Skywatcher v celestron!! (mounts)

[willcastle]

Okay... I have a skywatcher 200p mounted on an eq5... And I'm planning on upgrading to goto... But the synscan goto for the eq5 mount costs a steep £300! My logic is... If I'm gonna spend that much... Would it better to instead get a celestron Cg5 mount which is already goto motorised for around £500... I'm also considering at some point down the line, mounting a guidescope and the eq5 holds 9kgs compared to the cg5's 16kgs so technically the cg5 should be more stable? Hopefully I can acquire a cg5 second hand! So which mount is better?? Just to clarify... I only want to compare the eq5 to the cg5!! Not anything better such as the eq6 as they are out of my price range at the moment!!

[brantuk]

CG5GT has better quality bearings in both axes, 2" diameter legs (EQ5 has 1.75"), it's database is more extensive (40,000+ objects compared to 13,000 in the EQ5), and the software is more sophisticated. It also has a guide port but I don't know about the EQ5 on that one.

[Earl]

if your going to spend £500 save up a little more and get

First Light Optics - Skywatcher HEQ5 SynTrek

they do come up second hand below £500 and are well worth it.

[Cornelius Varley]

I should take the load capacity of the CG5 with a pinch of salt. I have seen a quoted load capacity of 10kgs for the cg5 Celestron CAM GoTo - CG-5 GT Mount. The HEQ5 Syntrek would be a better choice. You could add full goto later by purchasing a Synscan handset or just control the mount via EQMOD and your favourite planetarium program that has telescope control.

Peter

[willcastle]

Thanks everyone! I'd love an heq5 as I'm blown away by the quality of all the skywatcher products so far but it's out of my budget at the moment! I'm more deciding between a second hand cg5 or just spending £300 out right on upgrading my current eq5 to the synscan goto! But to me, that's alot of money!

[steelfixer]

If I can add my tuppence worth.

I have just gone down the Synscan pro goto upgrade route purchased from FLO on my EQ5 and I can honestly say it is worth every penny.

I am running it through Stellarium via the EQMOD system.

You can run it through just Stellarium but the EQMOD set up gives you so many options it is brilliant.

It even has the facility to take fully automated mosaics.

But thats just my opinion.

[brantuk]

The CG5GT Goto is a better all round mount imho - I'd sell the EQ5 and put the proceeds with the £300 towards a new Celestron for £520 (or under 1yr old s/h for around £350'sh).

[Deneb]

The Heq5 syntrek/Pro is a nice mount, but I think it's a slight let down with it's Legs being 1.75" diameter, I do wonder why Skywatcher do some stuff in half measures...

The CG5GT is less in price but it can sustain a lot more weight compared to a EQ5 due to its 2" legs. For the budget what the OP is indicating I would also go for a CG5GT.

Nadeem.

[willcastle]

Yer steelfixer I don't doubt synscan is amazing but if down the line the eq5 isn't up to the job... I'd feel like I wasted £300 if I then upgraded to the heq5 synscan or the eq6 goto mounts! I like to plan ahead! In pretty happy with what I have at the moment... Its just a thought to maybe sell the eq5 and pay the difference to get the celestron cg5 gt second hand!

[Rossco72]

In my experiences, the equivalent Celestron mount is usually just a little better and more expensive than the Skywatcher one.

The CG5GT is a bit better than the EQ5 and the CGEM is a bit better than the EQ6...

I don't think Celestron have anything in the HEQ5 category.

Regards

[sgazer]

have you considered second hand? The HEQ5 pro can be had for under 500, there have been a few on here recently. I much prefer it to the CG-5 goto, much smoother, quieter and I find it more accurate. I don't have any problem with the 1.75" legs, with my signature kit attached. The CG5 is embarrassingly noisy when slewing.

[pwalsh61]

Oddly enough I'm sure I've read (either on SGL or elsewhere) that the motors in the CG5 mount aren't as good as, and are noisier than, those in the EQ5?

[F15Rules]

I don't use a motorised mount so can't comment on that aspect, but there is no doubt that the CG-5 is better built, with a MUCH better 2" steel tripod. Nothing wrong with the EQ5, but as Nadeem said, SW sometimes just cut those corners a bit to get the price down.

I reckon a good stable tripod adds a good inch or two to the effective aperture of a scope versus a poorly mounted wobbly one...

Dave

[adamsp123]

The CG5 is extremely noisy, I mean you know you could wake the neighbours when in full speed goto mode. At slower speeds it is fine but you cannot adjust the goto speed.

[jana]

wow, I have been thinking the exact same thing, I was all set to pay the £300 to upgrade my eq5 to goto but have now considered looking at a bit extra for a second hand heq5. would i be better saving a bit and getting the heq5 or just upgrading my eq5. i have no intention of getting into photography seriously but is it worth future proofing with the heq5 just incase????

hard to decide what to do!!

[willcastle]

jana... it seems that most people would say the 200pds is a heavy scope and that the eq5 is just about okaaaaay for it but not perfect... my 200p seems fine on mine! totally fine for visual work at high magnifications! but the heq5 would make it more stable... especially for astrophotography which may not apply to you... but just so that you are aware... there is an heq5 and an heq5 pro! and only the pro one has the synscan! which is more expensive! id look around and see what you can find second hand... but it seems to be a better idea to upgrade to a slightly better mount with goto already than to just pay £300 outright to upgrade the eq5! thats what i have found out so far! hope it helps

[brantuk]

The motors on the CG5 GT are a little noisier because the plastic casing echo's them and it sounds horrid imho - would wake up a hibernating bear. Some say the CG stands for ©offee (G)rinder lol. But otherwise it's a great mount and very popular too.

However for a 200p OTA I think the HEQ5 is a much better proposition

[jana]

Sorry just me being lazy and only writing heq5 and not heq5 pro. Have seen a few going second hand around the £500 Mark and am now starting to think that may be the way to go. Was gonna spend £300 on the upgrade so my thinking is if I can sell my eq5 on to put toward the cost I will not have to find much extra cash.. Think I'm gonna have to get my selling head on in work and get a nice bonus nxt month to pay for it. Looks like heq5 pro is the way to go then!!!