More info on the EQ7.

[robz (Robert)]

Fair enough Martin

I was having a bit of a go at the computer selling mob that never cease to amaze me (and cost me a lot of money!).

One young guy in our I.T. department at work recently said that they make lap top P.C.'s to last 2 years max........deliberately.

Hope that when I buy a dedicated one for planetary capture, it doesn't fag out out in the middle of a 10 out of 10 seeing night while the scope is capturing a massive meteor impact on Mars or something.......

[TrevorW]

look at page 37 onwards

http://www.espacioprofundo.com.ar/soft/0729.pdf

are they or ain't they ????

[robz (Robert)]

Yeah,...............got the hard copy version from the same place that reckon the EQ8 is coming in February this year ..............the brochure makes a great place mat for my T.V. dinners !!!

[mill (Martin)]

I just wished that skywatcher would come clean and tell us what the $%%& is going on

[TrevorW]

Thats the biggest problem you can't communicate direct with the manufacturer as it's all Chinese, any forum member write or speak Chinese may go to their site and email them

http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/contactus.php

[RobF (Rob)]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

look at page 30

http://www.espacioprofundo.com.ar/soft/0729.pdf

are they or ain't they ????

Interesting reading Trevor
They're certainly always working up some new goodies aren't they!?

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Hey!! They've got a new kind of GEM - called "EQUATOTRIAL SYNSCAN MOUNTS" (see their page 38 under Section "MOUNTS") - now I know why they canned the EQ7 because it's just an ol' EQUATORIAL mount!!

Jokes aside, I'll call them on Thursday morning and find out if indeed the EQ7 is canned and why - that is if I can get someone to give an answer and if so will post it here

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Just an update - finished a phone call a few minutes ago with Synta China and was speaking to a lady there who stated that "... due to technical issues with the EQ7 design that the engineers could not resolve it's been canned!

An EQ8 model is currently being designed and could be ready by end of 2011 at the latest; or could be earlier if possible and when I mentioned that a so-called informed source had indicated end Feb 2011 release date for the new EQ8 model she said "... not possible because our engineers are still working on the new design" - finally I was advised to call Tasco to find out when it would become available to the Oz market

Well that's all I got for now! Still not too sure if I did speak to the right person in the organisation or not (should have perhaps got K Rudd to call instead, his Mandarin is better than mine!) but that's what I could glean so far

PS: Quotes of conversation are not verbatim - my interpretation

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[TrevorW]

Thanks Bill

[DavidU (Dave)]

Nice one Bill

[robz (Robert)]

Thanks Bill.

''technical issues'' eh?........................hmmmmmmm mmm..........that concerns me a little.

I'm no mount manufacturer, but a company that can build an EQ6PRO and lots of other great gear ''scraps'' a new mount : totally.................. ...and then starts on an entirely new version??? ...........

I see in my crystal ball : 1. a long wait for the mount to finally hit Australia?.................it's still ''being designed''???
2. a HIGH price?..............scary
3. reliability issues.........maybe?

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Originally Posted by robz

... ''technical issues'' eh?........................hmmmmmmm mmm..........that concerns me a little.

I'm no mount manufacturer, but a company that can build an EQ6PRO and lots of other great gear ''scraps'' a new mount : totally.................. ...and then starts on an entirely new version??? ..............

Could have happened Rob - remember even NASA screwed up on the original Hubble scope with the mirrors issue and then there was that other one when the "wrong" unit of measure was used and caused the probe to go faaaaar faaaaaaar awaaaaaay from its intended target.

I'd rather take it that at least I was told the reason which was forthright instead of a bunch of lame excuses. Methinks the dummy they exhibited @ Photokina last year was just that - a dummy rather than a prototype (don't remember if anyone at that time mentioned that they had seen it working when it was exhibited) - and Photokina being what it is they had to show something and tripped themselves up when they started the build and discovered "hey, can't fix this & this & that, bugger!"

Otherwise we'll have to go along with the assumption of the "feng-shui-ness" (that another previous poster posted) of the number 8 to the Chinese

HTH
Cheers
Bill

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if the EQ8 gets launched by end Feb 2011 - I am just passing on what I got off from the phone conversation I had and even then I'm unsure if I did NOT speak to the cleaning lady rather than someone in the higher echelons of Synta!

[hotspur (Chris)]

Hope the new EQ 7 is better than the EQ 6 pro,for all those keen on buying it.

I had a EQ 6 pro,but it only lasted a few months in my observatory,it was not very good,my Vixen GPD was better.

I just ordered a Vixen GPDX2,made in Japan,I imagine it would be better built than any EQ whatever.Might be an idea for some here to look at some of the Japan made mounts,In my opinion they seem a lot better made than the Chinese ones.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[marki]

Originally Posted by hotspur

Hope the new EQ 7 is better than the EQ 6 pro,for all those keen on buying it.

I had a EQ 6 pro,but it only lasted a few months in my observatory,it was not very good,my Vixen GPD was better.

I just ordered a Vixen GPDX2,made in Japan,I imagine it would be better built than any EQ whatever.Might be an idea for some here to look at some of the Japan made mounts,In my opinion they seem a lot better made than the Chinese ones.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Yes have to agree Chris, my SXD and SXW mounts are little rippers.

Mark

[hotspur (Chris)]

Great to here they are going well for you Mark.A lot of people here seem to have these EQ whatervers,and thats' fine,I'm not knocking that.

But there are some options from the other side of the Sea of Japan,Many say they cant hold as much weight.

There was a chap that use to go to asrofest (Erwin-sadly missed),and he used to have a GPDX mount with a 8 inch and 9.25 celstron and use it to map mercuary,that data was used by NASA.although he was such a good astronomer he could do many things with very basic gear.

But,just show weight load is not everything,I'd rather have quality,and a mount that has'nt got an end on that looks like a 'kitchen mix master'.

Also Lasmondy GM 8 second hand are a reasonable price.

Cheers Chris PS-Mark I like that signature!)

[robz (Robert)]

The EQ6 is designed to hold a certain load capacity.If that capacity is abused, no doubt there will be problems for those who do precision work with astrophotography etc.

At 1500 bucks it's a bargain in my opinion for the majority of telescope users.

Let's not forget it has car bearings, so it's not a wimpy mount.
In regards to accuracy in tracking, I personally have had no problems in general use.

The rounded cap on the back can be screwed off and left off as I do.