EQ6 Quality

[PeterO]

Just pondering on a EQ6 and thought I would ask if the EQ6's are performing well enough "out of the box" generally or do they still need to be overhauled or just some minor mechanical tweeks.

Peter

[iceman]

Hi Peter

The EQ6 seems to enjoy a pretty good reputation and doesn't require any tweaks out of the box. They have a bit of backlash in DEC but that seems to be fairly common. Most of the tweaks seems to be to do with tightening the gears to reduce the backlash and potentially replacing the grease.

I've had mine for 18 months (it's about 3 years old now) and love it. My 12" newt rides it without problem, and for deep-space imaging I use a side-by-side mounted ED80 + refractor and guide through its autoguide port.

One of the best mounts for the money you can get.

[Hagar]

Hi Peter, I swear by my EQ6 Pro. The build quality is great and it's ability to point to what you ask it to point to is excelent. Centers all requests perfectly.
I would not hesitate to recommend the EQ6. I have had some huge loads on top of mine.

[Matty P]

For the price, the EQ6 cannot be beat.

I just got an EQ6 Pro and absolutely love it. It is built like a tank in terms of build quality and that it can carry very heavy loads.

I like many other EQ6 owners would highly recommend it.

[lineout]

Sorry to hijack your post PeterO.

I just wanted to ask the other EQ6 owners how long it takes to set up and teardown during an observing session. I'm condiering buying an eq mount but it won't be permanently set up so am wanting to assess how much time will be needed to set it up for an observing session.

Cheers

[PeterO]

Ask away, I'd like to see an EQ6 sticky as it seems such a popular mount.

Peter

[Matty P]

Hi Lineout,

It usually takes me around 5-10 minutes to setup my EQ6 with the scope. Then another 30-45min Drift aligning.

You can be all setup and ready to observe/image within an hour.

:thumbsup:

[Hagar]

Hi Lineout,,,,, Around an hour at the very worst. At best when guiding about 10 minutes for setup and very basic alignment.

You need a compass(best screwed to a flat straight board) and a tape measure.

[AlexN]

a tape measure??? for what?? (I dont have an EQ6 yet, but it just doesnt seem to strike me as something you would need....)

[Hagar]

I have a compass on a piece of board. Lay it down on the ground at 168Degrees. I sit the front leg of the tripod at the front of the piece of wood and measure out half the distance between the other legs and it is basically setup. I use a digital inclinometer to set the head angle and the whole setup is pretty well done.

[AlexN]

makes sense!

I must ask, provided you dont do a full tear down of the mount, using this method, is your alignment pretty close as soon as you're done?

I've seen a few people have marked 3 spots on the ground where they use the scope, and they say they can then take it out, plonk it down on the 3 markers and fire it up... Sounds like that would be the ultimate way to do things if it works..

[Tandum]

That's what I've been doing with my Heq5, plonking the legs back in the same holes. Tonight I tried to merge images of the same object from 2 different runs and there was a small, but obvious, amount of rotational shift between them. Nothing software can't fix, but it's there. I think a pier is the way to go.

[marki]

I have a concrete pad on which I have marked lines true N/S and E/W which means I can easily align the tripod by placing the legs on the lines. Its reasonably level as well so setup time is fairly quick. Still a permenant pier would be the go as you wouldn't have to worry about leveling etc.:)