New SKYWATCHER CQ350 released

[SB]

Hi Everyone
SKYWATCHER CQ350 is on the Testar home page. The new mount looks interesting. I look forward to hearing more about this. Looks like it bridges the gap between the Eq6-R and the 8.

Chris

[The_bluester]

Interesting looking mount and overcomes the big limitation for me of my old AZEQ6 clone, that being a lack of homing sensors for remote recovery if it all goes wrong at night. The only thing I am not so sure about is the placement of the input connections which appear to be on the RA axis, so you still need to manage at least one power and one USB cable to avoid them getting tied up in the counterweight bar.

That said, I will need to replace my old AZEQ in the next couple of years, I reckon it will come down to a choice between one of these or a second iOptron CEM70. A second CEM would have the advantage of only one mount type to look after and my 70G has more or less worked flawlessly since I bought it.

[Startrek]

Thanks for the alert
It’s also on the Skywatcher site , Bintel site ($4,999 ) and others
This mount has been in development for a while as I saw it on some UK and Euro Astro sites (as not available) back in 2020
I also pushed a few suppliers for a 32kg or 35kg a while ago to bridge the huge gap between the EQ6-R and EQ8-R mounts ( I hypothetically called it an EQ7-R )
Damn, I should have held off a year as I bought the EQ8-R back in April this year , haven’t used it much due to weather ( my payload is about 22kg )
I really like the drive and spring loaded worms on this new mount (on paper at least )
I assume it’s compatible with EQMOD like he other SW mounts
Time will tell how it performs
Cheers

[AdamJL]

iOptron clone?
Does look interesting, but I'm moving more towards strain wave mounts at the moment.
Maybe in future when I have a permanent setup a mount like this could be considered.

[Startrek]

One thing I can’t get my head around is the weight of this mount head at only 14.4kg

My EQ6-R mount head is 17.3kg
My EQ8-R mount head is 25kg

Maybe this spec is excluding counterweight bar ? But still light

Seems extremely light for a 35kg payload rated mount that fits on an EQ8 pier tripod which is an absolute beast of a tripod

Possibly the Yoke type design ?

Comments welcome

[toc]

Yes I think the CEM (design seems to offer weight advantages.

[gregbradley]

It does sound like an interesting mount. A home sensor is a wonderful thing. I use it all the time on my PME mount.

Greg.

[AdamJL]

Overview on the SW podcast today.

I like the spring loaded worms.. and also this isn't a centre balanced mount like the CEMs even though it looks like it. It's a standard GEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJxYP7o81UI

[Mikhael]

Thanks Chris

[JoelyE95]

I've just picked one up, hoping to use it this weekend. I bought it to step up from my AZ-EQ6 with my just over 20kg payload that I was using on it (very limit). The EQ8 was just too big for my needs, so hopefully the CQ350 is just right.

Happy to try and answer any questions about it if there are any. The first one I can confirm is there is no encoders, even though the Skywatcher Website says it has "Freedom Find" in their material which is what I thought was their name for it.

Joel

[AdamJL]

In the YT video above I linked, they said there are no encoders. They have a homing sensor and that's it.