Well I finally killed it

[Nico13]

RIP the old Super Polaris.:( Can anyone sell me an EQ6 cheap? ;)

Looks like I'm going to have to hit the piggy bank, shame though I just got it (the Polaris mount ) polar aligned so well, see the wide field images below, best I've done without guiding. Pentax K5D & 135mm f2.8 piggy backed on my Meade 8" SCT.
I was so happy to see round stars in the images I was just pointing it at the sky and snapping away and then I heard that terrible sound of plastic gears letting go and teeth failing.

Overloading a mount with a small weak drive drive motor and gearbox just doesn't work so unless someone knows or can help with info on replacing the old Meade DS motors with some steppers and an interface that works with the Meade 497 Autostar I guess I'm st#((@d.

I guess I know that the old Polaris mount is only good for wide field shots without some major work and even then it would be marginal. So I'm just thinking out loud here and going through the process of talking myself into spending the dollars on a new mount but the budget really only goes as far as an NEQ6 Pro or similar so if I spend the dollars is the EQ6 the way to go or is there something else out there around the same dollars that's better?

Any help or ideas gratefully received.

Thanks

Nico.

[Nico13]

Been a little lucky as I had a spare drive gearbox that was given to me by the guys at at the Bintel shop in Melbourne a while back and two spare drive motors I had, so stripped them all down and was fortunate to find that each gearbox had a different gear that was damaged so the one spare gearbox was able to repair all four drive servos.

And it also turns out that the mount although heavily loaded it was a tight worm gear that was the culprit that caused the gearbox damage.
So after a little work I'm back in business for the moment.

Still looking for a new mount in the long run though.

Nico.

[renormalised]

Unless you're going to load the thing down, you'd get by with just a HEQ5pro. Plus you'll save some cash in the process:)

If you're going to use an 80mm or larger guidescope as well (and all the other bits and bobs), then the EQ6 would be advisable.

[Nico13]

Thanks Carl,
Yeh there is always the possibility of a bigger scope in the future as well so the bigger mount would be the way I'd go I think.

There was a couple of EQ6's for sale in ice trades before Christmas but they unfortunately were in Sydney so not economical to pickup.
One may pop up a bit more local if not I guess I'll have to go new.

Nico.