[Tasastro (Bill)]

Tony,

I have installed my own belt drive mods on a number of different mount types and also the Rowan mod on my NEQ6. The Rowan kit is very well designed and made, however the NEQ6 mount is a particularly difficult mount to convert. This is because the drive end of motors is not accessible. Installation and adjustment of belts is a tricky business and can be extremely frustrating for anyone not well practiced at mechanical work.

I was dissatisfied with the lack of accessibility and installed windows on my mount to allow access for belt installation and adjustment (see attached photos). I also made a number of other mods to the NEQ6 such as a single knob for altitude adjustment and manual clamping of altitude setting, which are also shown in the photo's. Had ideas of offering the mods as a package for about $300 plus cost of Rowan kit but don't think many people would be interested, particularly since I am in Tasmania and shipping costs would be excessive.

I would estimate the time I would take me to install a Rowan kit without the other mods (windows etc) at about 6 hours - but I am very experienced at this kind of work and have a well equipped workshop. For someone learning as they go along it could well take 20 hours or more.