and Gem28 and came close to purchasing one until I read so many issues of horrible quality control and lack of responsiveness of Ioptron to these issues. I too ended up buying a heavier but so far flawless Eq6r Pro instead. Hopefully Ioptron will turn around and fix their quality and customer service issues but for me I avoid all their products right now.
John, I honestly hope they do too. Their products (when working properly) perform really well!! But as I mentioned, 2 years ago and now this year... I think nothing has changed . I'm glad you did your research. And that's why I decided to do this video. To share my experience.
Thanks for the update on the GEM28. Really sorry about the trouble. I'm also an iOptron fan, even with the troubles. I bought my CEM25P summer of 2017, hoping to have it by the solar eclipse--didn't happen. It was out of stock everywhere, and the one I finally received had stepper motor issues. They were more responsive, so really sad to hear about the time you spent fixing and waiting to get your CEM and GEM going. With my CEM25P they immediately sent me a new RA stepper motor and the mount has worked great for years. They even offered to let me pick it up at their Massachusetts office, which is about 30 minutes from where I work. (I'd like to know about the tuning you did for your CEM25P. I need to get the CEM back in working order). Looking forward to seeing some planetary imaging with the dob and whatever you capture with the 533. Bravo to Highpoint Scientific. Here's to clear skies and low error guiding!
Hi Chris. That's why I bought my iEQ45 Pro back in 2017. I heard (at that time) nothing but great things about their products and customer service. I don't know what changed. And about the adjustments I did with the CEM 25 , it was all in PHD 2. I changed the RA algorithm to Predictive PEC. After about 2 hours of getting the setting to my liking, it really got my guiding numbers down. Joe Navara (Joe's Astrophoto) suggested it to me and it has worked well for my CEM.
@@IcemanAstro Hi, I have been enjoying your videos. I have two questions regarding to your CEM 25P, I have the same mount. First off it's regarding to your guide camera. I did notice that it was not connected into your mount or hand controller (HC), how are you guiding? I did notice that you have the PegasusAstro Powerbox Advance, would the HC connected to that box (if so how)? Second question, you said that Joe from (Joe's Astrophoto) gave you a pointer on the PHD 2. He is also someone that I follow, however I couldn't find that video (if he did one) on his youtube page. Can you give some guidance on how about getting that information as I believe that is what's wrong with my CEM 25P mount also. And third. Yes, I know that I said I only have two questions. Lol I have noticed in some of your videos that you're running 2 rigs, how are you running that with one laptop (are you switching profiles in APT)? As you see from my questions I'm still very new at all of this. Thanks for the help.
Hi and thank you. About the guide camera, the camera is connected to the USB hub on the camera. I have the 183 mono and the 6200 mono. Both cameras have a USB hub and I connect the guide camera to those hubs. The imaging camera then has one USB 3 cable that connects to my laptop. I don't use the ST4 cable for autoguiding. I use pulse guiding. The CEM 25 has the serial port on the grand controller and that's where I plug the rs 232 cable and that cable then goes to my laptop via a rs 232 to USB cable. Joe suggested i try that algorithm on PHD2 via email. We talk often so he never made a video about it. I was already getting good guide numbers , but this specific algorithm and the right settings really helped my numbers even better. And I have only one laptop per rig. If you watch some of my other videos when I go to the desert, you can see these setups in action
I was going to buy an Ioptron but with the assorted issues on various mounts i have decided to spend my dollars elsewhere. Thanks fo making the choice easy
Thank you for watching. I made this video to help people like yourself know the realities of this company. It really sucks , but it is the truth. I'm sure other companies will at least respond to their emails and care about their customers.
@@IcemanAstro You have saved me tiome, money and heartache. I wanted to get away from the SW crowd. I will keep on looking. Thank You so much
Hey Isaac, that’s a real pain having to deal with those issues and wait so long for a response! At least you got store credit! Hope your 533 turns up soon, looking forward to you & Jason heading out to Alfa Scorpio, good luck with the weather 😀 Clear skies!
I though so too Simon. I don't know if I want to buy iOptron again just because of my experiences . I'm hoping the 533 won't take all my life 🤣🤣. Clear Skies Simon!!
sorry to hear your problems i must have lucked out as i have a gem28 and its been great this last year
Andre, when they work, they work amazing!! But I just had bad luck I guess. Clear skies
Hey Isaac. Man I feel really bad for you dude, it's so annoying that you've had to go through much and in the end had to return the mount. I can relate to this a bit with my first scope, I went through months and months trying to convince the shop I purchased it off something was wrong. It took me 4 months to convince them and another 3 months for them to finally send me the correct field flattener. To me it feels and unreasonable scenario to have the person who purchased the mount basically have to try figure out what's not working especially in your case where you have a lot of experience so it's not user error. Good work putting your experiences out there Isaac, I think it's good for people to know the real stories like this. Better luck in the future mate 👍
Wow Ollie, that is crazy! And I agree with you, we shouldn't have to worry about stuff especially if it's brand spanking new. And I do feel like we as youtube astrophotographers need to talk about this more. I'm sure there are many people going through this. And it is a reflection of the company . But I learned my lesson 😅. Clear skies Ollie
Bro, this breaks my heart. I just purchased a CEM70 and this makes me think twice about the mount. Hopefully when I actually get mine it won't be so bad.
Yea, you should think twice. I got CEM70-NUC. Total crap. Everything what he is telling is correct. I am returning mount for repair. Their customer support is sheeit as well.
@@anata5127 I live in Japan and we have a Japanese service center that supposedly checks and inspects all mounts before shipping. They also handle all repairs and don’t go through iOptron, so I feel safer ordering the mount. If Sky-Watcher had a mount in the 35kg range I’d pick that up, but I can’t justify the EQ8 since I don’t have an observatory.
@@budc6246 Gem is not CEM system. It is conventional equatorial mount. CEM system is problem. Moreover, problem with IOptron is perpetual “telling untrue”. Your GEM45 is probably for tiny refractor and you happy. CEM70 is going to guide scope with FL >1500mm. You need
@@anata5127 Update. The mount was backordered for so long that I just canceled the order. Maybe that was the best thing that could happen to me. I'll just save up for another EQ8-R mount or maybe another EQ6-R.
My first "real" EQ mount was the original ZEQ25 back when iOptron was new on the scene. It worked great out of the box, but the polar scope LED broke several times. But at the time contacting iOptron would always lead to a reply within hours, and they'd send me a new LED very quickly... It's weird to hear such lack of responsiveness from them when they used to be known as one of the most responsive vendors!
I have had such bad experience with iOptron. As mentioned in the video, I gave them the benefit of the doubt . But again, the same experience 2 years apart. That just says something about their customer service unfortunately.
@@IcemanAstro Yeah it's really sad...
Well this helps me. I've been looking at the ioptron mounts lately because they are the only ones you can reliably find sometimes. Now I think I will keep holding out for something else
I have 1 of those blue cubes and and 1 black cube pro... The old blue one worked great until it finally burned up a motor. They sent me a new board quickly but that didn't fix it... But, they responded pretty quick! The black pro cube works but won't Goto with any accuracy. I have mixed feelings about ioptron so I haven't purchased any more. Seems like all manufacturers have their weak areas... Thanks for this video about your experience. I hope ioptron is paying attention...
I hope they are paying attention as well. And you are absolutely right, every company has their weak areas, but I think communication should be at the top of their list. Thanks for watching
Excellent Video and TRUTHFULL ! iOptron basically SUCKS ! I have been in the same boat with you with my CEM40 and CEM60. Both had issue after issue after issue and iOptron customer service was HORRIBLE !. I ended up returning them and bought my EQ6-R Pro and Celestron CGX. Both worked right out of the box. (Pay attention to that word iOptron if you are reading ! "WORK" that's key word here). Quality control seems to be non existent with iOptron. I cant see how the stay in business with all these issues.
Thank you Nick. I just felt like I had to be truthful with this video. I am just like any other astrophotographer and a paying customer. When we buy things, they should work plain and simple. We shouldn't have to perform surgery, or be an engineer
Thanks for sharing this, Isaac. Not that my opinion matters here but I think returning it was the best decision given circumstances. Cheers
Thanks Gerry. More than anything I just want to put ot out there of how the company has treated me for 2 times now. Everyone can make thier own judgment from there. But I felt it was the right decision. Thanks bro, clear skies
It's really sad to hear iOptron's customer service is so bad. I guess I was really lucky with getting help on my CEM120, but again, it should've just worked from the factory as advertised just like yours. I hope they fix their QC and support soon or else that'll be one less company to get a mount from. Thanks for the shout out as well man, looking forward to your desert video soon.
Thabk Joe!!
Do you hope that they fix their QC 😂. Only thing that refresh their head is not extending license for sale in USA. They should end up “Meade way”.
So sorry to hear that your issue with the mount wasn’t resolved. That’s very poor of iOptron to not respond especially with the money spent on these mounts. I’m lucky that I haven’t (yet) had issues with my two iOptron mounts so haven’t tested the customer service from them but by the sounds of things, it’s not good. On a more positive side, I hope you get the 533 soon and I’m really looking forward to a new video from the Scorpion Brothers at Alpha Scorpii.
I thought so too about their service Logan. It is what it is though. I hope if you do have ti reach out, they treat you like a regular human being 😅. Anyway, I am sooo looking forward to the desert. Clear skies
I've been struggling with a GEM28 for about a year. I have constant Dec spikes on PHD and I've tried everything from a software angle to no avail. I've been unimpressed with almost every aspect of the mount. For example, when polar aligning you lose the alignment as soon as you tighten either the DEC or RA locks, the hand controller won't keep time and the iOptron controller software is out of the dark ages. To have to use the USB socket on the hand control to connect to a pc is rubbish and the system regularly forgets where zero is and randomly choses where to go when it parks at the end of a session. I could go on but I suspect you get the picture. I've taken some good shots with it but it adds so much stress to every session I intend to bin it as soon as I can afford to!
Wow, it seems you had more issues than I did. Unfortunately you and so many others have struggled with that and so much more. I hope ita soon for you to get a working mount. A year is too damn long to be dealing with issues like that
Sorry about your mount bro. That sucks. It sounds like ioptron customer service is less than stellar which sucks as well because in my opinion that's what a business is based on. Looking forward to Jason and you getting back out to the desert and seeing some videos from you guys. Clear skies.
Thanks bro!! I hope to have some clear clear skies when we go out too man!!!
Dang man... so frustrating. This stuff costs too much to have an entire rig down due to a single faulty part. Glad HS took it back for store credit. CS!
It really is frustrating James. And there are more people going through the exact same thing. Now to patiently wait for the 533 😁
Issac, I have had good luck with Ioptron. My CEM25EC works great, and the CEM40EC came with a bad Ipolar scope and mounting screw was stripped. After about 2 weeks, I got a new mounting screw after showing them a picture of the defective screw. I never had the polar scope serviced because i use the ASI AIR +. Both mounts work well for me.
I had the same good luck with my iEQ45 pro. It has been amazing since day one. Thanks Mark, clear skies
There are ways to get refund even after 30 days. It took me 7 months, but I got it back. People in astrophotography hobby think that it is small market and no hope. Wrong! The same purchase protection law is applied whether you purchased mount or car. Here is an answer - complain to Massachusetts General Attorney office and go from there.
I think their license to sell in USA should be not extended. By the way, it is on renewal in December 2022.
Thanks for this video. I was considering this mount. Ill probably spring for the eq6-R
Thank you for watching!!
Hello ! I think I have the same problem as you, I had my GEM28 set up very well and I had a guidance between 0'35" and 0'65" then after an astro break of 4 months nothing works anymore! My RA guiding is going haywire and I can't seem to solve the problem, I've taken everything apart, checked everything and set it up again with no success... You said that Ioptron had managed to send you back a working mount, do you know what they had done exactly? Thanks!
Hi Fredo. Ioptron did not send me this specific mount back working. I returned this to High Point. In 2020 I sent my CEM 25P back to ioptron 3 times. Finally after the 3rd time. It was fixed. All they said was it needed adjusting... hoping you get your mount fixed. clear skies
Scorpion brothers , love it 😁 , hope to see your next video soon.
Thanks Bill. In hope for clear skies man!!!
Wow Brotha, That is surprising that Ioptron just sat on there laurels and that it took High-Point to do something on your behalf...That is screwed up....makes me think I might be going back to Celestron or SkyWatcher for my next Mount.....Clear Skies my Fellow Scorpion Hunter....
It is what it is man. If you buy iOptron and you get lucky, you won't have any problems and it will perform amazing. But if you get bad luck like me , forget about it
Oh man I'm sorry about your mount! You paid all this money for a good mount, it should just work? But glad you where able to get everything sorted out!! And awesome image of the eclipse btw! Clear skies man!
Thanks man!! Exactly how I feel. If you buy something you want it to work 😅. We live and learn right?. Thanks so much
Hey brother. Wondering what you think about the Ioptrom Cem26, because at first I was looking at the adventurer gti but it carries only 11lbs and isn't available anywhere, also eqm-35 also unavailable, so what you think about these 3 mount which one would be best for beginning?
Hey man, I think these 3 mounts are great for beginners. You already know how I feel about iOptron customer service lol. In all, iOptron has some great mounts, as you know I have 2 working ones and they are amazing. If you do take the chance and buy one, I feel like it's just a gamble. If you get a good one, you are good. If you have to deal with iOptron customer service... good luck bro. I personally would go with either the eqm or CEM 26
@@IcemanAstro I think I will go with the Cem26 it got a nice payload and the technology beside it match the redcat nicely 😆
Hey Ioptron, if you are listening: you just lost a probable customer (me).
sorry you had to send it back, but good thing you hadn't sold your other mount yet. Can't wait to see the 533MM and the planetary cam.
The dob with the 224 will be awesome man!!! Can't wait for Jupiter
Hi Isaac, such a frustrating process. I really like ioptron mounts, but they seem to have questionable quality control. Hopefully there are some really nice new mounts coming up over the next few months.
Hi Andy. If you are lucky enough to get a working mount, or if you are an engineer then yes . If not all of it is just a pain. Clear skies Andy
You are scaring me. I just bought a GEM28. Haven't had a chance to do any tracking with it yet.
Hi Marvin, well I didn't make this video to scare you , but more so I can show everyone what experiences I went through with iOptron on two separate occasions. And it's not just me. I spoke to at least 10 different people, including some of my subscribers who have had the same experience with iOptron. I hope your mount works and works well. Clear Skies
@@IcemanAstro I appreciate your honest feedback on the mount
@@IcemanAstro I'm now facing similiar issues and iOptron misbehaviour with my GEM45. It's a shame: great products (in my opinion) and poor quality control and customer support. If you're lucky, you get a good mount and you're happy; if not... you literally waste your money. Good you got to send it back for refunds. Thanks for sharing.
Matteo, they are truly great products, they are! But to get one and get one working is such a hassle. Their customer support on two separate occasions had me waiting and waiting. I hope you get your mount working, or at least a response from iOptron. Clear skies
@@marvinwhisman3333 I assume you've tested it by now? :-) How'd it go? I have a GEM28 in the shopping basket and this video made me think twice haha. Clear skies!
I don't get why the mount wasn't just replaced? There are hundreds of gem28 in the field working perfectly fine.
At the time there wasn't one available to replace. Also, I talked to another one of my astro friends. He indicated that he was on his second mount and had worse results than the first. I didn't want to take that chance to only have to reach out again to iOptron
Get the Sky Watcher heq 5 pro. Awesome mount!
For now, I'm done with mounts! And I know, the Covid thing is really old and frustrating
Nice video I have a cem 26 what issues am I looking for guiding has been ok I think but I’m new to it. My other mounts are skywatchers eq6r pro has been the best but really heavy lol. Thanks for all your videos and knowledge appreciate it.
Thanks Dan. I'm glad it is at least acceptable to you . Mine was just bad right out of the box. I did get lucky with my iEQ45 and I hope it NEVER breaks 😅. Clear skies Dan
I have some spikes on my CEM70. Not insane ones but it guides great then spikes in Dec and RA to 1-1.5. Really frustrating but we’ve had terrible weather and work is insane so I’ve not had much time to adjust it
That's how it was for me Nick. Well except it would spike to 3 and even sometimes 5... I really hope it's something that you can fix and not something you have to contact them about. Clear skies
Hi Isaac sorry to hear you had so many issues with you mount. I understand you want to use your Dob for imaging. Let me tell you it will work well. I use mine and really like it for imaging. I have been able to do live stacking with Sharpcap with good results. If you look up Keep it simple channel on you tube there is a bunch of great information there. Hope this will help you. Cs Ray
Hi Ray. Thank you so much for the information! I want to record for stacking and processing more than anything. But live stacking will also be awesome! Especially when you have a crowd to please lol Appreciate it thank you
@@IcemanAstro anytime I glad to help.
lol.. painful but all to common. I have a CGX-L that spikes on RA and tracks like garbage. I won't send it back, I make due with what I can for now... shipping something like that back and forth is a PAIN in the ASS... I just won't buy another celestron mount, and I will eventually fix mine on my own. my EQ6R is till the most reliable mount I have ever had haha.
I guess for me, if they were more responsive I would probably go along with the repair. But this is my second bad experience with them so I decided not too. And if you can do the maintenance, that's even better !! I am not an engineer so I want something that I paid for to work lol
I was thinking about buying a GEM28. Now I’m thinking twice about it.
I honestly would too. Unfortunately I am not the only one who has had this kind of treatment from iOptron. I would say probably 10 percent of their customers get a working mount. Otherwise it's a pain like I went through !
You tried your best bro.
That I did man! Hopefully nobody else had to go through what I went through
I know it's late but sounds like a firmware update issue.
Hi Aris, you know that's the first thing I tried honestly. Unfortunately, it was not that... the mount just didn't want to work for me
thats a bad rap for ioptron service man, they should stand by their product
And it happened to me twice man.... that's the messed up part
They don’t give sheeit. Totally atrocious company. Moreover, they are hiring some UA-camrs and bloggers sending them good mounts to get great references. I kicked ass one of such IOptron prizing dude for his totally biased review.
This is how ioptron treated you, imagine how much support the company would give to someone who has no UA-cam channel...
I am not a big person on UA-cam hahah. I don't have my channel 2 years ago and it was bad. I am getting the same treatment this time around. I myself don't think I will ever buy another product from them
Ask yourself: Where is Ioptron located? Ok, so either you already know or took a minute to look it up. Now, understand those people just like to sell products and make lots of money with not having to deal with "customer service"... Once They Get Your Money They Absolutely Don't Care!
The Covid excuses are getting really old!!