Differnce between HEQ5 and EQ5

[Karls48]

Can one anyone please can give me their opinion on the difference between EQ5 and HEQ5 mounts based on their experience with those mounts. I was using SV1 (GS version of EQ3) modified to work with Meade Autostar until recently when Alt gear seized and striped the gear. I’m still using the mount manually but I would like to have Goto again. The mount is used on the pier for imagining with short FL tube refractors up to 136mm aperture, with exposure times up to 30 sec. I can modify EQ5 to use Autostar Goto. The difference in price of EQ5 and HEQ5 is around $700. I also have StarPatch GPS for the Autostar setup. What is the advantage in spending extra $700 on HEQ5 and additional $$ to get GPS working with it?
Is there a big difference in tracking between those two mounts? Most of the times the load - 4”achromat and camera, will be under 5kg.

[dugnsuz]

I have an Skywatcher EQ5 GoTo mount which performs pretty well for short focal length astrophotography. I used to mount an ED80 with a piggybacked 80mm achromat guidescope with no dramas - I did however modify the mount using the "Astroboy" instructions. Anecdotally, I heard that this mod is a neccessity with the EQ5 but not as crucial with the HEQ5 - an indication of quality 'out of the box' perhaps!?

Now I'm using the mount for autoguided widefield imaging and tracking has been excellent.
I've included a crop from the edge of a recent Eta pic to demonstrate the EQ5's tracking(autoguided) ability - pic is a stack of 7x10minute exposures.

All the best
Doug:thumbsup:

[Karls48]

Excellent image Doug. I believe than newer Skywatcher EQ5 mounts come with worm bearings instead of plastic bushes. I just don’t want to go for overkill with the mount as the biggest scope on it wills wide field refractor or Pentax DSLR with telephoto lens. I’m leaning towards EQ5 at the moment. And spend difference in price on something else.

[dugnsuz]

Absolutely correct - in prep for the mod I had taken great pains to source suitable bearings only to find that they were already there!!!!!

Sounds like you'll be using a similar rig to me - I'm pretty happy with my setup. Of course a Losmandy would be nice but...well you know the rest!:lol:

The 'GoTo' which I convinced myself I couldn't live without prior to purchase is now a rarely used luxury.But, the autoguiding capability has been a Godsend to my imaging.
All the best
Doug:thumbsup: