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You can find our colorful selection of special offers here in the shop. Get them now!
The offer is valid from September 23rd to November 28th, 2024 and only while supplies last!
Posts Tagged 'mounts'
iOptron’s CEM and GEM mounts now available at a big discount!
September 1 2024, Jan Ströher
WAVE-Mounts from Skywatcher with Strain Wave Gear
August 21 2024, Stefan Taube
The new WAVE mounts from Skywatcher incorporate industry standard strainwave gears. This gear design impresses with its excellent load capacity to weight ratio, its compact design and its favorable price.
Skywatcher offers two models:
- WAVE-100i Strainwave GoTo Wi-Fi with 10 kilograms load capacity
- WAVE-150i Strainwave GoTo Wi-Fi with a load capacity of 15 kilograms
Mounts with strain wave gears do not require counterweights. This makes them very portable and also suitable for travelling. An optional counterweight is available for the two new models, which can be used to increase the load capacity even further. This considerably extends the range of optics and applications that can be used.
The new tripod for these mounts is also noteworthy. The WAVE Carbon tripod can also be used with the WAVE SA column extension for the popular Star Adventurer series of photo mounts.
Both models of the new WAVE mounts are available with or without tripod and can be found here in our shop.
The new ZWO AM5 N
July 3 2024, Jan Ströher
ZWO AM5 N – the latest generation of the proven AM5 Harmonic Equatorial mount carries telescopes up to 13kg without counterweight and even up to 20kg with counterweight (counterweight and counterweight rod are optionally available). The compact and very light mount, weighing only 5.5 kg, can be used in equatorial mode for astrophotography and in azimuthal mode for observation.
A hand controller and the App for controlling the mount are included in the scope of delivery. Thanks to the built-in WiFi cables are no longer necessary!
Another new feature of this version 2 is that the App now also supports Bluetooth and the dual dovetail clamp has a DC connection, as well as an USB-C port. This means that the cables no longer get tangled up so easily. The AM5 N has a 3/8″ internal thread on its base, so it can be attached directly to suitable photo tripods. GoTo, Live Preview and many other features can now be controlled via smartphone or tablet. This makes the AM5 N ideal for the use in combination with the ZWO ASI Air!
New Sphinx mount from Vixen: SX2WL WiFi
January 25 2024, Stefan Taube
With the SX2WL model, the Japanese manufacturer Vixen is launching a new mount in the Sphinx series.
The SX2WL is the first Sphinx mount to be equipped with a Wireless Unit. It generates a local WLAN so that the mount can be controlled via a smartphone, using the free STAR BOOK Wireless App. This App offers all the functionalities of the previous STARBOOK TEN with manual controls simply via your smartphone. This significantly reduces the power consumption of the mount!
The SX2WL is ideal for mobile astrophotography: It can carry up to 12 kilograms, but weights only 7 kilograms. Due to the design of the Sphinx mounts the motors act as counterweights and only a light additional counterweight is required.
Like all Sphinx mounts, the SX2WL also impresses with its high quality standards Made In Japan!
You can find more information and the current price here in the shop.
PlaneWave Instruments software for computer control of Celestron telescopes
June 26 2019, Stefan Taube
You can rely on PlaneWave Instruments’ professional CPWI software if you want to control your Celestron telescope via a laptop or PC.
This software is not only intuitive to use, but also lets you maximise the GoTo accuracy of your Celestron mount.
CPWI Telescope Control software is now compatible with all modern Celestron mounts, including:
- CGX and CGX-L
- CPC and CPC Deluxe
- CGEM II
- Advanced VX
- NexStar Evolution
- NexStar SE
- NexStar SLT
- Astro Fi
You can download the software for free here on celestron.com!
PlaneWave Instruments Telescope Control panel
Some special features of CPWI software include:
- The built-in SkyViewer star chart is intuitive to use and allows you to easily navigate through the night sky by clicking and zooming.
- Advanced PointXP lets you create a highly accurate model of the night sky which uses more than 100 reference points to enable highly accurate positioning and tracking.
- Ideal for observatories: You can carry out alignment directly from the PC, save the alignment model and simply upload it again the next night you observe. Alignment can also be done entirely automatically using the optional StarSense module.
- Extensive internal database. Access to the SIMBAD professional astronomy database possible via the Internet.
- Worm screw periodic error compensation: PEC can be done from the PC via CPWI.
System requirements: Windows 7, 8 or 10 operating system, with USB 2.0 or 3.0 connection, 15MB hard disk space and 64MB RAM. Screen resolution of 1024×768 or higher is recommended.
iOptron mounts: A new addition to the CEM family
April 4 2019, Stefan Taube
CEM series mounts from iOptron are already widely used in the US and are becoming increasingly well known in Europe too. The CEM25P mount for portable astrophotography with Newtonian telescopes of up to 6 inches aperture and the CEM60 mount for use in observatories have proved particularly popular.
With their new CEM40 and CEM40-EC with encoders, iOptron now provides a middle range mount capable of carrying loads of up to 18 kilograms. The CEM40 is hence ideally suited for astrophotography with telescopes of up to 8 inches (200 millimetres) in aperture.
The CEM40 is the latest addition to iOptron’s CEM series
The abbreviation CEM stands for centre-balance equatorial mount, i.e. for equatorial mounts which are supported at their centre of gravity. This design ensures an excellent relation between weight and carrying capacity. The CEM40 weighs only 7 kilograms and yet can carry OTAs up to 2.5 times heavier. The amazing carrying capacity of CEM mounts has been constantly reaffirmed by our customers – especially regarding the CEM25P.
The CEM40 comes equipped with an electronic pole finder, known as ‘iPolar’. A laptop is required to operate this however, so the CEM40 is particularly suitable for astrophotographers who already use a laptop for their camera. iPolar and built-in GPS provide easy and accurate alignment and GoTo computer control initialization.
The encoders installed in the CEM40-EC version ensure very high GoTo accuracy and allow worm gear permanent periodic error correction – a problem that all mounts suffer from. The CEM40-EC does away with the need for guiding with your astrophotography.
The CEM family now covers a wide range of load carrying capacities, offering a suitable model for every budget!