More info on the EQ7.

[mill]

This site http://www.robtics.nl has some more info about the coming EQ7.

Dual Encoder Design
With the patented dual encoder design, you may move the scope to any position manually or electronically without deactivating the tracking mode first. After moving to a new object, the telescope will automatically begin to track the new object accurately. No re-setup is required in one observing session.

Motors
It utilizes 0.9 degree per step bipolar stepper motors to get high resolution. It uses stepper motors without reduction gear to drive worm shaft directly so to remove the periodic error caused by reduction gear.

Computer Operation
Couple the solidly-built mount with the included SynScan computer controller to utilize many of the same functions and features as Sky-Watcher's most advanced SynScan mounts. It also could be controlled by SynScan Tour.

PEC
Permanent programmable periodic error correction (PEC) - corrects for periodic tracking errors inherent in all worm drives.

Convenient Alignment
It could go back to initial position of the telescope automatically, which is convenient for alignment.

Superior Stability
The EQ7 mount is supported by an improved Super HD Tripod. The tripod is made from the finest rolled carbon steel and can be raised to a height of 1347mm. The tripod uses a dual leg support for maximum rigidity with an upper leg brace to provide an outward preload and a lower leg brace providing inward tension.

45kg Payload Capacity!

[Astroman]

Still waiting on a Price, seen those specs before on another website, which I cannot find now (typical)...

[mill]

The suspense is killing me Andrew :)
I am in the market for a G11 but if the EQ7 is cheaper i will buy it just to test it.

[h0ughy]

be very interesting to see the price point andd quality of this mount?

[mick pinner]

it will be way more expensive than a G11.

[mill]

Soooo Do you have any inside info then Mick?????????

[h0ughy]

g11 payload is 27kg, the eq7 supposed to have 45kg and the titan is in this class, which is well above the g11 price. will be very interesting

[Bassnut]

Somethings very wrong there :P. 0.9 deg steps with no gear reduction would be hopelessly unuseable :shrug:. Bad translation perhaps?.

[mill]

Yeh i thought the EQ7 would come out with servo motors ??

[Bassnut]

No, not that (although thats a good point) can you imagine with 0.9 deg steps imaging an object 30 arc secs in diameter? (0.5 deg). Nah, anything over the FL of a wide angle DSLR lens would be a blurry mess. Its a joke, or Im missing something, or the translation is wrong.

[adman]

The stepper would turn the worm 0.9 degrees per step - not the axis it is driving....

[Steffen]

I suppose there would still be the worm, that'll cut those 0.9 degrees into very fine slices.
</speculation>

Cheers
Steffen.

EDIT tips hat to Adam :)

[Bassnut]

So whats the worm reduction?, not impressed at all so far.

[Steffen]

If the worm is single pitch then the reduction ratio is the number of teeth of the gear.

Cheers
Steffen.

[ericwbenson]

So let's be generous and call it a 300 tooth main gear. 0.9 deg / 300 = 0.003 deg, which sounds small but.... multiply by 3600 arc sec / deg and you get 10.8 arc per step, yikes! Completely unusable by a factor of 100! Something must be wrong in the translation.
BTW 0.9deg steppers are hardly hi-resolution or anything to write home about, that's only a standard stepper motor being operated in half step mode, the same garden variety is used in the robofocuser for example. The other issue they will have with steppers is a very poor torque vs velocity curve. This is why for example the digital drive that came with the original G11 could only go about x32-x64 sidereal, and still had vibrations problems from the stepper jolts while tracking...

EB

[tlgerdes]

That's Chinglish for you.:screwy:

[Barrykgerdes]

Reading through that Promo list. It doesn't really give much info when analysed.

Dual Encoder Design
Does this mean two encoders on each axis as well as a step counter for the stepper motor, or is it a servo system just using a stepper and encoder for motive power and an encoder on the RA/Dec axes?

Motors
A .9dg per step is quite standard and will need at least a 60 x 60 x 3 (10800) reduction to get a reasonable resolution of .3 arc seconds per step (common for cheap servo systems). Then to get a reasonable slew rate the motors will need to accept at least 10000 steps/sec

Computer Operation
I think this is just referring to the inbuilt controller. I would assume that it could interface with a PC/laptop as well

PEC
Permanently stored PEC is available on most drives these days and considered a must by most but is easily overcome by guiding.

Convenient Alignment
A standard “park” position available on just about all controllers these days

Superior Stability
Ah this is what is needed for a big payload and is the real selling point

45kg Payload Capacity!
Great should satisfactorily carry a 14” OTA

I think we will need to wait for its release to find out what it will really do.

Barry

[garymck]

Hi,
the step size is not a problem.

If the individual step size is 9 arc sec, then all that would be needed is to microstep the motor. lets say 64 microsteps (there are already drive systems out there that do this) and suddenly we have a .14 arc sec step size. Easily a high enough resolution to provide smooth tracking. Cant remember the actual figure, but EQ6's are significantly higher in their step size (and use microstepping as well) and no-one complains about seeing jumps in the eyepiece.....

cheers
Gary

[Barrykgerdes]

I think the step size is quoted as .9deg (54 arc minutes not 9 arc secs).
In any case I would expect the drive to be similar to the NEQ6-pro and using micro stepping with a 300 tooth worm wheel it could use direct coupling to the worm to give sub arc second steps and smooth operation. However this information is not given directly in the promo.


Barry

[garymck]

"It utilizes 0.9 degree per step bipolar stepper motors to get high resolution"

This is different to saying the motor moves the scope .9 degrees per step.

The .9 degrees must be the step size of the motor. This is a standard 400 step per rev stepper.

360 degrees = 1296000 seconds

1296000 seconds / 360 teeth / 400 steps per rev = 9 arc secs per rev of motor.

Microstep this by 64 and we get .14 arc sec per step...

Could even use less and Microstep by 16 = .6 arc secs per step - have use Bartels drive at this level with no problems...

Gary

[mill]

People, speculation and nice mathworks don't work if you don't know much else yet :P
I have been reading somewhere else that the EQ7 would have servo motors and not stepper motors, so it looks like we just have to wait for a bit more info on this.

[robz]

Agree.
We went over this a while back on another thread..................over $8,000 U.S.(equivalent to Ioptron IEQ7 version).

[Kal]

I think it will be cheaper than US$8000.

Synta, the parent company, owns skywatcher and celestron, and the closest mount to this is the celestron cge pro which has a 90lb capacity and sells closer to the US$5000 mark. It wouldn't make sense for them to bring this mount in at a higher price point than that.

[h0ughy]

well its the AUS dollar price that is of real interest as the CGEpro is upwards of 9K , which given the exchange rate, freight and taxes import duty, middlemen ,and then shop profit puts it into a no buy range for many. they have seen the uptake of the eq6 - wonder if they will price to suit the "emerging" market :question:

[Kal]

I'm hoping (I'm sure we all are!) that it will be cheaper than the celestron equivalent, on par with the current skywatcher pricing in Australia:

Australia
celestron CGEM - AU$2500
skywatcher EQ6 - AU$1550

USA
celestron CGEM - US$1400
atlas EQG (EQ6 rebranded) - US$1250

[Kal]

Given the above data I would expect the $US price to be around US$4500 (just a tad below the CGE pro) which given the skywatcher pricing difference between US and AUS equates to around an AU$5500-$6000 price.

[mill]

$5500 - $6000 would be good, lower even better :P
Waiting waiting waiting :)

[RobF]

I can't wait to hear a report from someone here when they get their mitts on one. Are the prices being bandied around here inclusive of tripod do you think?

[mill]

Hehe i would be happy to beta test one :)
Skywatcher normally have the tripod with the mounthead (unlike some).

[TrevorW]

Talk to Lee he should have some idea considering he's already advertising it

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-content-section-10-skywatcher.htm

[TrevorW]

Well I asked the question and Lee come back stating he has not further details about the EQ7 (Synta being tight lipped) expect late next year, bit preemptive advertising it I think ??

[robz]

Late next year?:mad2:

If that's the case, we may :

1. never see it here in Australia?

2. be UNpleasantly surprised at the price?

3. have a mount that looks completely different and have different specifications to what we've heard so far?

4.have to import it from the U.S.............what will the AUS dollar be worth then?

5 have to pay a premium to purchase it here in Australia if the dollar does drop to ''80 something cents''?..........again:screwy:

:question::question::confused2:

[Octane]

I wonder what comes out first, the Synta EQ7 or the Paramount MX? : D

I'm putting a little aside for the MX...

H

[Kal]

"expect late next year" in astronomy terms often means in about two years time... :shrug:

[RobF]

Groan. Its vaporEQ then.....:rolleyes:

[robz]

''Synta being tight lipped'' smells of ''we don't have nothin' '' to me:question:
A prototype..........yes............. commercially available unit?.........NADA:shrug:

[ballaratdragons]

By the end of next year!!! We could've built our own in the shed at home by then!

Yeah, smells of Vapourware to me.

[brightstar]

I have just received an email from Tasco stating that Skywatcher has terminated production of the proposed EQ7 Mount. No reason is given but they also state that an EQ8 Mount is in design and further details will be released as soon as possible.

Ron - Sirius Optics
:eyepop:

[mill]

Well Bintel is also advertising the EQ7 in AS&T as "The amazing eq7 coming soon".
This is from the AS&T January 2011 i got today.

[Steffen]

This reminds me of the "digital film" that was always coming "real soon now" until it was made irrelevant by the advent of affordable digital SLRs… :screwy:

Cheers
Steffen.

[robz]

An EQ8 :lol: ????............................... ..............skipping an entire model sequence eh??????.......................B.S. !!!!!!!! :screwy:

Oh, ...I get it.............Skywatcher couldn't pronounce ''REVEN''..........so they skipped a model and went straight to ''REIGHT'' :question:

[RickS]

8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture, so maybe the EQ8 has a better chance.

[RobF]

Well if there is some issue with the EQ7 design as it stands better it stopped and sorted out than tossed out on the community as is.....

[mill]

8, and the mount has to be RED :rofl::rofl:
Now that would make a top mount :thumbsup:

[brightstar]

Hey Robz,
If you think I am being untruthful, just ring Bintel and ask them. The Ad. in the new AS & T was prepared some 3 months ago, not yesterday. Good ole Lee will not know as he does not get information direct from Skywatcher.

Ron
Sirius Optics:screwy:

[robz]

Just having some fun Ron...:D

I have actually seen what looks like the prototype advertised on other sites in the U.S on the net(and EXPENSIVE in some pre-order details)..............so who knows:confused2:

What I'm hoping is that this whole EQ7 thing is real and not just a fake, pretty show exhibit to compete with other manufacturer's products? :shrug:
I doubt that this is the case, but at present there seems to be no evidence what so ever that the ''EQ7''is an actual commercial item awaiting release:question:............the more we look in to it, the more dead ends we come up with:confuse3:

So they have ''terminated production'' of the EQ7 say Tasco???............maybe they found that the mount could handle 100kg payloads instead of 45kg and went back to the drawing board!!!!:rofl:

As to the EQ8.............???................ ..have no idea what game they're up to here????..............AND.......... what will it cost?
I don't see a bargain in my crystal ball at the moment:rolleyes:

[brightstar]

Hi Robz,
No offence taken. There was some criticism of the proto type EQ7 at Photokina this year in that the leads etc all hung off the mount instead of being internal. I suspect that Skywatcher has listened and gone back to the drawing board.
They produced a catalogue of all new prodcuts being released next year and it showed that the EQ7 was slated for release. Tasco obtained the information because they are the official distributor of Skywatcher products in Oz and passed the email to their official Skywatcher dealers. Bintel, Oz Scopes etc would have received the same email.

Ron
Sirius Optics;)

[robz]

Thanks for the clarification Ron:thumbsup:
So the mount DOES exist in some form or another it seems?............hmmm.........very interesting!

Well, I may as well buy my Paramount tomorrow..........can't wait that long:lol:................in my dreams............:sadeyes:

[keni]

I have just seen an announcement on the Sirius store's web site.
"Skywatcher announces that production of the EQ7 has been terminated and a new EQ8 is in design"

No doubt there will be further info soon.

Ken>

[snowyskiesau]

Wonder what will happen to the prototypes of the EQ7?

[mill]

I wouldn't mind taking a prototype off their hands and play with it a little.
I wouldn't mind the wires on the ouside :P

[TerminallyTired]

It's probably not a problem with the design of the mount or the materials used. More likely they have decided not to tool up for production because the GFC has greatly reduced the manufacturing base in China.

Hence they have shelved the product. Why waste money outfitting a factory to run production when by the time you've got units out in the market they are obsolete. Costs are skyrocketing in China at the moment.

Better to concentrate on developing a more up to date unit that can be implemented more quickly as the manufacturing sector recovers.

Sorry to disappoint all you conspiracy theorists, but its most likely something as boring as a bean counters spreadsheet spitting our red numbers that has led to the withdrawal.

L8r

TT

[robz]

Hmmmmm?............makes we wonder to what extent the EQ8 is going to be an improvement over the EQ6?.
It will of course be much more expensive and claim to be able to carry a 24 inch R.C :D!!!

I doubt we're in for a TITAN or PARAMOUNT,LOSMANDY like, cheap clone :rolleyes:

Anyhow, who cares..............it's just a work of fiction at the moment..............now,........... . where's my scope????:P

[Steffen]

Maybe they're just superstitious about the numbers. Didn't they skip the EQ4 as well and called it EQ3-2? EQ8 is just going to be soooo much more lucky than EQ7 :)

Cheers
Steffen.

[ballaratdragons]

Yep, Skywatcher/Synta totally skipped the EQ4 nomenclature.
Other companies used it though because it isn't a copyrighted name as it was never used. :thumbsup:

[robz]

Yeah, .................hope their luck extends to finally making one of these number 8 ''German equation molecule'' (g.e.m.) or something like that :question:
I think they use them with 8 lucky scopes tied together with rubber bands (seen something similar on another thread here):P

[ballaratdragons]

Why there is no Skywatcher EQ4:

Unlucky Chinese Numbers
Four
Main article: Tetraphobia

Number 4 (四; accounting 肆; pinyin sì) is considered an unlucky number in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures because it is nearly homophonous to the word "death" (死 pinyin sǐ). Due to that, many numbered product lines skip the "4": e.g. Nokia cell phones (there is no series beginning with a 4),[5] Palm[citation needed] PDAs, Canon PowerShot G's series (after G3 goes G5), etc. In East Asia, some buildings do not have a 4th floor.

Why there may be no EQ7:

Seven

Seven is considered spiritist or ghostly. The seventh month of the Chinese calendar is also called the "Ghost Month". See Ghost Festival for more detail. During July , the gates of hell are said to be open so ghosts and spirits are permitted to visit the living realm.

But there may be an EQ8:

Eight

The word for "eight" (八 Pinyin: bā) sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or "wealth" (发 – short for "发财", Pinyin: fā). In regional dialects the words for "eight" and "fortune" are also similar, e.g. Cantonese "baat3" and "faat3".

There is also a visual resemblance between two digits, "88", and 囍, the "shuāng xĭ" ('double joy'), a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 ("xĭ" meaning 'joy' or 'happiness').

The number 8 is viewed as such an auspicious number that even being assigned a number with several eights is considered very lucky.

:thumbsup:

[TerminallyTired]

Surely if this was the case, then they would have called it an EQ8 from the word go [<> weiqi :)].

L8r

TT

[robz]

Thanks Ken!.........................yeah.. ....................what you said.......:confused2:

Oh, they'll be lucky allright..................make a crap load of dough on the forever coming elusive EQ8 that when it finally surfaces in 2012, everyone will want one because it will be the ''in thing'' to get,regardless of cost(which could be very high).

I'll be buying 8 units as anything less is bad luck:lol:

[Zaps]

That gets my vote.

[robz]

Spoke face to face to a SkyWatcher dealer on Saturday just gone and the discussion turned to the EQ8.

Now, here's the interesting part : believe it or not, fact or fiction, is the truth out there?............bla, bla, bla............:screwy:

I was ''CONFIDENTLY'' :question: informed that the EQ8 was due in Ausrtralia in February next year. As the the discussion continued, that became March/April........:shrug:....????

Despite my efforts to challenge this ''release date'', there was no question in HIS mind of the soon to be EQ8 arrival date..............what ever.........:rolleyes:

Oh.....................and the price?.................... believed to be under the $4,000 mark.................yeah......o.k. .....;)

Just thought I'd share this with you all as maybe he has really had some definitive information on this...........who knows?

[davewaldo]

All good news if its true :)

[Astroman]

I think the EQ8 will arrive on our doorsteps on the 20th of December, 2012, just in time for the end of the world....

[Barrykgerdes]

So What

I got a lottery ticket for my birthday so when I collect my 1st prize I will get a Paramount. The odds of an EQ8 appearing before 2012 are about the same as winning the lottery .:thumbsup::lol::lol:

Barry

[tlgerdes]

The question remains, do you want to spend $4k, $6k, $8k etc on being the first to get an unproven mount? when there are plenty of others with track record.

In that scale of mount, sure it will be the cheapest, but when you are carrying 30kg+ of high precison equipment do you really want the cheapest?

It's a bit like saying Hyundai are releasing a supercar to rival Porsche and Ferrari.

[TrevorW]

Peoples pockets will dictate the market, look how well the EQ6 has done, a heavy duty Chinese mount under $5000, I say bring it on !!!

[TheDecepticon]

Hyundai make high quality products that rival some of the best vehicle manufacturers in the world, and have been awarded by their peers for such. I believe, from current trends, that it is entirely possible for them to produce a vehicle of said enormity.

[robz]

Well, let's face it...............the EQ6 has been and is a brilliant mount for the price.It can carry a fully loaded 12 inch, F5 Newtonian, guide scope, cameras etc. and still produce the goods year after year. :)

Will the EQ8 turn out to have the same freaky ability and value for money?:shrug:

I have this gut feeling though that the EQ8 will be aimed for the high end market as some have already suspected.

This worries me some what as I think it's going to be struggling to be the mount that can actually compete with the big boys at lower cost?? :rolleyes:

I am not confident in my own mind that's it's going to be all that cheap and there lies the problem........:question:

[RobF]

You only have to look at the exponentially increasing number of pics posted in the Deep Space forum here to see the interest in astrophotography continues to grow spurred by modern cameras and software. The niche for a strong, stable low PE mount that's still somewhat portable and cost effective must continue to grow too. If someone can pull that off well at under $5000 they should be able to move quite a few.

Its such a great time to be in the hobby. Just think how far things have come in the last 5-10years on the imaging and eyepiece front. Bring it on I say!! :thumbsup: :D

[marki]

Making highly accurate worms and coupling them to high res encoders is expensive let alone the cost of developing decent software to go with it. This mount will either be cheap and cheerful or expensive and accurate. It will never be cheap and accurate. If it looks too good to be true then it probably is and you will do better looking elsewhere.

Mark

[pmrid]

Sounds like a G-11 with Gemini 2 to me - currently US$3200 plus frieght (say US$350) and A$GST (say A$350) that's under A$4 grand. Of course you can also buy locally and pay another A1500 or so to if you want to local warranty/support etc and still be in the $5 grand target range.

Peter

[RobF]

True Peter, although I can afford to wait and see what the next developments will be, as my current budget for upgrades is pretty well zilch :)

I was digging around in a 2nd hand bookstore today, and came upon an old astrophotography text. The author was very pleased with his 6" reflector on an alt az mount/wedge, with film camera of course....

[robz]

Hey Rob, ................I've still got some of those vintage books and marvel at what was being done in astrophotography, spectroscopy and solar viewing in those days.

I remember once seeing a book in our state reference library with heaps of photos of advanced film astrophotography set ups.
It was mind boggling!!!:eyepop:
Astro cameras made from Zeiss, Schneider lenses, Schmidt cameras..........you name it!............all piggy backed to the blazes on scopes of varying sizes and types.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh............the good ol' days...........:D

[tlgerdes]

I wasnt saying Hyundai cant make a good./great car, I said could they make a car to rival Porsche or Ferrari? Nissan have a fantastic car in the GTR, but is it a Porsche or Ferrari?

Likewise Synta will make a good mount with their next iteration, but I believe it will be a Holden Caprice rather than an S-Class Mercedes. Great value for money, and suitable a large chunk of peoples requirements, but when Top Gear put them head to head, then the deficiencies will show.

[multiweb]

Hey enough with the Hyundai bashing. :P I have two. They work a treat. The only problem is that roos are attracted to them. Buggers. :driving:

[tlgerdes]

Not bash'n Hyundai's, just put'n them in d'ere place.:bashcomp::poke:

[RobF]

I still get a wide smile on my face on the first slew of every night when my HEQ purrs toward the first object. No Mercedes, but I feel so privledged to have it all under electronic control, CCD sensitivity, digital processing. Sure beats my Tasco 'EQ 0.5' mount from 1979.Someone may have already mentioned on IIS, but there's a monster thread on CN's about the Ioptron EQ45:http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4198974/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1/vc/1

[tlgerdes]

I think everyone gets that smile when things just work.

I hope the EQ8 works just as well when it arrives. Nothing worng with a Holden Caprice. I think modern CAD/CAM takes most of the guess work out of manufacture nowadays.

I am sure that there will be an EQ8-2 or HEQ8 about 12-18 months out from initial release that will "correct" initial issues. How many revisions of the EQ6 have there been since it has been released?

Look at Losmandy's G11, I think we are on the 5th or so release. Compare a unit from 10 years ago to now.

[robz]

I guess it's a bit like computers????

Forget that your mount is obsolete a few months after you bought it due to a ''new upgraded version'' that's better, more accurate, now does this or that etc.:shrug:

I was once in to ''Home Theatre P.C's'' and fell in to that trap of B.S ........spending money on top of money to keep up.:screwy:

A good mount is a good mount...............there are better ones........sure...........but do you really need to spend so much to obtain so little benefit ?(scope size/weight unchanged) :question:

[mill]

I dont think so Rob, computers are totally different from mounts and mounts normally only get upgraded (firmware in hand controller) when required.
Most mounts have: Goto/non goto - old style hand paddle/new style and for the rest some upgrades on the mount itself or firmware in the hand paddle.
You cant compare mounts with computers, because computers and pheripherals are updated at an alarming rate.

At the moment most people have an EQ5/pro - EQ6/pro or Losmandi G8 or G11 etc and they are kept for years or for lifetime.

Computers are upgraded because programmers write large programs and then memory has to be upgraded or the cpu is too slow or the graphics card cant handle it.

Mounts only get upgraded when someone wants it to handle a heavier telescope or to be sure it will handle a heavier scope later on.

[robz]

Fair enough Martin;)

I was having a bit of a go at the computer selling mob that never cease to amaze me (and cost me a lot of money!).

One young guy in our I.T. department at work recently said that they make lap top P.C.'s to last 2 years max........deliberately.

Hope that when I buy a dedicated one for planetary capture, it doesn't fag out out in the middle of a 10 out of 10 seeing night while the scope is capturing a massive meteor impact on Mars or something.......:lol:

[TrevorW]

look at page 37 onwards

http://www.espacioprofundo.com.ar/soft/0729.pdf

are they or ain't they ????

[robz]

Yeah,...............got the hard copy version from the same place that reckon the EQ8 is coming in February this year :rolleyes: ..............the brochure makes a great place mat for my T.V. dinners !!! :P ;)

[mill]

I just wished that skywatcher would come clean and tell us what the $%%& is going on :P

[TrevorW]

Thats the biggest problem you can't communicate direct with the manufacturer as it's all Chinese, any forum member write or speak Chinese may go to their site and email them

http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/contactus.php

[RobF]

Interesting reading Trevor
They're certainly always working up some new goodies aren't they!?

[Visionoz]

Hey!! They've got a new kind of GEM - called "EQUATOTRIAL SYNSCAN MOUNTS" (see their page 38 under Section "MOUNTS") - now I know why they canned the EQ7 because it's just an ol' EQUATORIAL mount!!;)

Jokes aside, I'll call them on Thursday morning and find out if indeed the EQ7 is canned and why - that is if I can get someone to give an answer and if so will post it here

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[Visionoz]

Just an update - finished a phone call a few minutes ago with Synta China and was speaking to a lady there who stated that "... due to technical issues with the EQ7 design that the engineers could not resolve it's been canned!

An EQ8 model is currently being designed and could be ready by end of 2011 at the latest; or could be earlier if possible and when I mentioned that a so-called informed source had indicated end Feb 2011 release date for the new EQ8 model she said "... not possible because our engineers are still working on the new design" - finally I was advised to call Tasco to find out when it would become available to the Oz market

Well that's all I got for now! Still not too sure if I did speak to the right person in the organisation or not (should have perhaps got K Rudd to call instead, his Mandarin is better than mine!:P) but that's what I could glean so far

PS: Quotes of conversation are not verbatim - my interpretation

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[TrevorW]

Thanks Bill

[DavidU]

Nice one Bill:thumbsup:

[robz]

Thanks Bill.

''technical issues'' eh?........................hmmmmmmm mmm..........that concerns me a little.

I'm no mount manufacturer, but a company that can build an EQ6PRO and lots of other great gear ''scraps'' a new mount : totally...........:question:....... ...and then starts on an entirely new version??? ...........:confused2:

I see in my crystal ball : 1. a long wait for the mount to finally hit Australia?.................it's still ''being designed''???:rolleyes:
2. a HIGH price?..............scary:question:
3. reliability issues.........maybe?

[Visionoz]

Could have happened Rob - remember even NASA screwed up on the original Hubble scope with the mirrors issue and then there was that other one when the "wrong" unit of measure was used and caused the probe to go faaaaar faaaaaaar awaaaaaay from its intended target.

I'd rather take it that at least I was told the reason which was forthright instead of a bunch of lame excuses. Methinks the dummy they exhibited @ Photokina last year was just that - a dummy rather than a prototype (don't remember if anyone at that time mentioned that they had seen it working when it was exhibited) - and Photokina being what it is they had to show something and tripped themselves up when they started the build and discovered "hey, can't fix this & this & that, bugger!"

Otherwise we'll have to go along with the assumption of the "feng-shui-ness" (that another previous poster posted) of the number 8 to the Chinese :lol:

HTH
Cheers
Bill

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if the EQ8 gets launched by end Feb 2011 - I am just passing on what I got off from the phone conversation I had and even then I'm unsure if I did NOT speak to the cleaning lady rather than someone in the higher echelons of Synta!

[hotspur]

Hope the new EQ 7 is better than the EQ 6 pro,for all those keen on buying it.

I had a EQ 6 pro,but it only lasted a few months in my observatory,it was not very good,my Vixen GPD was better.

I just ordered a Vixen GPDX2,made in Japan,I imagine it would be better built than any EQ whatever.Might be an idea for some here to look at some of the Japan made mounts,In my opinion they seem a lot better made than the Chinese ones.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[marki]

Yes have to agree Chris, my SXD and SXW mounts are little rippers.

Mark

[hotspur]

Great to here they are going well for you Mark.A lot of people here seem to have these EQ whatervers,and thats' fine,I'm not knocking that.

But there are some options from the other side of the Sea of Japan,Many say they cant hold as much weight.

There was a chap that use to go to asrofest (Erwin-sadly missed),and he used to have a GPDX mount with a 8 inch and 9.25 celstron and use it to map mercuary,that data was used by NASA.although he was such a good astronomer he could do many things with very basic gear.

But,just show weight load is not everything,I'd rather have quality,and a mount that has'nt got an end on that looks like a 'kitchen mix master'.

Also Lasmondy GM 8 second hand are a reasonable price.

Cheers Chris PS-Mark I like that signature!:))

[robz]

The EQ6 is designed to hold a certain load capacity.If that capacity is abused, no doubt there will be problems for those who do precision work with astrophotography etc.

At 1500 bucks it's a bargain in my opinion for the majority of telescope users.

Let's not forget it has car bearings, so it's not a wimpy mount.
In regards to accuracy in tracking, I personally have had no problems in general use.

The rounded cap on the back can be screwed off and left off as I do.:)