HenkSB

I got an EQStar a few years ago for my Losmandy G11S. I tested it with both EQMod using ASCOM and Ekos using INDI. No problems except the home or park position (see above), if I had worked a little harder maybe I would understand how to get it right. I never took it out under the stars not because of problems with the unit but more because of the G11S binding up - the EQStar motors did not seem to be strong enough. More likely that was mostly a mechanical problem. The G11S crown wheel was probably not round enough to run it with a tight worm setting, and temperature expansion also plays a role. Most users run it a little loose with counterweighting. Eventually I implemented spring loaded worms (3 different designs of my own) that totally fixed the binding-up problem while slewing. By that time I had bought stronger motors that Alexander recommended (BTW Alexander is very responsive and supportive). Eventually I discovered OnStep and went that route in my confusion about motor strength vs mechanical issues. OnStep offers a lot of choices for computer hardware, motors and stepper drivers and has a great support forum. After the SLW, also adding 1:3 timing belts, I can track with a 12" F/4 Newt at 0.7" RMS total. I just ordered a 12 to 24 DCDC converter to get more out of my steppers. The problem with steppers is that the incremental torque decreases inversly proportional the microstep factor (which increases exponentially in powers of 2) - and you need a significant microstep factor to get sufficient resolution. This is why the best results are obtained with timing belts and 24 V. I don't know the EQStar tracking performance because I never got to that point. I do recall that the EQStar slew speed was not impressive. OnStep could slew at 4 degrees per second, unfortunately the timing belt reduced that by a factor 3. Fortunately I don't spend much time slewing so the speed is not an issue for me. If I would try EQStar again with the G11S problems fixed (SLW/timing belts) it would probably work fine. But I ended up switching to OnStep, it works well and I enjoy having full control over hardware and software.