Mount Decision Made, On It's Way!!!

[ballaratdragons]

I would like to thank all of you that helped in my thread about which mount I should decide on.

The replies I recieved were very helpful and gave me much to consider. :thumbsup:

The decision was between an EQ5 with with Vixen Skysensor 2000PC GoTo and a HEQ5 Pro with V.3 Synscan.

I really did find it hard as both have different features.

Apart from the great and informative replies in the thread, thank you also to Andrew (astroman) for the lengthy discussions in Skype over the last week, Houghy on Skype Phone, and Bert on normal Phone. All gave valuable information.

As pointed out by some, the EQ5 with Skysensor may have a spare parts issue and may be limited by it's size. The HEQ5 Synscan seemed to be slightly better in the load capacity arena, and parts availability.

So I sat down with Cheryl and we had a long discussion about Pros and Cons, future scopes to be mounted etc etc.
We ended up in total agreement with each other (miracles do happen) about which one will serve better and be more practical for many years.

The Mount has been ordered, shipped out today and will arrive next week :thumbsup:

What was the final decision I hear you ask??? :whistle:

[ballaratdragons]

My new Mount arriving next week is an EQ6 with Synscan :lol:

See, I did take in what many of you were saying :thumbsup:

Thanks for the help.

[Dennis]

Congratulations Ken - wise choice and I'm sure you'll have many happy moments over many enjoyable years under our lovely southern skies.

Cheers

Dennis

[matt]

I hope you enjoy it Ken:)

If you need any help or have any questions when it arrives make sure you holler out.

I've had mine 12 months and have just about got it under control:thumbsup:

[sejanus]

:lol::thumbsup:

[janoskiss]

Congrats Ken! EQ6 is a nice solid mount. :) Just don't try to put your 12" on it. :scared:

[spacezebra]

Congrats Ken.

Cheers Petra

[ballaratdragons]

Funny you should say that Steve, as one of the American websites recommends the EQ6 for use up to a 14" Newtonian Reflector :screwy:




Thanks Matt. I'll be hounding everyone when I get stuck :lol:

Also,
at this point I would like to thank Houghy very very much for helping me with this matter. Houghy contacted me, and after assisting with his input on my choices, he then re-contacted me and offered to sell me his EQ6 synscan at a price I could not refuse, to help me out :thumbsup: Obviously I accepted.

It certainly made the decision a lot easier. Thanks Houghy, you are a gentleman among gentlemen :thumbsup:

As for the mount itself, it was sent away by Houghy to have the 'Treatment' done (Ported and Polished and relapped gears), so I know I am getting an excellent mount.

[matt]

Where would one send an EQ6 to get the "treatment"?

Bintel?

[xelasnave]

"Originally Posted by janoskiss
Congrats Ken! EQ6 is a nice solid mount. Just don't try to put your 12" on it.

Funny you should say that Steve, as one of the American websites recommends the EQ6 for use up to a 14" Newtonian Reflector"

So are you going to try to????
Congratulations Ken from my limited use of mine I say it is better than I expected I am very happy so far, manual tracking with repeated corrections didnot phase it... you know you will be known as the drought breaker this one should do it.. worked well here.
alex

[xelasnave]

make sure its white
alex

[ballaratdragons]

Houghy will have to let you know coz I don't have a clue :lol:

[xelasnave]

Just joking .... where does one get an eq6 blueprinted ? is there someone in the business of hotting up mounts??
alex

[ballaratdragons]

No way, buckaroo! :lol:


That's the only reason I bought it now Alex, we need the rain :lol:

[xelasnave]

Thats nice always thinking of others.
What about stripping the 12inch down ..lighten it single truss and strechless string, no secondary just the cam suspended off the single strut.. maybe you could get it light enough???
alex

[ballaratdragons]

Nah, the 12" lives on my Big EQ mount, Alex. This one is for my ED80 and possibly other scopes in the future. Maybe an ED100 or something like that. And for taking to Club nights etc which I can't do with my big one.

[leon]

Nice one Ken, i expect we can see some masterpieces in the near future. ;)

Cheers Leon :thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

I hope so Leon. That's the whole purpose of getting the larger EQ6. Stability during photography. :thumbsup:

The EQ1 can only do so much :lol:

[ballaratdragons]

Apparently Roger Davis from Bintel used to do the rebuild and race tune when he was at BATSC. Maybe if you contact him and ask. :thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Gee, that guy's got a big heart, it’s nice to hear of these acts of kindness amidst the rampant, materialistic gorging that Xmas has come to be.

Well done the H0ugh :thumbsup:

Dennis

[davidpretorius]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, there was nothing better than seeing the mount come down the road on the back of a semi above the roof lines. then watching the crane lift the mount off the back and placing it on the specially prepared 2m deep concrete slab.

it was the centrepiece of any camp!!!

congrats Ken on the mount!

[avandonk]

Congratulations Ken on the resolution of a very difficult choice. I think hOughy tipped you over the edge in the right direction:thumbsup: . You won't regret it further down the track as your OTA's get bigger. My HEQ5 was just coping with the Tal + other bits for astrophotography.
I just weighed both heads and the EQ6 came in at 16.5 Kg (36lb) and the HEQ5 was 10.5 Kg (24lb). I had no trouble with lifting either but then I practice with slabs and boxes of VIC :whistle: .

You should get many years of use and it should handle most OTA's for astrophotography.

Bert

[h0ughy]

HAHA I have the last laugh - KEn is getting an EQ1 that has been to the Davis institute of photonics........:rofl:

I actually mailed him a porta potti:D :P

[Dennis]

Oh my goodness me….. for one awful moment there, I thought you had written pot pourri (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potpourri).

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

thats in the other box - 20kg of it:rofl: ;)

[ballaratdragons]

Is that what they call it these days. Back in my day it was called Grass, Weed, Dope, etc :lol:

Not hard to realise I am excited about the mount coming next week. Today I went into Ballarat to Jaycar and bought the 12v 4amp Power Supply for it. :D

It's a nice looking power supply, just needs a mount hanging off it :lol:

[h0ughy]

no dope is used for model aircraft;) :lol: , weed is a pest in the garden, and grass is now called lawn if you mow it;)

[davidpretorius]

someone is excited...
someone is excited...
someone is excited...
someone is excited...
someone is excited...
someone is excited...

[ballaratdragons]

:D Who Davo?

Even though there are Thunderstorms forecast, I might go outside tonight and plug in my Power Supply. You know, just to see if it works :P

And I will sit and look at my Power Supply, and work out the best place to . . . ummm . . . use it :whistle: