One axis against the turning sky — once it is aligned · review
Explore Scientific's iEXOS-100-2: a GoTo equatorial mount and tripod with clutched dual-axis worm gears on belt-driven stepper motors, the PMC-Eight controller, the ExploreStars app and a polar sight hole.
The iEXOS-100-2 is a computerized German equatorial mount with a tripod, sold for about $300 on November 7, 2026. It aligns, finds and tracks through Explore Scientific’s ExploreStars app on an Apple, Android or Windows tablet.
Instead of a polar scope, the right ascension axis has a sight hole bored through it, with a precise altitude control. Sight Polaris through the hole, adjust, and the mount is roughly polar-aligned. For short exposures and visual tracking that is quick and enough; for long exposures, a software polar-alignment routine refines it.
Both axes have clutched worm gears driven by quiet stepper motors through belts. The clutches let the tube be balanced and swung by hand, then locked for tracking. Belts are quieter than gear trains and tend to have less backlash.
Explore Scientific leads with its PMC-Eight controller and its eight independent processors. It does not publish a payload, a periodic-error figure, the counterweight supplied or the mount’s weight. For a mount, payload is the number that matters most; keep the load light until it is known.
On November 7, 2026, Amazon.com listed it at about $300 from a third-party seller.
Figures as Keepa reported them on the day this page was last updated. Stock and pricing shift without warning.
Prices quoted in this text were read on November 7, 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.
Same aisle, closest price — what the same spend else shows.
| Payload rating | Not published in the Amazon.com listing. |
|---|---|
| Periodic error | Not published by the maker. |
| Drive | Clutched dual-axis worm gears with quiet stepper motor belt drives, stated |
| Control | PMC-Eight controller, described as eight independent CPUs · ExploreStars app for Apple, Android and Windows tablets |
| Polar alignment provision | Polar alignment sight hole through the RA axis and precise altitude control, for alignment without a polar scope, stated |
| Counterweight supply | Not published by the maker. |
| Tripod | Included, stated in the title |
| Heaviest single piece | Not published by the maker. |
| Supplied optics | None: this is a mount and tripod |
| Amazon reference | B07P5VWKPW |
| EAN | 0811803030541 |
A hole bored along the right ascension axis. Looking through it at Polaris gives a rough polar alignment without a polar scope; the altitude control then fine-tunes the tilt.
The listing does not say. Explore Scientific sells it for small refractors and camera setups; without a payload figure, keep the load light and test balance carefully.
Explore Scientific's controller, which it says uses eight processors working independently on separate tasks. What matters in use is the ExploreStars app on a tablet that aligns and drives the mount.
This model is listed on Amazon.com, at ≈ $300 at the last reading. Listed is not the same as in stock: availability changes daily, and the buy box shows the live price.
Details checked on November 7, 2026.
A small imaging setup that has to be polar-aligned quickly and driven from a tablet
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for telescopes and observing optics and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
20 lb (9.07 kg) payload · 12.5 lb mount · 33 to 47 in · 1.75 in stainless steel legs · 7 lb and 4 lb counterweights
Celestron's CG-4: a manual German equatorial mount with slow-motion controls and ball bearings on both axes, a 20 lb payload, 7 lb and 4 lb counterweights and a stainless steel tripod with 1.75 in legs.
Best for: A tube of up to 20 lb, followed by hand on a tripod that does not shake
≈ $420
114 mm (4.49 in) mirror · 900 mm (35.4 in) focal length · f/7.9 · EQ-1 equatorial mount
Omegon's N 114/900 EQ-1: a 114/900 Newtonian on an EQ-1 equatorial mount with fine adjustment on both axes, a 1.25 in focuser, a finder with crosshairs and 25 mm and 10 mm eyepieces.
Best for: A first equatorial telescope for the Moon and planets
≈ $387
60 mm (2.36 in) lens · 900 mm (35.4 in) focal length · f/15 · alt-azimuth mount · 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) complete
A 60/900 achromatic refractor on a light alt-azimuth mount and aluminum tripod, sold complete with three 1.25 in eyepieces, a 1.25 in diagonal, a 1.5x erecting lens, a 5x24 finder and a phone holder, 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) in all.
Best for: The Moon, double stars and the bright planets from a balcony or a yard, with nothing to align
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