SW EQ8 any thoughts?

[Geordie mc]

Thinking ahead to next year when I hope to get a new mount with thoughts to having a permanent setup in a pulsar or pod dome, I have been looking at the new SW mount. Has anyone tried the EQ8? It seems to have some good features and looks very solid. Any alternatives for around the same price? Looking to use it for imaging but don't have the budget for some of the more expensive models. Thanks.

[swag72]

Have you had a look at the various threads that have been around for the EQ8?

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/224613-eq8-owners/page-3?hl=%2Beq8#entry2451442

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/226989-eq8-and-long-fl-scopes/page-2?hl=eq8#entry2447301

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/220366-eq8-first-light-guiding/page-2?hl=eq8#entry2389590

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/200569-eq8/?hl=eq8#entry2377507

[Geordie mc]

Thanks. I have looked at these, but they are not much help as opinion seems really split. Could we have a pole perhaps of all EQ8 owners who are imaging and happy/unhappy with the mount at various fl's maybe sub 500mm, 500 to 1000mm, 2000mmetc? At the moment my longest scope is only 1000mm but I'd like something longer for planetary use later so want a mount that will cope well and not cast me a small fortune. After the EQ8 is it really a jump to double the price and beyond for anything else that would do the job well? I just can't justify £6,000+ on a mount for what is a hobby, at least not to my wife:)

[Scott]

The biggest hurdle for me with the eq8 debates is the potential purchaser.

On one hand, we have the eq6 owners upgrading and these will be more likely to sing it's praises. On the other hand, there are the owners of £6k and up mounts looking for a cheaper 2nd/3rd mount. These are the people more likely to have problems with it. 

It's sit's in a very uncomfortable place in the pricing ladder...neither a budget mount or a upper end product either

It also seems to me that the majority of problems with the eq8 were in it's early days...teething?

Please note, Ive not owned one or even used one but I have read countless posts regarding it.

[swag72]

You say that the opinion is split and so none of those threads are much help.... But they are from owners. Won't you have the same folks with the same comments answering you here?

With everything there are good and bad experiences. I guess its up to you to filter them accordingly. Good luck!!

[pete_l]

I hope to get a new mount with thoughts to having a permanent setup in a pulsar or pod dome, I have been looking at the new SW mount.

I know you are looking for clarity and certainty (aren't we all ), but there is none.

What I'd suggest is consider the whole setup and then try to research the good's and bad's of that. Asking about the mount without giving guidance  on what it will be carrying cannot lead to helpful replies.

Do you want to simply swap it out for the HEQ5 and have it carrying the 200P in your sig? Or is there more to your planned permanent setup. This sort of information will help people give relevant thoughts about more than just the mount.

[Geordie mc]

Thanks guys. Initially it will only be carrying either of the scopes in my sig with a ccd camera/guide cam. But in the future I hope to get something like the C11 edge had or maybe a14" RC. I have always been happy with my HEQ5 pro. I had thought about just going up to an EQ6 pro as it seems very popular but when the EQ8 was released I thought it might be a better long term solution. Just hoping as many owners as possible will give a quick opinion of their impressions so far with various scopes attached. Clearly Olly got a duff unit and Steve seems to have a lot of satisfied customers. Nothing is ever certain when buying but I'd like to be better informed than I am at the moment. My purchase will not be until next summer so plenty of time to try and get as many thoughts as possible. I'd also be interested in which pier people are using if it's a commercial one. Thanks again everyone.

[jarralad58]

hi geordie mc. why not pop down to sunderland astro society,we are based at the washington wetlands,we have  an eq8 set up in our obsy,just been fitted,now up and running,see how it works before you buy.

ken.

[Dave_D]

It's sit's in a very uncomfortable place in the pricing ladder...

It certainly does... out of my reach lol

[ollypenrice]

I'm not going to comment on the EQ8 but on the the projects you describe. Planetary imaging with a big SCT only needs a mount big enough to hold it. You won't need super accurate tracking because planetary images are, if you like, 'retro-tracked' in stacking.

Now if you want to image in long exposures with a 14 inch RC (this might mean a focal length of 2.8 metres) you are going to need good seeing and very accurate tracking. In a nutshell it is not likely to be dead easy whatever you buy. This is tricky territory and explains why those who are in that territory are a picky lot and not easy to please. (For the moment I'm out of it and running a metre FL as my longest. I dare say I'll be back...)  It is worth thinking about resolution in two ways. Bigger scope and larger pixels or medium scope and smaller pixels. The second choice will give you similar images, in reality, but will not requrie such a large mount. However, the accuracy required will, if the resolution is equivalent, also be equivalent.

For the record, I think the EQ8 should be on your shortlist.

Olly

[Geordie mc]

Thanks for the offer Ken. I will try and arrange a visit sometime. Thanks also Olly. Hoping my permanent set up will be in Charente. I only stay there for holidays at the moment but the seeing and dark skies are even better than here in Northumberland. I have a house there with a fairly large garden and hope to put the base and pier in place next summer. As you are in France can I just ask if you know whether I'd need permission for something like a 2.5m dome observatory?

Thanks

[orion69]

I can only tell you my experience, I bought EQ8 few months ago, there is some DEC backlash but not affecting guiding so I didn't do any adjustment.

Guiding error is usually <0.6".

This is my only image so far with this mount (unfinished), all 30 min subs: 

[Sp@ce_d]

I've had my EQ8 for nearly 2 weeks so very early on in my experience. I have the 5 & 6 & this mount is in a different league. I am very pleased with it at this point.

I have to admit I've waited since it's launch & watched owners reports humming and harring over my decision. I probably would have played safe and gone down the Avalon route had it not been for my requirement for a mount that can carry multiple scopes. If you need the load capacity then the EQ8 is half the cost of the nearest alternative.

So, where am I? Well, early days and as yet my triple setup is not giving me as good as stars as the EQ6 was. However, I'm sure this is just down to tweaking, I went through the same with the EQ6. As far as backlash is concerned. I didn't notice any at first, now that its been used a bit I'm detecting a bit in DEC but RA seems good. At this point I want to make sure everything else is setup/balance/aligned before I look at adjusting backlash. (I found the adjustment doc on the web). I don't believe in adjusting for adjusting's sake if I can get the results I'm after without it. However, I did purchase the mount expecting to have to do a little work.

My first light subs (900s) from the mount are here (although one of the scopes seems to have an issue)

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/227986-baader-ha-7nm-verses-35nm/

[nmoushon]

If you read through that second link, which i started that thread, it will really answer the questions you have. In a very compact nut shell the EQ8 is not the mount need to do long exposurer imaging with LONG focal length like you would get with the SCT 11" or 14"RC. If you are doing planetary imaging then it would work fine and in fact you could probably go with an eve larger scope. The strong point about the EQ8 is its load capactiy and one of its weak points is its tracking accuracy(when you are wanting to image at LONG FL that is). So if you are wanting to do planetary then its the mount for you but if you ever want to do long FL imaging this mount will not give you the performance needed for it. Not saying the mount is a bad mount it just wasnt designed to the specificaation required for imaging at 3m. Thats what I have come down to after almost a year of research into the best mount for long FL imaging bc thats what I want to do and my goal is do 20-30min sub at 2800mm FL with a C11. So I'm now saving up for a mount in the AP900/1200 range. Those used arent much more expensive than a new EQ8....at least here in the states anyways.

[Earl]

If you read through that second link, which i started that thread, it will really answer the questions you have. In a very compact nut shell the EQ8 is not the mount need to do long exposurer imaging with LONG focal length like you would get with the SCT 11" or 14"RC. If you are doing planetary imaging then it would work fine and in fact you could probably go with an eve larger scope. The strong point about the EQ8 is its load capactiy and one of its weak points is its tracking accuracy(when you are wanting to image at LONG FL that is). So if you are wanting to do planetary then its the mount for you but if you ever want to do long FL imaging this mount will not give you the performance needed for it. Not saying the mount is a bad mount it just wasnt designed to the specificaation required for imaging at 3m. Thats what I have come down to after almost a year of research into the best mount for long FL imaging bc thats what I want to do and my goal is do 20-30min sub at 2800mm FL with a C11. So I'm now saving up for a mount in the AP900/1200 range. Those used arent much more expensive than a new EQ8....at least here in the states anyways.

AP1100 if you can squeeze it

[nmoushon]

AP1100 if you can squeeze it

Oh I wish! But thats an extra $4k without the encoders...for that price I'll just my an EQ8 also  and have two mounts running lol. Or maybe buy a very very nice CCD.

[perfrej]

I think maybe 10micron may be a good alternative. It is a more modern design than AP and doesn't need guiding. Encoders are always included and the mounts cannot get lost, have all the important features of APCC built into the mount itself, don't need a computer, and are rediculously quiet.

Biased? In a sense, yes. I bought two of them

/per

[Psychobilly]

I'm not going to comment on the EQ8 but on the the projects you describe. Planetary imaging with a big SCT only needs a mount big enough to hold it. You won't need super accurate tracking because planetary images are, if you like, 'retro-tracked' in stacking.

Olly

I used to  "guide" on the planets as well to keep them centered on the small chips...

Peter...

[nmoushon]

I think maybe 10micron may be a good alternative. It is a more modern design than AP and doesn't need guiding. Encoders are always included and the mounts cannot get lost, have all the important features of APCC built into the mount itself, don't need a computer, and are rediculously quiet.

Biased? In a sense, yes. I bought two of them

/per

I would get a GM2000 in a heart beat but they are way out of my price range. The GM1000s are a bit closer but dont have to load capacity to support a big 11" or 14" scope.

[perfrej]

Yes, they are a bit on the steep side price-wise, I agree. But it is actually worth it. The II-version is simply fantastic!

/per

[Scott]

Yes, they are a bit on the steep side price-wise, I agree. But it is actually worth it. The II-version is simply fantastic!

/per

It's only worth it if you can afford it. many or perhaps even most members here will only ever be dreaming of such mounts. 

The cheapest 10micron is more than twice the cost of an eq8. I guess thats why the op stipulated that he was not interested in the more expencive mounts...because in his words, he can not justify spending tha sort of money. Still, no harm in pushing a product  you are obviously fond of

[RAC]

What about looking and waiting for something second hand like a Tak NJP or the like? They just seem to work with little fuss. You should be able to find one cheaper than an eq8.

[Geordie mc]

I notice nobody seems to be favouring celestrons CGEM mount or it's pro version (again rather too expensive for me). Perhaps I haven't been clear on my exact intentions. I would like a mount I can put on a pier in a permanent setup. I can use my existing refractors for dso imaging but would like a longer fl scope such as the C11 for lunar and planetary work. I really wondered if the EQ8 offered any advantages over the EQ6 pro or CGEM mounts for this. It would appear not to. Would appreciate any comments from CGEM owners about its performance as it's only slightly more expensive than the EQ6. If I went with either of these I might have funds for a bigger or better scope. The CGEM seems to have a lot of good features for imaging with shorter fl scopes (permanent pec training for example). Your thoughts are most appreciated.

[Steve Ward]

There's an EQ8 here at a knock down price at the moment if anyone's looking for one ... http://www.astroboot.co.uk/bargain-zone.html

[Earl]

I notice nobody seems to be favouring celestrons CGEM mount or it's pro version (again rather too expensive for me). Perhaps I haven't been clear on my exact intentions. I would like a mount I can put on a pier in a permanent setup. I can use my existing refractors for dso imaging but would like a longer fl scope such as the C11 for lunar and planetary work. I really wondered if the EQ8 offered any advantages over the EQ6 pro or CGEM mounts for this. It would appear not to. Would appreciate any comments from CGEM owners about its performance as it's only slightly more expensive than the EQ6. If I went with either of these I might have funds for a bigger or better scope. The CGEM seems to have a lot of good features for imaging with shorter fl scopes (permanent pec training for example). Your thoughts are most appreciated.

I have pondered for some time why the CGE Pro is not seen more often with imagers but not had much information to read up on it.