REVIEW of iOPTRON HAZ 46 TELESCOPE MOUNT 

Hi Tsula, Thank goodness we have a solo astronomer brave enough to take on the challenge of these new innovations and telling how it really is! So many of today’s systems require considerable strength and two pairs of hands to set up, which puts them beyond the scope of a solo astronomer, especially in the field and in the dark! Quite often these days it’s not only the price that prevents you buying what you’d really like, but the feat of just assembling and setting up something so valuable with so much risk! Additional piers often make the mount unstable because it becomes very top heavy when the telescope is off centre. Here’s to practical solutions for all us solo astronomers! Thanks so much Tsula, for this sensible and practical review, I wish you great results with your new mount

Excellent real world review; expensive bit of kit for what it is. It would be interesting for an engineer to look at the internal build quality of the gearing. I have my reservations. Stay safe😃

Hi Tsula. I have two iOptron mounts, an Alt Az Pro and a GEM45. I’ve seen the same issues with my Alt Az Pro as you experienced with the HAZ46. The heavier the OTA is, the less accurate and erratic the mount becomes. As long as I keep the OTA below 50% of the rated capacity it’s not too bad. Anything heavier than 50% if it’s rated capacity creates deflection in the mount and shifts the leveling. This creates the go-to issues. My GEM45 also doesn’t have encoders but is a good deal more accurate than the Alt-AZ pro. Thanks for your review.

Tsula, I appreciate that you bring the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

od job on the review. I do appreciate you showing the problems with this mount as they occurred. Trying to get the 10" Meade Telescope on looked really difficult. Thanks for the review.

Excellent review! You explained everything clearly and linearly. And it's remarkable machinery, even if it doesn't always work. (Plus the story about the mount's jet lag was novel, and I heard what you said when your lights blew over. 🙂)

Great review Tsula-another Big Adventure ;-)

Hello Tsula, I have the similar issues and I'm on the way resolving them, here's some points I'd suggest: 1. put the tripod and equipments on solid concrete, do not put on sand or soft dirt floor; 2. do not use carbon fiber tripod, they deforms when high payload, steel tripod or steel tripier is suggested; 3. considering counterweight, after emailing with iOptron support, they suggest me to use couterweight which keeps the bubble always centered.

Bummer. When I went looking for a stout mount I settled on an old Meade LXD650. That thing has incredibly accurate pointing and can actually hold 60 lbs of scope. It carries my 45 lb 10" Newtonian with ease. I have a LXD750 coming soon. I just don't like these modern mounts. And the payload capacity is always vastly overrated. The LXD650 has HUGE double bearings on both axes and a boxy aluminum casting that makes for extreme strength and rigidity. These mounts were supplied with the monster ED refractors of the mid-90s. For some reason Meade never sold them standalone. I got mine with a 127ED - by the way a fantastic scope optically.

Great review Tsula, thank you.

A great practical review as ever Tsula, thank you.

Great review Tsula. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the review, Tsula! I'm SOOO happy you didn't have to sacrifice yourself to save the telescope! 🤣 Too bad about the GoTo inaccuracy. I may have missed this, but once centered on an object, how was the tracking? Also, don't they make a solid mini-pier for the mount/tripod? It seems like it would be a little more sturdy and support more weight. (They have two types of piers for the AM5 mounts from ZWO, the kind you used and a solid pier. The payload for each is significantly different. BTW, they just came out with an improved AM5 with an increased weight bearing capacity without counterweights, as well as improved tracking accuracy and bluetooth capability!) I hope you find a mount that fills your need, Tsula. So sorry this one didn't work out.

Surprised they depend on a bubble level. Seems like it should have been done in software, sort of like the ZWO Seestar. Unfortunately I have had lots of problems with the various iOptron mounts I have owned. Had hoped this one might be a winner but it sort of sounds like there are issues. Thanks for the video.

Hi there, Tsula. Your mini review of the HAZ31 was quite positive. Is there a noticable difference in the two mounts, especially in terms of accuracy? Thanks so much for all your great videos!

Yea Ioptron’s have often had issues with pointing.

Your review points out that you still need a big mount to carry a big telescope, despite the innovative engineering at iOptron. For my Stellarvue 130 APO refractor I use an Orion mount and tripod rig that weighs 76 pounds with counterweights. I have the entire rig mounted on a JMI wheeley bar, so no heavy lifting. I just wheel it out into the yard and when I get there it is rock solid. The mount and tripod rig is not that expensive, and it's the only such setup that I'm likely to need.

Hey Tsula - That seems a real shame especially at that price point. Even my Heq5Pro can do a pretty good job once aligned, so for this price you'd just expect it to work. Might be best to return and try again.

Hi Tsula, Just an idea, I’m wondering if placing the saddle mount on top of the unit is contributing to your problems, if the object appears bottom left in the field of view and top right when side mounted perhaps the unit is directing to a point between the two mounting positions rather than centering the object as it should?

Nice mount 👌 📡🔭🔬

As for the strain wave concept - fine unless there is too much - strain that is. I can see these mounts for wide field AP with a camera-camera. Otherwise I see no real advantage over a good old equatorial with accurate construction and motors and gears and a way to actually point it straight at the pole, with the polar axis scope. My LXD75 mount can carry a 20lb scope and the whole mount minus the tripod fits in a plastic bin. It can't be any harder to carry that around than this device. This year marks 20 years of trouble-free service from that mount. And the Autostar handbox is still the best and easiest to use.

Great review!! I have been considering the HAZ 71 but think I will pass for now due to alignment issues. I agree with a poster below that the tripod, and the lack of a counter-weight, is probably contributing to the accuracy issues. That said, having to use beefy tripods and counterweights largely defeats the purpose of getting a lighter weight strain wave mount. Disappointing.

I don’t use Alt Az mounts but I wonder if part of the problem is that you changed the placement of the mount plate from the side to the top. Also, I’ve been told that even if a mount is rated for x pounds, for accuracy you should never exceed 50% of the advertised payload. Again, I don’t use Alt Az mounts so not sure if these comments are helpful.

I wouldn't have been this trusting with my precious. First fail Fine, second nope in the box you go! I'm still trying to find a EQ for my 8" I've gotten so used to knobs keeping my object in frame longer than the Dob mount. In really dark skies I have to stick my fingers inside the scope to move it where needed, but every minute is getting old. Opps where the smudge go!? When my eyes are just starting to really see it. And I go no no no I had focus and it looked great. I'm looking for a either a EQ or motorized, This is really a hobby for deep pockets. I'm not looking for pictures but that would be a plus. Just not searching over and over again because I missed "is it raisin or falling" It's already upside down!

Great honest report, wonder how well it would do on a pier, not much better in my opinion, without encoders and relying on stepper ticks is not ideal.

Hey Tsula, I have the HAZ 31 and found that accuracy is better if you use sync to target after you center the first object. Not sure why that is…seems redundant. 😊

I think a lot of the new modern mounts actually rely on folk using plate solving to centre targets. My AZ-EQ6 can place targets more or less dead centre when using my 180 Maksutov with a focal length of 2700mm. Mind you i place each of my three alignment stars dead centre using a reticled eyepiece. The performance of your new mount seems to be particularly bad especially when using a relatively short focal length refractor with a 40mm eyepiece. I would deem it as unusable Tsula and return it. After all this is not a cheap piece of equipment. PS: Did you have daylight saving set correctly? It's just that with all the targets being on the edge makes me think something is not quite correct.

Dum question....did you ever think the bubble may not be level? If you had a firm platform like a tri-pier and leveled it first off and THEN bolted the flat face of the 46's base straight to it - the mount would definitely be level without looking at its bubble. Run the small refractor off the side mount and see if that can centre stars. I think mounting the plate on the top with 4 bolts down only one side is a strange way to mount the plate anyway....and if the bubble is off you will never get it right following it.

Sounds like it has the pointing accuracy of my 2004 costco special nexstar 80gtl with the original pre sky align firmware. OK for a 2-300 dollar starter scope but unacceptable for a 3k dollar mount

Might be a software issue, it takes alot of calculations to make a a model by counting steps rather than encoder tics

iam thinking of a new AZ mount if i de fork my 12" LX90 but this mount in Canada is $3800 with taxes its $4300 and thats without the tripod. i may wait abit see if i ever find a used one I wish they would make mounts without goto but with tracking maybe it be half price plus sometimes these goto take along time plus goto sometimes are never correct or. cheers

Good heavens... ...or bad heavens... I would feel gutted were I in your shoes. Indeed, I lack the courage to even TRY something like this. Now that I don't have a car anymore, my 1981 Celestron 8 just peeks out of my back yard. Its very presence...invites the neighbours to come on over and take a look through it. Nothing for me to do, really. I hope you can send your mount back and get a refund. If they are a good company, iOptron will LISTEN to YOU. Maybe it will be YOUR voice that will get them to install encoders and redesign the machine to include sturdier clamps. I've always imagined "Big Sky" Montana to have dark skies, and I'm dismayed to be disabused of that illusion. (Sigh...) Out here,. Honolulu might just as well be Las Vegas. The lights from here are easily visible on Maui! It's beautiful to see people who do NOT take their skies for granted. Aloha and clear skies to you!

I don't like the original saddle. I made an adapter that would accept ADM saddle, which is much better at gripping the scope.