Hi,

No good experience with the CEM40 for me, sorry to say.

I replaced my Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with a CEM40 (not CE) in May 2021.
It's a great mechanical construction but I've had a lot of USB connection error problems with it.
Since purchase I probably have had no more than 2 nights without trouble.

I've changed internal USB cable, as adviced by iOptron (had to buy it from iOptron!) but no luck.
They also asked me to replace the power supply, so I replaced with a more powerful supply (10 amps instead of the supplied 1.5 amps one).
Again, I had to purchase it. No luck.

I've tried different USB hubs, powered and non-powered. Replaced the external USB cable multiple times.

At one point iOptron suggested me to try the StarFi Wifi module that connects to the HBX port instead of the USB port.
So I purchased one (again...). It worked for controlling the slew, but it turned out you can't use it for guiding correction, which basically makes it useless for astrophotography.
Today I see they have updated their web pages with the text "NOT for CEM40 or GEM45 series mount", which was not there before.

iOptron continously push the problem back to me, also suggesting to use a PC instead of rPI/Stellarmate.
If they were serious I would expect them to send me a replacement mount but it hasn't happened yet.

I had no problem whatsoever with the HEQ5 so I actually kind of regret selling it. I really thought the CEM40 would be an upgrade, but no, not for me at least.
Maybe I've just had bad luck with my mount, but the many wasted photo nights and long mail conversations with iOptron and wasted purchases with no resolution almost have made me lose my interest for the hobby

Would I buy another iOptron? No, sorry to say.

// Åke

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