New Skywatcher EQ6-R Mount (almost) here!

[dylan_odonnell]

Listen very carefully.. I shall say zis only once ... ;)

I'm just going to leave this here. Although it's not officially released or even available I believe it will cost $2400 and a friend of mine got one from Bintel which means they can probably hook you up, maybe, if you give them the special illuminati handshake. I dunno.

My EQ6 is great, I mean bang for buck it's incredible really. My friend is getting way better guiding results already which is annoying because he's more of a beginner than I am. I'm not sure if this works with EQMOD out of the box but if I hear it does or is likely to soon I'll probably hock a kidney and get it.

This message will self destruct in 10.. 9 ... 8 ...

[Merlin66]

Certainly looks interesting....
I just wish they had also "revised" those crappy latitude adjustment screws!

[dylan_odonnell]

Heh yeh swapping those out was the best thing I ever did!

[AndrewJ]

Gday Dylan

If yr mate can run a simple test, we can read out its capabilities and settings to see if it matches anything already there, or it has been given a new ID.

Andrew

[pluto]

Looks interesting.
PPEC - does this mean it has encoders?

[AndrewJ]

Gday Hugh

Nope, probably just a PEC indexing sensor ( ie a hall sensor or single slotted disk )

Andrew

[The_bluester]

It looks like the casting has been revised around the altitude and azimuth adjustment bolts. Maybe more work under the skin to make it into a better setup?

A bit of intelligent profiling of the cast nose they press up against would make bent bolts a lot less likely.

[pluto]

Thanks Andrew :)

[Slawomir]

Tripod looks identical to the old one, that's a bit of a shame IMO. Claimed payload went up from 18.2kg to 20kg, the same as for AZEQ6. Frankly speaking I am a bit sceptical in terms of dramatic improvements in tracking and also smoothness of the PE, but surely the new mount will offer some improvements over the EQ6 :question:

[dylan_odonnell]

I'm pretty sure he's using the hand controller only.

But you can bug him on instagram if you want.. here's an unboxing photo on his feed :

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKLH5FED0yc/?taken-by=tony_jov

d

[glend]

I will put my well tuned belt driven NEQ6 Pro up against it. Later generation NEQ6 Pro capacity was always advertised originally as 20kg, and the Bintel webpage still shows it as 20kg, but for imaging it will still require restriction to 15kg. It seems Skywatcher has now dropped the capacity in the NEQ6 Pro advertising to 18.2 on its webpage. Seems like a bit of trickery to differentiate the new model in some way, makes it seem improved. A well sorted NEQ6 Pro with Rowan belt mod kit is pretty much the same thing, if not better, as the internal casting clearance issues would have likey been cleaned up when the belt mod was done and bearing end play and worm adjustment would be better than factory slop. I would like to see one broken down before getting too excited.

[dylan_odonnell]

I've always wondered about this but I'm not very handy at that kind of mod work. I'm better at the computer end of town than the mechanical side :) Do people provide this kind of service for a fee? I'd consider it.

[glend]

Here is the original NEQ6 Pro advertisement page as still current on Bintel:

http://www.bintel.com.au/Mounts---Tripods/EQ-Mounts/Sky-Watcher-NEQ6-Pro-GoTo-Mount/97/productview.aspx

Note the listed capacity is 20kg. And that was pretty much taken verbatim from the original Skywatcher webpage.

The Skywatcher company webpage NOW says the capacity of the NEQ6 Pro is 18.2 KG. See here:
https://www.skywatcher.com/product/eq6-synscan/

You can see they dropped the capacity back to 18.2kg and removed the Pro designation to push it downmarket to make the new model look better.

Simple marketing department trickery to dress up the old mount and justify a price increase.

The Rowan Belt Mod page is here:
http://rowanastronomy.com/productsa2.htm

To answer your question Dylan, it is a fairly easy mod to do (costs just $208 Aud) and the instructions were very clear; importantly it gave those doing it a greater understanding of how the mount works mechanically, and thus the other tuning that needed to be done was more likely to get done at the same time (like end play and worm adjustment).

Andrews

[AndrewJ]

Gday Dylan

I dont have logins to datagrab or farcebook, so will just wait til they appear in the wild.

Andrew

[barx1963]

Looks to me they have implemented some of the features that they intro'd in the AZ EQ 6. I like my one, only thing they haven't done is the alt adjustment which is the best feature on my mount. Having said that, from the pics the bolts appear beefier. The carry handle is a nice touch, especially for those of use without a permanent setup. Carrying a mount head indoors at 2am on cold Colac night is never a fun experience!

I would be surprised if EQMOD didn't just work, remembering that if they have the same connector as the AZ/EQ6 so you need the USB2EQ5 adaptor or the Bluetooth version.

Malcolm

[dylan_odonnell]

Me too actually considering the huge community built around EQMOD, and that it seems like a hardware upgrade mostly, and maybe some hand controller updates, but the underlying controller could be identical. If anyone gets one please let me know.

d

[issdaol]

I have discovered where they got the idea for the Handle !! :lol: ;)

[Slawomir]

Spot on Phil! :rofl:

I would hope the handle can be detached, otherwise it could get in the way of larger filter wheels and cables hanging off refractors, or when someone has motorised Moonlite rotator for example - the handle could interfere at some orientations of the rotator.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Dylan

Dunno, as it now has PPEC and a snap port, so extra pins reqd.
Also, the PPEC is stored in the mounts EEProm for the other models with PPEC, so maybe a new PIC has been used???
The AZEQ5 actually changed from microchip PICs, to an ARM based processor, so will be interesting to see if the new EQ6 has been upgraded too. A simple connect test will tell if it is a type natively recognised by EQMod.

Andrew

[Slawomir]

It should work with EQmod, because AZEQ6 also has PPEC and the same snap shot port, and when I swapped HEQ5 for AZEQ6 I did not need to change anything in my software.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Suavi


Agree, but the AZEQ5 didnt work initially, until we found out that the motor cards were missing some data. If they have changed processor, then anything is possible .
Dylan shld get his mate to connect it in PCDirect mode and see,
( or we can just keep having fun guessing and run a sweep on what happens :-) )

Andrew

[dylan_odonnell]

I'm afraid he doesn't have a cable. I don't think he even knows what EQMOD is yet :lol:

[AndrewJ]

Gday Dylan

He should have got a serial cable with the mount ( that is used to do Hbx firmware upgrades )
That can be used to connect EQMod to the mount via the Hbx, if the Hbx is put into PCDirect mode first.

Andrew

[5ash]

Looking at the posted picture it looks like the handle unbolts?
Philip

[dylan_odonnell]

Ok .. I can confirm the EQ6-R connects and works fine with EQMOD :) :D:D:D

[dylan_odonnell]

Yep, can confirm the handle is removable.

[Camelopardalis]

Great stuff, it'll be interesting to see how they perform out in the wild!

As a fellow desk jockey, the belt mod in my EQ6 was probably a bit out of my comfort zone, but I was pretty stoked when it powered up and moved after I'd put it back together :lol:

[dylan_odonnell]

Here's a video of the belts in action and the slew noise :

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKkHr15A5d_/?taken-by=dylan_odonnell_

[Camelopardalis]

Cool, sounds very similar to the AZ-EQ6...in the dark I'm not sure I'd tell them apart :D

[Slawomir]

...in the dark you could search for the handle :lol:

[Camelopardalis]

:lol:

[Wavytone]

Hmmmm. I can see an equatorial mount in my future.

[Tony_jov]

The EQ6-R is great it's easy to use even for a beginner like myself. It is the first time I've had a mount with a belt drive and let me say it's bloody awesome! Just dead silent at night especially compared to my HEQ5 pro

[Tony_jov]

Here is a link to the EQ6-R slewing at max speed with some of my gear on.

https://youtu.be/A8FH15cQPrg

[issdaol]

Good to see a video of this in action.......I did have a question though....there seemed to be a binding/rubbing noise at the start and finish of each slew action.

Is that typical? what is the cause?

Or was it just background noise from elsewhere?

[Tony_jov]

I'm guessing it's typical or maybe could be background noise you can hear my cat in the back "meowing" his little lungs out 😝.... Could also be my camera phone perhaps?

[LewisM]

Except colour and the goofball handle whats the difference between it and the old "Celestron" CGEM (made by Skywatcher anyway) - just the control software/hardware maybe?

CGEM left... "new" EQ6R right. Just a modicum of genetic traits...:lol:

[traveller]

I may have missed something, but what's the difference between the AZEQ6 and this new EQ6-R?
Bo

[barx1963]

Bo
The AZEQ6 can be converted to AZ mode. Main thing I like about it is the altitude adjustment is a vaaaaaaast improvement over the knobs on the NEQ6 or HEQ5. Looks like the EQ6-R has a similar arrangement to the NEQ6. On the AZEQ6 there is a single knob to adjust the alt and it is very smooth.
That feature alone makes it a worthwhile purchase.

Malcolm

[traveller]

Yes I was on the lookout for an AZEQ6 before I got a belt kit for my EQ6 (AZEQ6 also has encoders, which is handy too). But why have two same specced EQ mounts competing against each other?
Bo

[issdaol]

He he someone stomped on the cat !! :-)

It sounded more like a physical/mechanical noise so perhaps is typical.......hopefully not some issue but I'm guessing this mount would have reasonable good warrant/support ?

[Tony_jov]

People are really hating the handle but I think it's brilliant it's positioned perfectly in a well balanced place literally can pick it up once all set up (without scope/counterweights)

[Slawomir]

My AZEQ6 makes similar noise at the start/end of slewing, so I would say it is typical.

[Zuts]

As does mine ....

[dylan_odonnell]

I believe the original EQ6 made an even more dramatic scraping noise at the start and end of each slew that was remedied by the user mods and servicing.

[barx1963]

I have only used a HEQ5 and the AZEQ6. The HEQ5 was noticeably noiser. I have heard others at camps etc and it was nothing unusual I thought. The quieter operation of the AZEQ6 was obvious right from beginning. The sound in the videos appears the same as the AZEQ6 IMHO.

Malcolm

[AG Hybrid]

Oh yeah! Future Christmas present spotted! Time to start the saving up cycle.

Regarding what Lewis said. I noticed that immediately and I wondered if anyone else would notice it either.

[Camelopardalis]

If it's mechanically related to the AZ-EQ6 it should perform like a champ...not so if it's related to the CGEM :lol: ;)

[LewisM]

If it IS a CGEM in new clothes...well... There are kits to fix them to a certain extent. (I owned a CGEM for a month - I was not impressed, and replaced it with an HEQ5 instead!)

I didn't look, but does it use Synscan or some rehashed version of Celestron's software?

[LewisM]

I genuinely hate to agree with this statement. Here's fingers crossed for new owners.