Saxon HEq5 Pro or Saxon AZ-EQ6 GT

[bluesilver (Peter)]

Hi, just a basic question, but interested to hear and reviews or advice.
I was looking at going with either a Saxon HEq5 Pro vs Saxon AZ-EQ6 GT mount.
The telescope to be going onto it would be the Sky Rover ULT 115 ED Glass Triplet 115mm APO Refractor Telescope
Plus also possibly the addition of a Canon SLR camera.
Would both mounts be perfectly capable and well suited of this setup, or is one going to be better suited more than the other?

I have done a bit of researching around on the two, the Saxon HEq5 Pro seams popular and is gear driven bu the Saxon AZ-EQ6 GT is belt driven but no so much review information on it.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Peter.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Peter,
If your eventually getting into astrophotography then the HEQ5 Pro is the one I would recommend to start you off.I started off with the Skywatcher HEQ5 pro and after 2 years upgraded to the Skywatcher EQ6-R. I still use the HEQ5 it’s a great reliable mount for AP payloads up to 8 or 9 kilos
By the way Saxon don’t make these telescope mounts, they are made in China by Synta and exported around the world as “The Skywatcher” brand
Go to the Skywatcher Australia website as see if there is a distributor in Tassy, you might do a better price ?
Hope you get some more advice of other IIS members
Good luck !!

[bluesilver (Peter)]

Thanks for the reply and advice, appreciated.
I have also recently read that a lot are changing out the gear drives for the upgraded belt drive option on the HEq5 Pro, is this something to look at doing or not really worry about it for a while?
Thanks again,
Appreciated.

[Startrek (Martin)]

To be honest I would worry about belt upgrades at the moment. The standard mount works well and you could always do that down the track ( if you think you need to )
My HEQ5 is standard gear drive , haven’t had to do anything with it after 2 years, it tracks well , responds to Goto and guide commands well . No issues !!

[bluesilver (Peter)]

Thanks again for the replies.
I am guessing it is also fine for astropotography as well?
Nothing fancy, just general astrophotography.
Thanks.