Could I have got away with something smaller?

[scoobymike]

Well I was meant to be staying late at work to be authoritative, but the naughty person didn't show...

So I went and bought an EQ6!!

I'd been looking at it for a while, and when my day started to stray from the plan, I checked out astrobuysell, and there it was. And reduced by 50 quid this morning.

May be slightly over kill for my little scope (d'ya think it will cope ?!), but a sound investment at under half a k..

So apologies for anyone in Surrey for the next few weeks of cloudy skies (although the wkend should be ok as I'm away ), but I just couldn't help myself...

Mike

[Merlin66]

Sounds like a good investment.

[John]

I think it was a great buy. You can never really have a mount that is "too much" for the scope but frequently, alas, the other way around.

It's an investment for the future as well as it will carry a wide range of scopes that might be in your future upgrade path !.

[scoobymike]

I thought I did ok too!

I remember vaguely seeing something about a Maplin power source, does anyone know whether this is a current item, and which one? I believe the SW ones are quite a bit more?

Mike

[Merlin66]

The NEQ6 needs at least 2A at 12V ( works even better at 15V!)

I use the 5A(?) Maplin 12V mains transformer and a 140W car computer voltage transformer set to 12V to 15V.

For the "field" I use a collection of 20Ah gel cell batteries.

[fatwoul]

The NEQ6 needs at least 2A at 12V ( works even better at 15V!)

Oh really? Did not know this. Does it do any damage to the mount long-term? If not I'd definitely be giving it a try.

Congrats on a wise purchase, scooby. Don't forget another benefit of the EQ6 is EQMOD, and the plethora of ASCOM-based goodies you can use with the mount.

My EQ6 works great with Stellarium, too, so if you do get a powerpack from Maplins, do yourself a favour and get an RS323 to USB adapter, so you can connect a laptop via the EQ6 handset.

[PhoenixRising]

Less than £500 for an EQ6? Bargain!

[scoobymike]

Don't forget another benefit of the EQ6 is EQMOD, and the plethora of ASCOM-based goodies you can use with the mount.

What do they allow me to do?

I bought this as I know it's a great mount, and it was a good deal. But as yet I am not experienced enough to know either it's capabilities, or how to take advantage of them

Do they allow me to control the mount via laptop (with an astronomy programme like stellarium which I have)? Or are they an alternative to the goto object library?

I really am not lying about the money to brains ratio in my sig you know!!

[Merlin66]

Re 15V - I've been using the higher voltages on both the HEQ5 and the NEQ6 for the past six years - never a problem.

To control the NEQ from a planterarium package (I use Cartes du Ciel) you just need a USB to Serial adaptor (I use a Keyspan adaptor) and the "upgrade" cable which hopefully comes with the mount. This cable goes between the handcontroller and the PC. This allows full GOTO control etc.

The EQMOD alternative requires a EQDIR module and effectively does away with the handcontroller completely.

[Parus major]

As someone who has a 6" Newtonian with one.... it's class. As a public yransport asteonomer my gear never leaves the garden so I've never used anything but the mains....

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice deal! I would love to see a photograph of your Mak 127mm on an EQ6

[scoobymike]

Picture requested, so here you go.

The scope is the little blue bit on top...

[cgarry]

Cool! That should be nice and stable.

[gary1968]

Looking good there, not so sure it will need 2 weights though....... lol. My C80ED needs only a small weight (about 1/2 the size of a standard weight) that I made for my HEQ5.

With EQMod and a Planetarium Software Package, e.g. Starry Night, you will have full point and click ability with that mount. I have found goto's to be more accurate.

Gary

[JamesM]

Congratulations on your purchase and a very good move.

When I started to research about kit, the first and easiest decision I made was getting one of these mounts. The main reason is that for the money, they are the best mount/capacity that you can buy in addition to the capabilities that can be secured using the free EQMOD software, (planetarium goto control, mosaic image tracking, periodic error alignment etc). The mount's popularity also means that you will always find someone to advise you should something go wrong or need changing. With its load capacity in mind, it provide you with a degree of freedom in choosing what scope you next buy without having to think about possibly changing the mount as well.

James