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Hi Ed
I also have a CQ5 which I bought as an EQ4. My EQ4 had upgrades which I think then designated it as an EQ5. This was a nice little economical mount and I was able to do some limited imaging with it. However, a couple of months ago I reluctantly came to the conclusion that my ability to image was severely limited by the following:
1. The mount has a maximum capacity of 10Kg but I was loading it with about 11.5Kg.
2. I measured the periodic error and it came to 50arcsecs. This would not have been so bad with guiding but the transition from the negative side to the positive was very steep and PHD guiding had problems adjusting to it.
3. I had the cheap paddle/tracking motors fitted. Although I was able to adjust the backlash in the mount itself down to a low level, the backlash in the gearing of the stepper motor/gearing arrangement was very bad and
PHD tended to get "lost" in the backlash gap.
So I bought a HEQ5PRO mount which is in an altogether higher order of class compared with the CG5. I have measured the periodic error at 30 arcsecs but the transition from the negative to the positive limits is pretty smooth and PHD has no problems in keeping up with it. I have set the mount Set Backlash to 1 arcmin so that PHD sees virtually no backlash which is important for DEC guiding. As with most hobbies you are tempted/led to more and more purchases. The problem is knowing when to stop!
Cheers Peter
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