HEQ5Pro - pushing the limits.

[pmrid]

These mounts are rated at a 30 Lb (13.6 Kg) limit. And I know that mounting a newtonian on them is generally thought to be a no-no. So I also know that what I’m going to do is going to have most folks rolling their eyes and clicking their tongues.

Nevertheless, I have mounted an 8 inch f5 Newt on it with finder scope and a x3 Barlow’d ASI290MC cam. Weight 11 Kgs. So I’m at 80 %. But I’ve got a site well sheltered from wind and stray light.

With Saturn and Jupiter putting on such a great show at the moment, I just havevto give this a whirl.

Wish me luck.

[rustigsmed]

Good luck!!

[evltoy]

And the result is?

I have an nEQ6-Pro (EQ6) and was thinking of putting a 10 inch newt on it... wonder if that would be ok or not.

[Dave882]

As long as it’s balanced I’m sure you could get decent results for planetary lucky imaging. Just have to nudge the image a bit more regularly to keep it in the picture. Maybe to be cautious just do a slower than normal slew to the target.

[middy]

I’m sure it’ll be just fine. I’ve had an 8” f6 mounted on a HEQ5 for over 10 years. Just ignore the tongue clickers, I do. :D

[pmrid]

I had an identical setup but on a pier. The mount did not struggle at all - but I was also in a big ROR obs so wind was not an issue.

[pmrid]

Good advice!

[Startrek]

Mount ratings stated by suppliers and resellers are usually visual ratings not long exposure AP ratings
True the max payload rating on the HEQ5 is 13.6kg but recommended AP payload for long exposure would be more like 60% to 65% or 9kg
I had a 6” f6 GSO newt on my HEQ5 for years doing long exposure AP and payload was around 8.5 kg ( I could never get my guiding below an arc sec on this rig no matter how well I balanced it )
I’d hate to think what the guiding would be like sticking my current 8”f5 GSO newt on it, I upgraded to an EQ6-R pro mount and it guides at 0.70 to 0.80 total on average
For just planetary work you will be fine with the 8” on the HEQ5 but long exposure AP work using an 8” or 10” definitely an EQ6-R pro or equal or bigger

My 2 cents ....

[Sunfish]

This is along the lines of my Heq5 but not as bad as you would think. With a 3.5 kg refractor the guiding error is less than 0.6 . With the 10kg 200 newt the error is more than 2 but still achievable for AP when the objects are overhead or in the West with 2x 5kg weights plus a 1 kg SA weight screwed on the end.

[pmrid]

The added advantage of this particular mount is that I did a belt mod earlier this year so with just a little luck, I am hoping to smooth out a fair amount of the backlash you usually see in a HEQ5.

I’ll only be doing planetary with this rig for a couple of months yet so I won’t be testing that theory for a while.

[RyanJones]

For what it’s worth I’ve got over 10kg of newt, guide and cameras riding on my HEQ5 pro with sub 0.5 guiding so it can be done but does require a significant amount of mount tuning get there.

Cheers

Ryan

[Camelopardalis]

Peter, perfect tracking is not the name of the game with planetary, so why not give it a go?? :D

As said before, just get your balance right and it shouldn't drift much.

[Sayfog]

> I’m sure it’ll be just fine. I’ve had an 8” f6 mounted on a HEQ5 for over 10 years. Just ignore the tongue clickers, I do.


Similar boat here with an 8" RC - I have belt modded it but I can defs gets sub arsecond using OAG at native FL (so I know its not a guidescope lying to me!). The moment of inertia is what really matters not weight for mounts, and whilst I have belt modded mine, just getting stuff properly balanced and PA'd is the go.

You hear a lot people saying "anything 8" is too much for an HEQ5" or "you can only use 50% payload on an HEQ5 for AP". But, the proof is in the pudding of images - I couldn't give a rats ass about my error rate as long as the guiding and mount can complete the corrections its told to do.

[Sunfish]

Ah yes . That is a detail I did not mention. I have made the Rowan belt mod also which helps a lot.

[mynameiscd]

Hi I'm probably pushing it a bit with my HEQ5 but normally get guiding around 0.6 to 0.8 with a quick Sharp cap alignment.
I've got a 6" Newt, a C90, Finder scope, Telrad, 2 x. ASI120s, a DSLR and lead weight on the Newt opposite the DSLR to counter balance the tube.
I'm not sure what weight it is but I reckon I'm up there!!
It's a second hand unit with the Rowan belt mod already been done but it seems to be able to handle the overloading.
The only picture I have doesn't show the full loading!!!
Cheers
Andy

[pmrid]

Well, all things considered, I am happy enough with this rig for planetary work. I am in a seaside suburb so salt air and background suburban light are an irreducible problem that will always limit what I can do. Last night, I ran some images between 9 and 10 p.m. when Saturn and Jupiter were well up. Curiously, after Jupiter got to around 60 degrees elevation, the seeing suddenly went to the dogs completely. No obvious reason why. Humidity was climbing up and was probably about 80% at ground level by that stage.

Anyway, here are a couple of samples of the best I could achieve. No doubt a EdgeHD1100 or something else with great gobs of aperture would have done better, but that's just the way it is with 8inch reflectors.

[Sunfish]

Looks pretty good for planetary. Very sharp details.

[Sunfish]

That is a lot of gear, seems to work for you though. I tried my refractor as well as the Newt but the HEQ5 could not handle the additional load which would have pushed the weight up near 15kg plus three weights.

[RobF]

Should be fine Peter. All my deep sky stuff for first 4-5 years was F5 8" on HEQ5Pro. Yes, you do have to watch balance, yes, you are more susceptible to wind. Good guiding comes down to mix of persistence and luck at times on Chinese mounts.

Processing and colour on these old pics not to current tasts, but res and tracking was pretty good:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MMWrskb49h8dR8yH9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vt5TuEqZpMhMFjau6



As Dunc said, no probs at all if doing fast frame planetary. Glad to hear you're still having astro fun :)