budget eq5

[rowan46]

does anybody know anything about this mount eg; is it any good

Mounts eq5

thankyou

[Capricorn]

The EQ5 is a decent mount, probably a good option if it is for visual work. Although I suspect that with a light scope it could be used for astrophotography, at least as a start.

I have one and it is a nice size and pretty solid.

Problem with what is advertised is it says "everything that you see other then the carpet".

Do you see a tripod consisting of 3 stainless tubular legs?

Because I don't.

[rowan46]

I didn't see a tripod but I have a couple of them I could cannibalise for legs. I was curious if the mechanics were any good for the mount, if so its a big saving on the skywatcher price

[JamesF]

There's an EQ5 with RA drive in the for sale section at the moment.

James

[F15Rules]

Personally, if it says it's a budget mount, it means it's a cheap (and possibly nasty?) one...it's a clone of a clone, ie this one is a clone of the "genuine" skywatcher which is a clone of the genuine Vixen GP mount..

I'd wait for a used "proper" EQ5 or CG-5 to come up, they do so regularly.

HTH

Dave

[rowan46]

To be fair the skywatcher is not a bad clone, but I take your point thanks.

[malc-c]

Personally I would stick with mainstream equipment. Skywatcher, Celseron, Mead, Vixen etc. The problem I can see is that there is no tripod, no motor drive (the only one listed on the site is for an "eq3" which isn't shown.. and no doubt it won't be compatible with any SW upgrade. IMO I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole !

[derekm]

Don't know about this particular mount, but a lot of the Chinese equipment is simply genuine Meade, Skywatcher or whatever, without the brand name on it. If that's the case here, there's no reason why it shouldn't be as good as SW, but you or someone living near WGC needs to see it and make a judgement.

Check it out, you may well find it's OK and that you aren't simply paying for someone's expensive magazine advertising.

The factory gate price of goods like this bears no relation whatsoever to their retail prices in the west.

Witness the Revelation 12" scopes, that were £500, then £700 for the updated version, which dropped again to £500 and rose yet again to £700!! All this during the time that Sterling devalued by around 25%.

Cost is what it costs to make, but value is perceived by the purchaser and the selling price of any article is a little less than what you can't sell it for!

[Weebz]

I've got that exact one from Sky's the Limit. Does the job fine although I've never owned a Skywatcher or equivalent brand to compare it to.

[E621Keith]

That bit on the budget EQ5 base which attached to the tripod legs looked like it is made for box aluminium legs. It may be an early version of EQ5 (aka the real EQ4). If it is a genuine EQ4, it should work just as good as an EQ5.

As for that thing they called EQ4, I have no idea what mount is it, but it's certainly not SW's EQ4. They may be trying to exploit the missing model number in SW's current line up to con unsuspecting buyer. Personally, I'd avoid this dealer for this reason alone.

[ollypenrice]

I don't rate ripping off the ideas of others. OK, no tears for Synta whose EQ6 rips off the Takahashi EM200 but that copy of a TeleVue Alt Az on the right is a bit much, surely?

Olly

[rowan46]

I don't rate ripping off the ideas of others. OK, no tears for Synta whose EQ6 rips off the Takahashi EM200 but that copy of a TeleVue Alt Az on the right is a bit much, surely?

Olly

sorry Ollie till you told me, i didn't know it was, is that worth a punt then are the televue ones any good?