Skywatcher CQ350 Pro Mount

[Startrek (Martin)]

Apparently the new Skywatcher CQ350 Pro mount is available in Europe
This mount is a yoke type design and has a payload capacity of 35kg which is essentially the next step up from an EQ6-R Mount
Does anyone have any inside information whether it will be available in Australia soon ?

Looks like a logical step from Skywatcher to bridge the gap between the 20kg EQ6-R and the 50kg rated EQ8-R pro

I welcome any info or comments

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

Can't find it for sale in any of the usual UK/ EU vendors.....
See the same "catalogue" image from last year.

[LewisM]

Why wait? Just buy the iOptron they copied it from.


Or is iOptron making it for them? Synta does control a lot of interests in China...

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks for the suggestion
I use EQMOD for Goto and tracking with my Skywatcher mounts and looking at the EQMOD project site , iOpton mounts are not listed there
I think iOptron use commander software which has limited features and functionality compared to EQMOD
I can’t see myself in the future using anything else but EQMOD it’s so damn good and user friendly
I wish Skywatcher would make say a EQ7-R Pro ( 35kg rating ) I’m sure they would sell a zillion of them

[The_bluester (Paul)]

EQMOD is one thing that makes me keep looking at Skywatcher and related mounts. I am using an Orion version AZEQ6 at the moment and it works for AP but has some foibles. Like no proper facility to lock the altitude adjustment (I am thinking about replacing the knurled knobs for the purpose with stainless steel nuts so I can tighten them enough with a spanner to lock it properly) and they are harder to balance than an EQ6, which instead has a horrible altitude adjustment setup.


The CQ350 might be a good option for me in the future if they turn out not to have any glaring defects. Having a USB3 hub built in to them and some power distribution looks a godsend for cable management.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

One thing I was thinking about. There is a bit of criticism about the place regarding the power and hand controller etc connections being on the front face of the RA assembly, but they look to have a removable cap over the center bore at the front RA bearing. I wonder if it will be possible to remove that and pass cabling through into the center of the mount. So long as there are hard stops on the RA movement to keep cables from being crushed it would be a reasonably neat way to deal with cabling. Not like you can mount a polar scope there when the rear bearing does not have a hollow centered shaft, and a cam like a Polemaster can be just as well mounted on the scope dovetail so it does not need to go there.

[Startrek (Martin)]

I preferred the handcontroller port and power connection location on my old HEQ5 mount ( at the rear ) as it’s a good location and doesn’t foul on anything
My new EQ6-R Mount has the handcontroller port and power connection on the side , a poor design choice
In regard to your AZEQ6 Mount , you mentioned your guiding error is generally around 0.60 arc sec.Whats your payload on this mount ?
I’m carrying an 8” f5 newt (metal tube OTA ) and with imaging gear , cabling, dew control etc... my payload is up around 14.5 kg ( Mount is rated at 20kg but that’s not an AP rating ) My guiding on average is around 1.0 arc sec ( good nights 0.80 to 0.90 and bad nights 1.20 to 1.50 arc sec )
Just interested to see a comparison between these mounts
Thanks

[The_bluester (Paul)]

I would have to weigh it to be honest, but it is a pretty light and short (480mm FL refractor, though as far as small fracs go it is a pretty chunky beast)

Put it this way, I need both counterweights but one is against the mount and the other is only about 10mm away from the first. Unfortunately I don't have any logs from when I had my SCT on it to compare how it went with a bigger and heavier payload, but I did manage to get round stars in a 20 minute sub with that on it.

I have my cables managed in a way that works pretty well (Side connections too like the EQ6R) but only the inconvenience of setup/packup has stopped me from making some internal brackets to route them around the dec shaft and pass the cables through the middle of the mount via the polar scope hole in the RA axis. If it were permanently mounted I probably would do it. That or mount the NUC I am using to run the show on top of the scope so that the only cable that would need to go through the middle would be power.

[netwolf]

For sale here
https://www.primalucelab.com/astrono...can-mount.html

[The_bluester (Paul)]

Yes, though it is more or less pre order at the moment. I would love to find a user manual on them but searches mostly come back to that page.

[mura_gadi (Steve)]

Hello,

I was looking at this mount then found this thread. The CQ350 is currently available from Telescope Express (Italy) for 2,858 euro, around $4,200. Raw price, no taxes postage etc etc...

But at the 34kilo load its comparable to the CGX at $7,000, so you'd have some space in the budget.

[Meow (Dale)]

What a strange looking beast. But CEM, that’s iOptron territory. I’d buy a CEM70/120 over this one-off, SW CEM variant…