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Old 12-10-2018, 06:56 AM
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DeWynter (ILYA)
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Any Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro mount owners here?

Any Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro mount owners here? I already exhausted all my options to find the answer.

I've got Sky-Watcher EQM-35 Pro GoTo hybrid GEM/Alt-Az mount and very happy with it. Skywatcher has two version of the same mount - with and without GoTo. When I'm using it with GoTo it's all good, everything is working, I'm happy, no questions, but sometimes I just want to use it in Alt-Az fully manual mode without bringing heavy batteries, controllers etc. Kinda quick grab and go. It's more about lightweight setup for quick observations during the week. My battery is 36AH and it's heavy. I want everything to be in two hands - OTA in a case and a bag with legs and mount. I do not want to detach GoTo device and just want to use slow motion control knobs instead. They are supplied with non-GoTo version, but the GoTo version has only connectors for knobs on both sides of the mount. Doco says:

You can move the mount RA and DEC axis freely by hand when the clutches are loose. Once the clutches are tight, you can move both axis slowly by turning the slow-motion handles (EQM-35 manual version) or pushing the buttons on the Synscan handset (EQM-35 PRO motorized version)


If I understand correctly the EQM-35 Pro is just a normal EQ-3 with factory installed SyncScan Drive Kit etc. I tried to look into EQ3 Dual Axis Motor Drive installation doco, but it slightly different from what I've got and it doesn’t clearly say anything about that or may be it's just me missing something. The only thing I could find is:

The shaft gear assembly operates as a friction clutch to allow disengagement of the motor drive. To use the declination fine-adjust cable, loosen the knurled wheel on the shaft gear to disengage motor. Tighten wheel to engage motor again. The declination axis locking knob can be loosened for slewing without having to disengage motor gear first.

To use the R.A. fine-adjust cable, the set screw in the rubber shaft of the R.A. motor drive must be loosened to allow the R.A. worm gear to rotate.


I just wondering if I buy knobs and attach them to the pins and use them to manually move the scope then would it break the GoTo device (motors and gears)? I know GoTo device rotates the same RA and DEC pins from the other side of the mount, bit what if you are rotating knobs - can it break driving gears or something inside? There is no disengagement clutch for the motors. The motors are stepper motors (at least it says in the doco) so technically they can be rotated without disengagement. But just want to confirm.
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Old 27-02-2019, 12:16 PM
Cliff (Clifford)
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Hi ,

I have been looking at this type of mount lately , would it support my 6" Meade SCT thinking at some stage might remove it from the Meade ALT/AZ mount.

Looks attractive as a portable similar to the iOptron SkyGuider Pro, where you can remove the Dec part to use with a DSLR or similar.

The idea of manual control is a good one but I can't answer that for you unfortunately. My Meade hasn't got non-powered movement at all.

Regards
Cliff
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