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JP
Some more information.....
A great feature of the Skywatcher mounts including the HEQ5 and EQ6-R is that they have a Synscan handcontroller which has an extremely good polar alignment routine which doesn’t require line of sight to the south celestial pole
All you need to do is level the tripod, align the tripod facing true south , set home position on the mount , balance your rig , pick 2 alignment stars ( one being your Polar Alignment Star ) and start the routine. You can use an illuminated centering eye piece or use a laptop with software like BYEOS which is designed specifically for DSLR’s
After some practice you will be polar aligned close to or under 1 arc minute in 10 minutes.Ive used this method to polar align since I started the hobby, the more you do it the better you get at it.I must say from experience the EQ6-R mount is certainly easier and quicker to polar align than the HEQ5
Another great feature of Skywatcher mounts namely the HEQ5 and EQ6-R is they are compatible to a program called EQMOD which replaces the Synscan handcontroller for remote control of the mount vis a planetarium.Extremely accurate and user friendly
I have easy to read procedures on the following for both HEQ5 and EQ6-R mounts
1/ Finding true south (permanent line on the ground for future use )
2/ Setting your tripod to face true south
3/ Setting home position on your mount
4/ Balancing your mount
5/ Synscan polar alignment routine
6/ Setting up EQMOD , StellariumScope and Stellarium for remote control of your Skywatcher mount from a laptop near the mount
7/ collimation via some good websites
NB: Just to advise you that there are many different procedures and software programs to assist in polar alignment, I’ve just mentioned the Synscan handcontroller method as it comes with your mount when you buy it and all you need initially is a centering eye piece. Later you can perform the procedure via a laptop with more accuracy.
To answer your question whether a 6” f5 or f6 scope is satisfactory for visual observing, the answer is most definitely yes. With the right eye pieces and good seeing conditions you can observe most objects in the night sky with good detail
Hope this information is helpful
Martin
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