SynScan PRO GOTO Version 3 Upgrade Kit for EQ5

[astrobudd]

jake your a star just bought mine and i tryed loads of webs with no avail will have a go on sunday with your help it sould go smoothly all thge best astrobud

[mbalkham]

Just used this to install my upgrade kit, just what I needed.  Still can't believe that no instructions come with it!!

Roll on a clear night!!

[Berkitos]

I've an eq5 mount as well. But the skywatcher synscan upgrade kit isn't available for shipment to canada. I've seen the Orion goto kit upgrade, it's virually the same (actually I heard skywarcher makes Orion products). I'd like to kno if anyone has, or has used the Orion goto with an eq5. I wud imagine it's compatinle. Thanks

[ngwillym]

The gift that keeps on giving - Jake (jnc71106) - thanks for the instructions and pictures - just fitted my upgrade kit - couldn't have done it with the supplied instructions (I use the word instructions in its widest meaning ).

[Javert]

I'm now thinking of getting one of these. Got the dual axis motors a couple of years ago and then bought EQMod but could never get my head round that.

£300 for the Synscan update is a lot cheaper than a new mount and, as I've already done the dual axis upgrade, I'd imagine fitting this shouldn't be too much trouble.

[BritAngler]

Thanks for the instructions Jake, I bet you didn't think they'd still be needed or used 4 years after posting   Now just waiting for a clear night so I can test it out properly....

The kit still doesn't come with instructions, big black mark for SkyWatcher

John

[jnc71106]

Nope didn't think the thread would still be active and can't believe it's been 4 yrs already

[barnard531]

hi all i ve got a little rpoblem i can t work out with an eq5 upgrade kit i ve fitted to my mount i ve put in lat and long date time daylight saving et al when i try to star align theres no sound from the motors but the hand set says it is slewing with blank co ordinates then it says centre in eyepiece after it has failed to align it tells me RA  offset > 45 please check time and location settings wonder if anyone has any ideas i d be really grateful

[Cornelius Varley]

hi all i ve got a little rpoblem i can t work out with an eq5 upgrade kit i ve fitted to my mount i ve put in lat and long date time daylight saving et al when i try to star align theres no sound from the motors but the hand set says it is slewing with blank co ordinates then it says centre in eyepiece after it has failed to align it tells me RA  offset > 45 please check time and location settings wonder if anyone has any ideas i d be really grateful

The first thing to check is probably the cables from the motor control board to the motors. 

[Astroyd]

Thank you for these very detailed instructions. I have just installed the Synscan EQ5 goto onto my Scope and you instructions worked perfectly down here in New Zealand. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this to help others.  Seems strange to me that 5 years on and they stillddon't supply detailed instructions with the up grade kit. Thank you from NZ.

[Radec]

Still going strong then - should get the upgrade tomorrow and will install it over the weekend.

I'll be using the pictures for sure, thanks Jake?

 

[Fraunhoffer]

I guess this makes it 8 years  since the OP 🙂?

After umming ang ahhing the last few weeks, I jumped on the SW eq5 upgrade for my Exos-2.
Being something of a 're-born old school'  and busily star hopping away, I recently got a little lost around Virgo (was the subject too faint or was I in the wrong place). I didn't want the same thing to happen with the various Sagittarius DSOs.
With that and living near the west London 'glow' I was beginning to spend too much time not finding things rather than my passion to actually see them.  When at home I get the chance to pop indoors to check the PC for co-ordinates and nearby star patterns, something that will be more difficult in the middle of a field.

I had thought about a better mount, but thinking I might travel to darker places  and needing something I could actually carry out from the car, decided to stay with the Exos-2 after reading that with its roller bearings and 2" sturdy legs, it was quite a reasonable mount.

The few times I have ventured to a darker site - I find I then have an issue with soooooo many stars - which one is my starting star....

Like some of the other posts, I read some poor comments about the Bresser StarTracker (not clear what functions work and spec details) and although I think it looks nicer with a bigger display and doesn't have an extra box to clip on the mount, the SW kit is well known, tried and proven,  and has a good user base.
Its also cheaper than the Bresser and I was a little reluctant to spend too much on an old mount.

Anyways, Im really looking forward to doing a sky-tour soon.

 

[Fraunhoffer]

Just an update to my grafting the SW EQ5 goto kit onto the Bresser EXOS-2: It works fabulously.

As other posters have elaborated I needed to trim the plastic cover for the RA drive to fit the slightly wider Bresser castings (I made a template with a 90mm circle as a guide).
I took the opportunity whilst the old motors were off to clean, re-grease and adjust the worms for a v small backlash all the way around.
I did find that the SW RA motor fixing barely spanned the gap in the casting where the old RA motor fitted - so I made a small plate to span the gap from an old piece of aluminium strip 1,5mm thick.
The M5 RA motor bolt needed to be a bit longer. The supplied one is 35mm long and I needed 45mm for this  (checking that it didn't hit the motor if too long). I needed 45mm due to my motor plate, 40mm might be sufficient without.

As a first test, I did a polar alignment using the polar finder, attached the OTA and weights then did a 2 star alignment on Arcturus and Regulus. Then I goto'd to the Moon (Easy and checked the lunar tracking rate)) and then Jupiter (lovely as always).
A few other things and then up to M56 which was approaching the zenith at the time. In all cases the object came near the centre of a 15mm eyepiece (40x).
The SW unit said I had a polar alignment error of about 33". I did also notice when I slewed to polaris that it was a bit out where I expected in the main tube, so I need to check my mount/polar scope alignment a bit.
The old motors (MT1 style) had a noticeable tick every 1/10 second with a 1.5" step under the highest magnification. I could detect no stepping with the SW motors and any 'wobbling' of the image seemed to be a function of the atmospheric turbulence.

I was happy to note that my goto kit included a recent v4 handset with the USB connection.

Overall very pleased.

[Johns22]

Thanks to Jake for his instructions on this thread - I have successfully fitted the goto upgrade kit to my EQ5 today. Bit of an issue with the threads in the DEC motor but a new bolt sorted that!

Now waiting for clear skies...

[Mal22]

To anyone keeping track…

It’s December 2022 - and this thread is STILL helpful. 

Installed the upgrade on my EQ5 with no problem thanks to this. Your face should be on the box.