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United StatesGreat mount but with atleast one critical issue
I have had the iExos 100 mount for around a year. The mount is very well built. The critical issue which I had with the mount was, there were no azimuth knobs to fine polar align using sharpcap or similar tool. You basically have to rotate the mount by hand and tighten it which never lets you to get very good polar alignment. By the way there is no polar scope as well, except a hole in the polar axis. That's why I was mentioning sharpcap or similar where you use your guide scope or something to do plate solve and adjust your polar alignment. Latest Explore Scientific added an azimuth adapter for $99.99 which I ended up buying to atleast use the mount finally which was collecting dust for more than 10 months. Now I can get some good tracking though. So if anyone is going to buy this mount, I would recommend you buy the azimuth adapter as well. I have saw people who have been happy without the azimuth adjustment. But for a beginner, it is going to be very useful as it will help in some good polar alignment for sure. Those knobs should never have ended up as an accessory for sure and an expensive as well for that matter. Also ES added a polar scope as an accessory as well for $89.99 I think. At the end you would have to get the azimuth adapter as well for this mount to be good useful mount. Hope this helps someone who want to buy this mount.
United StatesGreat mount
My first real GEM mount -- it's ascom compatible so all the astro apps work with this mount. I use a WO Z61 scope and guide with a ZWO miniguidescope. I routinely expose for 300s with excellent results and that wide field focal length (I could expose for longer if it weren't for my Bortle 8 skies. Explore Scientific support and online forums are terrific for advice.
great EQ goto mount
Bubble level not accurate, level tripod/base out first on setup and then mount EQ mount - weights - telescope. This will save you from being disappointed with your purchase. Also, the Altitude scale is not accurate. That being said, I am very pleased with this mount and it's construction. App to control mount works flawless on my Samsung tablet. I did buy the Lipo pack, ( which is Nice and using to power all my scopes with now) and two extra weights from Explore Scientific. Using mount with an Explore Scientific AR102 and need the 4 weights to balance telescope perfectly. Tripod is a bit wobbly when focusing but settles down within a few seconds and viewing thru eyepiece is very steady. Tracking is solid and you can input different tracking rates in the App. Overall, for the price it is hard to beat this package, love it