G11 vs EQ8

[Stefan12]

Hi,

I'm looking at purchasing a new equatorial mount. I've narrowed down my choices to the Losmandy G11 and EQ8 mounts. I was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on either one of these mounts.
I'm currently using a Skywatcher HEQ5, but I want a mount with a bigger payload. I was going to purchase a G11, but then I read some horror stories from people having issues with this mount, which puts me off buying it.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Stefan

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

My G11 has performed flawlessly, as have the vast majority of those sold, I bought it with the plain digital drives and now have put a gemini 2 on it. I've been on Losmandy forum for a few years and can't say I've heard any real horror stories? Anyway, I like mine, and it will guide well at 1100mm focal length. I've seen plenty of great images with these at up to 2m focal length, but i suspect that's about the limit.
As for the gemini 2 system, it took me about 30 minutes to fit, and within two nights I had the whole setup doing plate solves and meridian flips with SGPro.
Have a look on the astrobin site, you can search on types of equipment and see what others are producing with the eq8 or G11.
cheer,
Andrew

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

As was said in the ASCOM group, the people you hear complaints from are the minority who have a problem. From following many groups quite a few of the issues turn out to be user errors.

The vast majority don't send "it worked" emails every time it does, but only when they've sorted out some problem so others can learn from them.

[scagman (John)]

+1 for G11. I bought this as my first mount and haven't had any issues with it. Any querries were soon sorted by refering to http://www.gemini-2.com/ or the yahoo-gemini2 forum.

Cheers

[multiweb (Marc)]

+1 for g11. Mine performed flawlessly for 14yrs. Keeps getting better with time.

[Stefan12]

Thanks for the replies I must add ever since I started astrophotography I've wanted a G11 mount. if I went ahead and purchased one, should I get an Ovision worm for it? Does the mount work straight out of the box, or is there some tweaking involved to get it working smoothly?

[Logieberra (Logan)]

Just to mix up the advice. Had an EQ6. Sold it. Got a G11. In many ways, I considered it a downgrade. I didn't like G2. The G11 gearboxes and motors jut out to the side asking to be damaged. You pretty much have to fork out for the Ovision b/c of a well known 76 second PE error...

I suggest you hear from more EQ8 people before deciding... it represents tremendous value.

Otherwise, can you stretch into a AP Mach 1 GTO? That would be money well spent

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Logieberra

The G11 gearboxes and motors jut out to the side asking to be damaged. You pretty much have to fork out for the Ovision b/c of a well known 76 second PE error

The gearboxes are the weakest link in the chain at the moment but this is going to change. As far as the ovision worm goes, the one block arrangement along with the losmandy high precision worms are more than adequate. Why pay for an expensive worm when the gearbox is the problem? Mechanically, the build of a g11 is far better than any eq 6 or 8. If you've owned one you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

Anyone know how the belt drive of the AZ-EQ6 trades off against the gears of the G11?

[DaveNZ (Dave)]

I went with the larger Losmandy Titan. The reason I went losmandy is you can purchase the individual parts, right down to the washers. This was very important to me based here in NZ. Same with the Gemini 2. No problem with parts.

[Logieberra (Logan)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

The gearboxes are the weakest link in the chain at the moment but this is going to change. As far as the ovision worm goes, the one block arrangement along with the losmandy high precision worms are more than adequate. Why pay for an expensive worm when the gearbox is the problem? Mechanically, the build of a g11 is far better than any eq 6 or 8. If you've owned one you'll know what I'm talking about.

Nice. The G11 is well overdue for an update. I suspect the EQ8 will kill it, in time, if nothing is done to compete.

[Terry B]

This isn't really a fair comparison. The titan takes a more similar payload to the EQ8.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by Stefan12

Thanks for the replies I must add ever since I started astrophotography I've wanted a G11 mount. if I went ahead and purchased one, should I get an Ovision worm for it? Does the mount work straight out of the box, or is there some tweaking involved to get it working smoothly?

I went from EQ 6 to G11. Laughable to compare the two. G11 is precision machined and aesthetically beautiful. EQ 6 could not compare. EQ8, I have heard, has build problems. The EQ 6 had dastardly polar alignment set up. Dont know if this was improved in the EQ 8. I have not used one myself.

G11 is not a toy. It requires learning and patience BUT with effort, its an excellent mount and its history in astrophotography is well documented. One of the beauties of this mount is the fact that it can, and is regularly, upgradeable. You can do the worms, or not, motors, or not, gearboxes, or not. The D plate system is excellent value and impeccably manufactured. The mount comes with online support, which you WILL need, and the G2 system is updatable online.

As others have said, you should check out the forums for other advice but I bought, sold and then re-bought my G11. Gotta be a reason for that.

Rom

[Logieberra (Logan)]

Best bet, go to a star party if you can, see the gear in use, talk to the owners, meet some lovely people along the way and reach a really balanced decision. What I'm saying is - if you're about to drop hard earned coin, do more than visit this site!

[raymo]

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

[MrB (Simon)]

I think you missed the point of his post.

[raymo]

I disagree Simon; Rom said it was laughable to compare the two. Why would you compare them when one is probably three or four times the price of the other. I realise that the G11 is an excellent mount, but so it should be, considering it's price.
raymo

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by raymo

Rom said it was laughable to compare the two.

Exactly, in reply to the person that originally drew the comparison.

[Logieberra (Logan)]

Easy does it guys, we're all entitled to our opinion. I had a bad G11 experience. Gemini 2, in the first year of operation, was rubbish. That burnt me for life. I'll never buy another Losmandy mount again. But to be balanced, I understand that G2 is now sorted. My point was that, for the money, it was no upgrade from a solid, reliable NEQ6 that just worked! Perhaps I had one of the better Synta samples? Anyway, so long as you enjoy your gear - happy days

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Logieberra

Nice. The G11 is well overdue for an update. I suspect the EQ8 will kill it, in time, if nothing is done to compete.

The G-11 has actually been subject to continuous improvement & development for over 20 years.

Many of the changes have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary....so while they may look the same on the outside, I can assure you there have been many changes under the hood...

Gemini is very mature now, to the point it has been deployed to control metre class scopes in Europe (obviously using much larger servos)

Users who have gone for the one piece worm block are reporting peak to peak PE as low as 3 arc seconds. The new High torque servo-motors allow very fast slewing, and have excellent thermal dissipation and hence longevity.

I can't comment on the EQ8 from a users perspective, just looking at the level of finish and precision...G-11's look jewel like in comparison.