Just in addition, that G11's have been out for a much much longer Yet eq8 only, what, wouldnt be 12 months or there abouts, so, how these mounts perform over the longer period, no one really knows, yet ?
Im giving them a few more yrs before considering an upgrade to EQ8, that said, doubt Ill ever be able to afford Losmandy gear anyway
If you are considering this sort of price range, I know where to get a Takahashi NJP mount at around the $4K mark (used of course). Legendary mount, with PE less than the Losmandy, GOTO via the PC, hold a LOT of weight and exquisitely manufactured.
Mike Sidonio uses one. VERY hard to upgrade from one.
Mmm, I have mixed feelings about the G11, but must admit most of the bad feelings I have are from past not present experience.
I came from a a HEQPRO5, and there is no comparison.
When I first got my G11 my PE was terrible, but I was upgraded to the one piece worm block and that sorted the problem out. Before that, I couldn't guide the errors out, after the one piece worm install there was no problem. My PE is still pretty high but at my focal length of 714 it's not an issue and I can do 20 min subs no problem.
The Gemini 2 on the other hand, I'm not impressed. Fortunately I control the mount via the sky x through the Gemini 2. I've given up on PEC because it never sticks and I need to load my PEC file every session.
One thing you should know is that the G11 is made by a special effects company in Hollywood, and the Gemini II is made by a university professor is Germany. Neither of of the two have astronomy equipment making as their primary profession. Issues are very slow to be addressed, but the issues now are few. Whilst the G11 is a pretty good design it has it's flaws, but is very user friendly and you don't need an engineering degree to tweak it to iron the kinks out. The worm meshing on the G11 is a breeze compared to my old Eq5.
All though it probably doesn't sound like it, I'm actually quite happy with the mount now. It's slews are consistently accurate and it tracks well and at the end of the day, that's all that matters.
Pay an extra $300 or so and lose around 23kg in carrying capacity?
I think the true comparison of the Eq8 should be against the Titan as someone mentioned above. The G11 and the EQ8 are in different classes, the only similarity between the two is price and thats probably whats being compared here, price.
Yeah, I think Losmandy need to rethink their pricing. The G11 seems to have lost a lot of the resale value as well, probably due the the EQ8. I think $3.5K is probably about right for the G11 not $4.9, thank god I bought mine when the dollar was high, I only paid $4K flat.
There was a time when the G11 sold like hot cakes in the ice trades, now they sit there and gain very little interest. That may or may not change and depends largely on how well the EQ8 performs over time.
I'm not fussed as I'll not be upgrading anytime soon and if I do it'll be to one of the Bisque mounts. I'm sucker for anything red...
I agree the that the EQ8 is a similar weight class to the Losmandy Titan. I never really considered the Titan due to the price. What I found attractive with the EQ8 was the payload it can carry. Having that extra weight carrying capability may come in handy in the future. All in all I'm looking for a mount that's going to last me a me a long time. For now I will stay with my HEQ5 and do a bit more investigating.
Hi Rom, I suspect that the G11 is somewhat more expensive than the
EQ6; if that is the case, aren't you comparing apples and oranges.
raymo
Entirely true. However, I have not heard much to suggest that the EQ 8 is much different in terms of build quality and I did make it very clear that I have not actually used one. G11 machining is a work of art though... You can also get a G11 second had for substantially less than the layout for an EQ 8 and thats a big incentive IMHO
Another for the G11, I just have the bog standard non Gemini version, bought new quite some years back, does everything I need, I shoot at about 924 mm 20 min exposures no problem.
As for the eq8 it might be good, it might not, payload would appear to be larger, so just what scopes you want to use are a factor, it's nice to use a monster scope, but I found I just didn't get enough nights where the atmosphere was still enough to justify it.
Gee not many EQ8 owners posting answers here?? Where are you guys? I have had mine for the last 6 months and I love it. Upgraded from my EQ6 and don't regret it for a minute. I'll post a pic of my guiding tonight (fresh off the cam) and if you want to know all the goofy stats and arc secs etc, I bought it from Tandem and he posted all that stuff in the EQ8 thread. It flings my 12" GSO Newt around like a charm. The targets fall in the middle of my field of view every time and It does more than I can and I'm trying to catch up. I can't ask for more. (Yet..... )
14 elapsed months and hundreds of hours sky time of faultless performance with a non-trivial payload. The EQ8 dwarfs the G11 in size, features and performance.
Don't buy one if you can't lift 30kg without breaking your back! Seriously, it's big mount - with weights and case you are looking at 100Kg all up to move about.
I have a good friend who replaced both his G11s with EQ8s and he is very, very impressed.
I have had my EQ8 for 3 months and so far I am eq8illy impressed. It looks great, works great. I have never owned a G11 but I have known several who once did and they no longer have them.
I now know of 6 people with EQ8s and all are very happy. So Skywatcher seems to have captured the lions share of the market they obviously aimed the EQ8 at.
