Hagar
25-05-2008, 08:58 AM
Well folks the time had come to do a bit of maint to my HEQ5. I had a little slop in the RA and thought I would investigate and repair.
I spent a few days checking all the mount maintenance info I could find on the net and set about pulling the HEQ5 pro to bits. The fist thing that struck me was that none of the insides resembled the mounts I had found on the net. The greese wasn't black tacky stuff and there was a lot of well machined surfaces. Further disassembly revield that the mount was full of nice roller bearings, even the gear drive system was set up with roller bearings.
The repair work needed was only a tweak on the tightening of a locking screw on the rack and pinion system which could have been done without disassembly. It now works like a well oiled machine. Smooth as silk.
The one thing that was striking was the difference between the EQ5 and the HEQ5 pro. The extra price paid for the pro mount was certainly justified when you take a look inside and consider it has a goto system as well. May I also say the goto system is great and very accurate as long as you take a little time to set up correctly.
I just thought I would share this with you as I notice the price for the pro series of Skywatcher mounts has dropped significantly. They are definitely great value for money.
I spent a few days checking all the mount maintenance info I could find on the net and set about pulling the HEQ5 pro to bits. The fist thing that struck me was that none of the insides resembled the mounts I had found on the net. The greese wasn't black tacky stuff and there was a lot of well machined surfaces. Further disassembly revield that the mount was full of nice roller bearings, even the gear drive system was set up with roller bearings.
The repair work needed was only a tweak on the tightening of a locking screw on the rack and pinion system which could have been done without disassembly. It now works like a well oiled machine. Smooth as silk.
The one thing that was striking was the difference between the EQ5 and the HEQ5 pro. The extra price paid for the pro mount was certainly justified when you take a look inside and consider it has a goto system as well. May I also say the goto system is great and very accurate as long as you take a little time to set up correctly.
I just thought I would share this with you as I notice the price for the pro series of Skywatcher mounts has dropped significantly. They are definitely great value for money.