[Prickly]

Hi,

I'm considering an EQ6 synscan v3 and was interested in feedback about it.

I would be using it with my 140mm f5.8 refractor (800mm focal length) and was hoping to use it for photography with a DSLR. The refractor is quite light weighing in at about 7kg - so hopefully legs sticking/warping wouldnt be too much of a problem.

From the posts there seem to be many variations (EQMODs, rebuilds and pre-synscan v3 versions) which makes it harder to evaluate - hence the request for feedback. My questions relate to the mount as is in an unmodified form:

Has anyone had experience with using it at 800mm or similar focal length unmodified and without an autoguider for photography - if so what was the outcome? If not crash hot at 800mm would an autoguider be likely to fix this? (seems pretty good with the ED80s at around 600mm).

Secondly any experience on how smoothly the scope tracks if pointed for example at jupiter at around 300x magnification? (this would not be unusual for me when observing) Would I expect a lot of jitter or does it track smoothly keeping jupiter well centred at these magnifications?

How is the pointing accuracy? A recent post suggested some problems eg with finding planets?? is this common for others or likely setup problems?

Finally any particular dislikes people are having I would be interested in hearing.

I guess another option would be the sphinx deluxe but perhaps this may be hard to justify for around another 1K if the EQ6 would do the job nicely. (Also it would be annoying to have to constantly read the skymap controller upside down all the time - they must know people use it in southern hemisphere!)

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Regards,
David