g8/g11 vs eq6 v3

badabing82 · #1 12-02-2007, 02:04 AM

This is a question i have and a general concensus would be nice haha i am hoping i won;t start a debate as far as go-to accuracy, price visual observation, photography, load capacity? who is the winner obviously g11 is quite expensive but in a price to performance questions who's the victor. i thought this would be a intresting question

mick pinner · #2 12-02-2007, 02:20 AM

as far as visual observing and photography go it will come down to how much weight you are trying to carry and how well balanced it is as too much weight and an unbalanced mount will give you greater dampening times and be more prone to movement by the wind etc.
go-to accuracy will depend on how well you train the mount although l would suspect that out of the box the G11 would be more accurate.
optimum load capacity is a tricky subject IMO, it comes down to sheer weight vs how that weight is distributed, length of OTA and side by side mounting etc.
with the EQ6 still having problems with the V3 controller the G11 would be the winner to me, it may be 2 1/2 times the price but it seems to work well with no inherent problems that l know off.

iceman (Mike) · #3 12-02-2007, 06:05 AM

Mick's covered it all I think. What's your budget? Ultimately the G11 will always win, but it's the most expensive by a long way.

Striker (Tony) · #4 12-02-2007, 08:39 AM

Due to the Losmandy Gemini modelling function it is far more accurate then the skyscan..it can hold slightly more weight and has lower PE.

So you pay for what you get.

EzyStyles (Eric) · #5 12-02-2007, 04:16 PM

there is no vs definitely go the G11 if your pockets are deep.

badabing82 · #6 12-02-2007, 04:21 PM

prehaps a better comparison would be the g8 vs eq6 since they are similar in price prehaps the eq6 has more load carrying capacity obviously you get what you pay for with out question.

badabing82 · #7 12-02-2007, 04:23 PM

budget is around 3 grand or their abouts but this is also a general question in the sense in that what mount is suitable for what so to speak for example is the eq6 capable of auto guiding etc

rogerg (Roger) · #8 12-02-2007, 04:31 PM

3 grand? well that doesn't leave you any option in the Losmandy market. GM-8 is about $4k and G-11 is about $5k or higher isn't it? (including Gemini, which you'd require for autoguiding).

Comparing G8 and G11 seems odd - they are in 2 completely different categories of weight carrying capacity.

If considering the GM-8 then I'd consider the Vixen Sphynx.

I'm not familiar with the EQ6 at all.

badabing82 · #9 12-02-2007, 04:37 PM

yeh i was more concern in comparing the eq6 to g8 even if it's an extra 800-1000 obviously the g11 is a scaled up g8 more or less with a few other improvements sphinx vs eq6 now thats intresting aswell

JohnG (John) · #10 12-02-2007, 05:40 PM

Hi

Hate to burst your bubble here but there is NO comparision between the GM-8 and the EQ-6. The EQ-6 carries nearly double the capacity of the GM-8.

I have both a G-11 and a GM-8 and there is no way you can make any sort of comparision between the 2 Losmandy's. My GM-8 does not have GOTO and is used as my field mount, if I want to find anything, I just use the Setting Circles, on the other hand, my G-11 is set up permanently in an observatory and has Gemini GOTO, used for photography primarily.

The first post to your question, answered your question, there is too many vairables.

My question would be is what do you intend doing, what sort of scope are you looking at putting on the mount, do you want GOTO or would PUSHTO be suitable, all these affect what sort of price you are going to pay. I don't know anything about the EQ-6 so I cannot really make a judgement there although quite a number of people on this forum are using them. Remember the basic rule for imaging is your scope and imaging gear, guidescope etc should not exceed 2/3rds the capacity of your mount.

I think comparing a Sphinx and an EQ-6 is fraught with danger too, the weight carrying capacities are also completely different.

So that leads us back to the basic question, what do you anticipate your path will be?

Cheers

JohnG

rogerg (Roger) · #11 12-02-2007, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badabing82

yeh i was more concern in comparing the eq6 to g8 even if it's an extra 800-1000 obviously the g11 is a scaled up g8 more or less with a few other improvements sphinx vs eq6 now thats intresting aswell

To clarify:

I think the following comparisons are not applicable (completely different categories and unable to be compared):
GM-8 vs G-11
GM-8 vs EQ6
Sphinx vs EQ6
Sphinx vs G-11

But, what I was suggesting that if considering a GM-8, this is a fair comparison:
GM-8 vs Sphinx

Why you'd even consider comparing a GM-8 or Sphinx to a EQ6 is beyond me.

Roger.

badabing82 · #12 12-02-2007, 11:22 PM

coool thanks everyone it was more for arguments sake general knowledge as i am considering one at the moment. If only had the spare cash to go to a g-11 that way will never be under mounted anytime in the near future haha anyway thanks very much it's clear you get what you pay for and buy to suit ones needs

each is suitable for diffrent applications
thanks again

badabing82 · #13 12-02-2007, 11:33 PM

Ohh sorry johnG it was a 6inch f/5 achro 7.5kg's with finder no eyepiece, refractor basically for widefield visual/piggyback but i am looking at adding another scope nothing larger then 8inch for imaging so was hoping to kill two birds with one stone, 1 mount 2 scopes depending on what i was going to do for the night...i would use that scope only on the mount if that makes any sense this was similar to another post an thanks ezystyles,johng and rogerg for all your comments most people just recommend a eq6 but even for alittle more a gm-8 also seems suitable and it's always easier to ask people who actually use the mounts on a regular basis. thanks yo everyone else who helped me out aswell

JohnG (John) · #14 13-02-2007, 09:43 AM

Hi

Probably the best bit of advice I can give would be, get the best mount you can afford, most people spend heaps on the scopes then put them on some piddly little mount that shakes at the slightest touch or breath of wind.

Bad idea.

Cheers

JohnG

JohnH · #15 13-02-2007, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badabing82

Ohh sorry johnG it was a 6inch f/5 achro 7.5kg's with finder no eyepiece, refractor basically for widefield visual/piggyback but i am looking at adding another scope nothing larger then 8inch for imaging so was hoping to kill two birds with one stone, 1 mount 2 scopes depending on what i was going to do for the night...i would use that scope only on the mount if that makes any sense this was similar to another post an thanks ezystyles,johng and rogerg for all your comments most people just recommend a eq6 but even for alittle more a gm-8 also seems suitable and it's always easier to ask people who actually use the mounts on a regular basis. thanks yo everyone else who helped me out aswell

OK I looked at this a while ago, I had a fixed amount of $$ and had to weigh up carrying capacity vs quality vs portability. I alos looked at the HEQ5 Pro btw but ended up choosing the Sphinx over the GM8 because (at the time) it was on offer at a great price and nearly as good mechanically (at least according to the reports I had read on it) plus the EQ's seemed to need stripping/degrease/tuneups before they were good and the controller was still a wip - the same could be said about the Starbook I suppose.

It is a bit left field but it is portable, well made and carries 11Kg (and they mean 11 Kg) has low native PEC.

I use it mostly for imaging and have an F9 VC200L mounted on it - which is pushing my luck but it works with my Canon20D at prime but I do have to guide if exposures are > 30s.

Happy to talk more if you with - PM me...