Those who had legitimate technical issues.Those who had legitimate firmware problems.Those who expect a $250 mount to operate like a $1200 one.For now let me just say it’s not necessarily their fault. Those who it appeared should never own modern technology because they cannot read directions or follow instructions.Those with complaints could be divided into four categories: What those who loved and admired it had to say, while important, did not interest me nearly as much as those who hated it. Those who hated it seemed to do so with just as much passion. It has an almost fanatical group of owners who love it. Sky & Telescope reviewed the Cube and called it capable. What I discovered were extremes of opinion. This sounds like everything I want but you know what they say, if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.
Ioptron cube pro 90 review manual#
That is way less than half the price of the nearest competitor I could find and about the same price as the low-end manual mounts. The base model Cube has a street price of $242. The Cube is supposedly designed to allow my scope to clear the tripod legs when viewing overhead. The EQ-2 is rated at 10lbs so in this respect the load capacity of the two mounts is very similar. It is rated for use with scopes weighing up to 11lbs. That is a reduction of 11.5 pounds or better than 40%! The Cube is a GOTO Alt/Azi mount with tracking and has a hefty built in database of objects to observe. So the total weight of the set up would be 16.9lbs. First the entire mount weighs only 10 pounds the stainless steel tripod weighs 6lbs, and the head weighs 4lbs.
If it works it could solve all my observing problems. That would just be trading one set of problems for another. The problem with all of them seemed to be that my scope would hit the tripod while observing anywhere near zenith. The recommended ones ranged in price from $200 on up. Along with lightweight I also needed a low cost option. I knew I wanted to get away from an equatorial. At this point most experienced people might laugh at the idea of finding a lighter weight mount but just keep reading. It is light compared to what most people own but still more than I want to pack. The total weight of the scope and mount is 28.4lbs. The biggest reason I want to get a different mount is the weight. I learned to cope with its peculiarities, came up with my own workarounds and have had a lot of fun with it. It might sound like I am complaining a lot about the mount but actually for about $100 it does a pretty good job. It also helps that I understand and accept it is an inexpensive mount. I have never found that to be true but I keep the legs of the tripod retracted at its lowest setting. The main complaint others report is it is wobbly. That is not using it properly or to its potential but I am not patient enough to figure it out. What I end up doing is just loosening the locks and pushing it around like a manual Alt/Azi scope. In fact they did work when I first began using the mount. Others who own this mount do not complain of the slow motion controls so it seems to be a problem with this particular unit. So that means tracking is out the window. After getting the target in the eyepiece the next problem is the slow motion controls don’t work properly. Next the tube has to be rotated in the rings to get the eyepiece in a comfortable position. I still can‘t locate the locks in the dark to tighten it down because they seem to never be in the same place or in a convenient location.
Ioptron cube pro 90 review how to#
Instead of concentrating on observing I spend a lot of my time trying to figure out how to maneuver the silly thing to point in the proper direction. I personally find an equatorial mount to be way too much work. I have used it for a little over two years. My goal as I begin writing is to keep the OTA and replace the EQ-2 mount. I do still recommend this scope but the problem is the mount doesn’t really do what I want to my satisfaction. To date I am still very happy with the optical tube assembly (OTA) as it gives big bright views of the sky. If you read my review of the Orion SpaceProbe 130ST you’ll find I bought it mainly because I wanted something that was lightweight for grab and go portability, and capable of tracking celestial objects.
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