which mount?

hobbit · #1 10-07-2014, 03:51 PM

Hoping someone can give me some advice regarding a mount. I'm primarily looking at the skywatcher HEQ-5 and the Celestron VX. They both seem to have have similar payload capacities but the VX looks a bit better on the software side. I'm a bit concerned though that I haven't seen very many reviews for it compared to the skywatcher.

Does anyone have any first hand experience that they can share?

Amaranthus (Barry) · #2 10-07-2014, 03:52 PM

What are you planning/hoping to put on it?

If you are planning for the future, and also do a mix of AP and visual, then maybe the AZ-EQ6 is the right mount for you. It also has belt drive.

Camelopardalis (Dunk) · #3 10-07-2014, 04:02 PM

The VX is a nice mount, better finished than the Skywatcher offerings and, personally, I prefer the Celestron software and it does a good job of putting objects in the FOV. They have a bit of a tendency to sound like a coffee grinder, but the same is true of most Celestron mounts

Just be aware that the All-Star polar alignment routine currently doesn't work for the Southern Hemisphere but apparently an update that resolves this is in testing. So at least initially you'd be reliant on a good polar alignment for tracking accuracy.

hobbit · #4 10-07-2014, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amaranthus

What are you planning/hoping to put on it?

If you are planning for the future, and also do a mix of AP and visual, then maybe the AZ-EQ6 is the right mount for you. It also has belt drive.

ED120 + mini autoguider + D800

Amaranthus (Barry) · #5 10-07-2014, 04:14 PM

With that setup you can definitely get away with a HEQ-5. But the AZ-EQ6 has many other advantages, as I noted above, so if you can stretch your budget a bit further, I don't think you'd regret it. I certainly didn't!

Camelopardalis (Dunk) · #6 10-07-2014, 04:15 PM

IMO the Az-EQ6 is worth the extra $$$ with the belt drive, dual encoders, extra capacity...

hobbit · #7 10-07-2014, 04:16 PM

AZ-EQ6 is way too big and also and extra thousand on top. Not really an option.

glend (Glen) · #8 10-07-2014, 04:53 PM

You can get belt drive kits for the NEQ6Pro and the latest version of Synscan has some good enhancements related to polar alignment without Octans and error correction. (V3.35).

I run a long refractor (127mm, f12, 1476mm fl) on my NEQ6 and its rock solid. The HEQ5 might be too small for your rig, if you go by the rule that a mount should not be pushed beyond 2/3rds of its rated capacity for imaging.