Mount for 114/500

[tnorthy92]

Howdy. I'm having problems picking a mount, I've got a little Skywatcher 114/500 on an EQ1 Mount, which is needless to say, rubbish. Looking for a new mount that I could it on.

I also have an ETX-125 on it's mount, but might want to stick it on new mount for DSO.

I'm just starting out in AP as well, this is reason for wanting new mount, got some ok pics with skywatcher and Canon 550D.

Couple of questions

1) could EQ3 Pro take weight of ETX?

2) would EQ3+motors (seems cheaper) do a good enough job for 30-60s exposures?

Any help is appreciated. or suggestions for other mounts.

I'd quite like it to be a mount I can physically move as at uni and have to lug up to roof of physics building to use. (not bothered about it taking time to polar align etc. It's all part of the fun )

[newman]

I used to have a skywatcher Evostar 120 on an EQ3 - that OTA is just above 5kg in weight. Frankly, I found it just a bit too wobbly even for visual - of course, the fact that the Evostar is a somewhat long tube didn't help there. I replaced it with an EQ5 and it's been more than fine ever since. Otherwise, the EQ3 is a great little practical (for a GEM) mount, and it works great if you don't overload it. That being said, I doubt you'd be happy with the performance of the EQ3 with the EX-125, as it weighs almost 7kg. My estimate is that it would be a bit shaky for visual, and not really usable at all for astrophotography. But it should handle the 114/500 with ease.

I think you're looking at a HEQ5 or something in that class if you want to do long exposures with the ETX-125..

[tnorthy92]

ok, thanks for that Might stick to short exposure stuff with Meade on current mount, and maybe get EQ3 for 114/500

[tnorthy92]

Any ideas where to find EQ3 Pro second hand? Ebay seems to only have eq5