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Hi Chris
I've got an almost identical setup (mount/Newt) and what you describe with every third or so image smearing is due to the periodic error oscillations (as everyone here has been describing). My HEQ5 has one spot in its worm cycle in particular where it "takes off" for about 30-40secs. Any pic in progress at that point is a lost cause without autoguiding.
I've played with a QHY5 (Orion SSAG) in the back of a piggybacked refractor for quite a while, but now get far better performance with the guide cam seated in the back of a simple skywatcher 9x50 finder. Can highly recommend this route. At 1000mm FL and with careful balancing, you can get pretty tight and reliable autoguiding. Each mount is a bit different of course, and MIGHT benefit from some adjusting if you're that way inclined (I haven't been game to pull my baby down though).
I've played with PEC a bit. It does reduce the oscilations in PE a bit, but you have to religously park your mount or lose the encoder positions. Only takes a laptop crash or mount crash for some reason and you lose it. I've struggled to prove it helps with tightness of imaged stars, as balance and guide settings seem to be more important factors for me.
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