HEQ5 owners who regularly move their mounts...

[Gem]

Hi there,

A question for those of you who own a HEQ5 mount: how do you find moving it?
I do not have a place where I can permanently leave a mount. So I was wondering how many people out there move their mount a few metres from inside to outside on a regular basis? Is it easy enough moving it with a scope (e.g. 200mm reflector) on it? Does the effort dull the urge to use the mount regularly?

[toc]

Personally I dont move it with a scope. With scope and counter weights attached, I wouldnt want to be lugging it around. I need to manovre my setup through a sliding door and down some steps, so I take the scope out first, then go back for the mount without counter weights.

[Screwdriverone]

Hey Grant,

I have exactly that, 8 inch reflector on an Heq5 and I do it like this.

1) Undo the retaining safety nut at the bottom of the counterweight shaft, slide off the two counterweights.
2) Retract the CW shaft into the housing.
3) Undo the Dovetail retaining screws for the OTA (CARFEULLY) while holding the OTA.
4) Remove the OTA and place carefully on the carpet.
5) Lift and carry the HEQ5 tripod and mount out to the backyard, place in my predefined SCP alignment.
6) Carry the CW x 2 out and install on the CW shaft
7) Carry out the OTA. I normally hold the tube via the dovetail bar like a "handle". Install this back on the mount and balance everything.
8) Carry out my battery starter pack and power up the mount, align etc.

When I am finished, I do this procedure all over again.

I CAN move the mount and the tube without the 10KG of CW's installed, but it is a bit cumbersome and the last thing I want to do is trip down the stairs with $1500 worth of kit in my arms. I have done it in a pinch but generally do it as described above, to be safe.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Chris

[troypiggo]

I'm in that situation, had the HEQ5 and now EQ6. There is no way I'd attempt to move the mount, legs, and scope all connected. Maybe mount and legs together, but not with scope, particularly a 200mm reflector. Too heavy and cumbersome.

I reckon it did discourage me a little from use. Just thinking about the levelling, aligning, balancing, setting up you have to do every time you want to set up. Throw in a few nights where the clouds roll in just as you finish the above routine... it does turn you off a little.

Be nice to have a permanet setup possible.

[Gem]

Thanks!
The only step I have is the 10-15cm from the door to the ground. Otherwise, it is a simple 5 to 7 metre move on a flat surface. Whether or not I need to take off the OTA, I don't mind - I just wanted to know that people out there do move this mount regularly and keep up their enthusiasm!
Thanks all.:)

[troypiggo]

I've seen some make up trolleys to help move it all on.

[ZeroID]

I've just bought an EQ6 Pro and was recommended to use a trolley base with jack down feet. I'd roll this out from the garage onto the apron with marked spots for the feet. I've got good SCP views from there and the scope(s) will stay cool in the garage.

[jjjnettie]

I have 3 pavers sunk into the lawn, this is where I set up.
When I pack up, the scope gets put away, the cw's removed and the mount and tripod moved inside as one piece. I don't touch the legs of the tripod, they stay exactly as they are, so I know the mount will be level next time I set up.
Even when I have a run of clear weather and the mount stays set up outside, I do a quick drift align before I start my imaging.

[steve000]

I have an eq6.
its heavy and there have been many nights where i could not be bothered setting it up or it could rain so i dont bother.
im in the process of building a scope buggy, pdf is here http://steve000.dyndns.org/images/ReartoFront.pdf
The image does not show the wheels and axles and handle.
if you want more detail pm me.

im making my self because there is about $30 of materials.... scope buggys cost $300. its very easy to make. Im doing it with an angle grinder, some basic wood working tools (rulers etc) and a mate who will weld it for me.

in theory i can leave my scope fully assembled on it and drag it out side when needed then either leave it on the trolly for visual work or remove it for photo... its gonna be quite stable anyway

[Merlin66]

I use the HEQ5pro for solar observing with an ED80 +SM60 filter.
I'm always moving the mount around to clear houses, trees etc etc.
You can easily lift and move the mount complete (I have only one counterweight fitted) and then re-fix the scope.

[xcoupeb]

Ive got a eq6 with ed80 which i leave fully set up and lug from the garage to its position about 10 metres away. its very heavy but i figure a bit of effort first saves a lot of time setting up. i wouldnt use it as much if i pulled it all apart each time

[phxbird]

I have the Sirius or the Orion version of the HEQ5. The first thing I did was to swap the 1.75" legs for a 2" diameter leg tripod. I store mine without weights or ota. You take it outside, setup the laptop and all of that. then I use the polar align program with EQASCOM to get it polar aligned. Put it into park position and add weights and OTA. Then you can fire it up and go to your first sync point. It is not hard doing it this way but does take a bit of time. In a week or so I will have my telescope shelter built and will no longer have to move it in and out of the garage. I did learn the hard way that you must put it in a shelter! My AS-GT got busted when an 80 mph wind threw it against a fence, pulling out a 4 foot earth screw that held it all down!

[chris lewis]

I have a HEQ5 with a Skywatcher Equinox ED120 on it. I have not used it for 6x months. It just becomes too much of a hassle to take it apart, take it outside, assemble and when finished repeat again. It is a great setup but .. they say your best scope is the one you use the most - for me that is my Minox 10x58 ED binocular - great Grap and Go !
I must invest in a scope buggy / trolly of sum sort and keep it in the garage as the above combo really is great when I do use it.

Chris

[Gem]

Forgive me ignorance... what do you mean by "polar align program"? How does it work?

[BC]

Hi Grant,

Don't know if you've seen this already in the ATM section but this is my solution. It works pretty well.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=48852

Bruce

[Gem]

Thanks! I hadn't seen it. Interesting!

[RobF]

I do the "mount, then counterweights, then OTA dance" to marked tiles in the backyard. and rarely need to re-polar align unless I've been travelling and have changed the mount around. You can usually be up and running (imaging) around 45mins from deciding the weather is worthwhile (which is almost never....:rolleyes:). Packing it all away is 30mins or so - less if I'm lazy and put a cover over it all for the AM.

The way I look at it is how many sports or offsite hobbies can you do without a trip in your car somewhere for 30mins there and back? An observatory isn't really practical in my backyard (let alone my skies!), but an hr now and then putting up and away isn't that big a deal if you're enthusiastic about it. You can always start setting up before dark to save valuable night hours.

At the end of the day this is a personal thing as to your own "pain threshold". If it sounds like too much then a small mount and refractor might be a better option?

[tlgerdes]

Chris, I would reverse this procedure and do the OTA first, then the counterweight, or one day your OTA is going to "swing low, 'into' sweet chariot" :lol:

[jjjnettie]

aye, been there done that.
My poor finder scope has taken the brunt of that twice. Once on pull down, and once when I forgot to add CW's on set up. :rolleyes:

[Screwdriverone]

Hmmm,

Thanks for the tip Trevor,

I always have the clutches locked while parked and the 8" OTA isnt all that heavy, however I will keep it in mind....better to be safe than sorry.

Cheers

Chris

[tlgerdes]

Yeah, it's all OK 99.999% of the time, then one day, someone starts talking to as you are breaking it down, and you forget to tighten. You take the counterweight of the the bar and watch as you scope goes swinging around and as you still have the counterweight in you hand, your brain has a seizure over, do I drop the counterweight on my foot and catch the scope? or do watch the scope go crash and save my foot? :shrug: :question:

[phxbird]

Sorry Grant I haven't checked this for awhile. I did not get a hand controller when I bought the Sirius used. So I use an EQ-Mod cord to hook up the mount to my laptop. There it uses ASCOM and another freeware program EQASCOM to connect with The Sky 6 Pro. Part of the EQASCOM is a polar align program. You position the scope in the 6 o clock position (counter shaft straight down) punch up the The Sky and EQASCOM, hit the polar align button on the screen and it will rotate the mount to the proper alignment in the polar scope. You then put Polaris in the circle( northern observer, what can I say) by adjusting the mounting and you got it. Very handy and pretty accurate. I am in the process of building an observatory so won't need this step at all soon but it is still nice.
Paul