I am putting my first serious mount up for sale with the intent of upgrading to an AZ-EQ6 for visual purposes. This was the mount that got me into astrophotography and that was its primary purpose until I upgraded to a black and red gearless frictionless mount
I am the fourth owner of this mount so it has done its rounds of IIS for a number of years. I can give a brief history which I am hoping to get the order of event correct!
First owner bought and used for 1-2 years.
Second owner hyper tuned (replaced some of the internals with higher quality parts). Used for 1-2 years.
Third owner did a Rowan Belt Mod, owned for near two years but barely touched.
Fourth owner (me), bought in midish 2015 replaced the bottom section with an EQ6 Wedge MkII/MkIII, whichever was the last version.
Since mid 2016 this mount has been almost exclusively been relegated for visual purposes with the occasional foray into wide field work (D7200 + Sigma Art 85 mostly).
There is cosmetic damage, scuff marks and the like but they don't affect the internal performance. It has been a while since I did any guiding on it but on nights of good seeing and no wind I could get 0.6" RMS. Even managed a 1 hour Ha sub at 1.5"/pixel with very minimal star trailing but that could have even been due to differential flexure.
It comes with:
EQ6 (has a USB2 hub stuck on which is useful)
Tripod +tripod spreader
CB weights
Hand Controller with V3.27
EQDirect cable or whatever it is for connecting the EQ6 to ASCOM
ADM Dual Saddle + the original Sky Watcher Saddles (both V and D)
Too heavy, expensive and awkward to post so pick up only but I am willing to meet around Melbourne and surrounds.
$1,400 ONO
Some images taken with this mount:
Lagoon Nebula
Prawn Nebula
Triffid Nebula
Statue of Liberty
Tarantula