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HEQ5 GOTO Upgrade?

austen4

By austen4
in Discussions - Mounts

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austen4

austen4

Posted
Posted

Hello all,

I have a skywatcher heq5 with dual axis motors. If I wanted to upgrade to GOTO would I need a skyscan upgrade pack with the steppers motors? If so why do I need new motors as this comes included in the pack? Forgive my stupid question but do the motors have to have a specific gearing?

Thanks in advance

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malc-c

malc-c

Posted
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Austin,

Open up the cover that covers the motors. Do they look like this

5469_normal.jpeg

If so then your mount has motors with a lower resolution than those supplied in the Goto upgrade.

If they look like this

5457_normal.jpeg

Then you already have the upgraded motors and should be OK in just purchasing the Synscan handset for around £150.

If you have the gear set in the 1st image and want to upgrade to full goto then have a look at this tutorial - it's not as complicated as you may think

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/62172-primer-heq5-synscan-upgrade.html

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malc-c

malc-c

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I would have thought that you need the new control panel to plug the handset into the mount? As far as I'm aware dual axis motors and the ones used in the synscan are not the same.

Hence my post above. Until recently you could get the HEQ5 in a basic version (with the basic motors shown in the first image), Syntrek and SynScan versions. The only difference was that the syntrek had a basic button handset, the synscan has the computerized handset. The motor control board and motors were the same in both. It is the basic version that needs both motor and control board replaced as part of the upgrade

Both the basic and syntrek versions are now being phased out, leaving the synscan as the only option on the retail market

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malc-c

malc-c

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Austen,

If your mount has a gear set as per the 1st image then you'll need to purchase the full goto upgrade kit which includes 2 X Stepper Motors, Control Panel/Motor Board, Hand Control Cable, Hand Control (latest version), Cable Clamp and Hand Control Holder. It is up to you if you then want to sell the synscan handset and use an EQDirect / EQDIR unit and a laptop to control the mount.

If your scope has the gearing shown in the second image then chances are it already has the uprated motors and control board, and you can use an EQDirect or EQDIR unit.

Until you take the covers off the gear casing (just 6 small screws) and have a look at the gears, all this is speculation.

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Cornelius Varley

Cornelius Varley

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If I had the motors from the top photo, would I need to upgrade the motors with the kit in order to get GOTO. If I do not would I need a new circuit board for EQMOD?

Thanks all

EQMOD only works with the Synscan / Syntrek mounts. If your mount is the basic dual axis drive version you need the upgrade using the Synscan upgrade kit.

Peter

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malc-c

malc-c

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Dual axis motors means that it is the basic version of the mount, meaning he will need the synscan upgrade kit.

This is my gut feeling as well.

Austen, I think you may of missed the link in the post above, it shows what's involved in upgrading the basic HEQ5 to full goto http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/62172-primer-heq5-synscan-upgrade.html

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