should i get the NEQ6

[Daniel-K]

i had planned on buying a HEQ5 PRO for the obsy but now having second thoughts and am thinking about the NEQ6 trouble is i have already got the pier plates for the HEQ5 pro but am sure this can be resolved im trying to convinve my self i need it but do i? i will be imaging mainy with a 102mm triplet and a guide scope ed80 please help me

thanks

Danny

[Tinker1947]

Bigger is better, won't that plate fit the NEQ6, or go back to the shop and swap....

[Daniel-K]

im not sure i have emailed astro tech to see what he says very nice chap.

[Daniel-K]

ah he said it will need a new plate

[Black Knight]

An NEQ6 will at least give you more upgrade flexibility later on, although the HEQ5 suits you fine now. I suppose you could always sell the HEQ5 plate on, either on SGL or ABS.

[olander08]

If you can't stretch your budget to a NEQ6 the answer is easy, get the HEQ5. If you can stretch it, get the NEQ6.

I have the HEQ5 and it's a good mount, but I do regret not going for the NEQ6 as I'm going to have to sell my HEQ5 if I want to upgrade in the near future.

[Stephen]

As per the above, always go big!

If you can budget it, get the 6

[JamesF]

I think bigger might well be better, but I'd have thought you'd be ok with the HEQ5 if you wanted to stick with that.

James

[JohnC]

I think bigger might well be better, but I'd have thought you'd be ok with the HEQ5 if you wanted to stick with that.

James

How many times have we all said "This it it, i have my final setup"

I vote for the 6.

[asteele3]

If you're planning on getting a 12" scope then get the Neq6. The HEQ5 is perfectly fine for any telescope. Unless you've got your own planetarium, then I suggest I'd save £200+ and spend it on something more worthwhile. Then again I can't speak as I only have the HEQ5. Although it's ridiculously sturdy!

[ollypenrice]

If you're planning on getting a 12" scope then get the Neq6. The HEQ5 is perfectly fine for any telescope. Unless you've got your own planetarium, then I suggest I'd save £200+ and spend it on something more worthwhile. Then again I can't speak as I only have the HEQ5. Although it's ridiculously sturdy!

*

The HEQ5 is certainly not fine for any telescope. That's just not true. However, it is perfectly fine for a 4 inch apo and upgrading to a Paramount for that telescope would probably make no differecnce whatever to the final image. The 5 is no less accurate than the 6 and, although neither of them is very accurate, they both autoguide out well and can stay sub-pixel at short focal langths. What else do you need? The HEQ6 will carry more weight but whether or not it is much better at long focal length is not dead clear.

I've seen people image all night at short FLs with the 5 and not drop a sub.

Olly

[Daniel-K]

I was going for the ieq45 but just can't stretch that far so i though the neq6 was more accurate then the 5? Is the 6 the best I can get for under 1k

[asteele3]

When I said any telescope, I meant any scope under 10" dependant on what you have attached to the scope such as a big dslr camera. Before the NEQ6 came, you'd have to settle for the HEQ5, so I don't know how people would've coped with just the HEQ5 if it wasn't sturdy enough for a big inch scope!

Anyway, it said it was going to be clear tonight but I can just see a little bit of cloud creeping in the horizon... hope the metoffice and bbc weather chaps haven't got it wrong again! lol.

[ollypenrice]

I was going for the ieq45 but just can't stretch that far so i though the neq6 was more accurate then the 5? Is the 6 the best I can get for under 1k

In the tests I've seen the 5 has tended to show slightly lower PE than the 6 but does it matter? What matters is how well the PE guides out. They both do that quite well. In any event, the variation in accuracy of budget mass produced mounts is very variable and probably greater than any inherent difference between the 5 and 6. These mounts are, without any doubt at all, the best currently available under £1000, yes. (I suppose that on a windy night the 6 would be more accurate than the 5 in that it would be less easily nudged.)

To get a very significantly better mount I reckon you have to make a big jump in price and start looking at the massive but reasonably priced Mesu Mount 200, the venerable Losmandy G11 or the very portable but over-priced Tak EM200. I have the Tak and also use Yves' Mesu Mount 200 permanently. Next time I'd go for the Mesu any day.

Olly

[earth titan]

I've just upgraded from and HEQ5 to an NEQ6. Should have gone NEQ6 from the start. They are very different beasts!

[vlebo]

Or you could hold out for this

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/news/new-skywatcher-az-eq6-mount-news.html

[Uranium235]

Just get the 6 and be done with it! (you wont regret it). All you need to remember is to be careful when lifting as it is a lot heavier than it looks, all metal - no plastic. Rather easy to put your back out if you're not careful.

[asteele3]

If portability is an issue then get the HEQ5. If you're a weight lifter then get the NEQ6. I just think spending almost £1000 just on a mount is crazy! The NEQ6 might be better but i went out last night with my scope and tripod/mount and saw unbelivable views of Saturn and 4 moons! What I would say is: if you have a big inch scope with a camera and another piggyback scope then get the NEQ6 but if you have like I have; an 8" scope and a SLR then the HEQ5 is perfectly fine! After all if I did change my mind and wanted to 'upgrade' to the NEQ6, then I could just sell my HEQ5 for £650. Only lose out by £100 and apparently £650 would be cheap for a second hand mount/tripod!

[asteele3]

If you get the NEQ6 then in 6 months another dearer mount will become available and everyone would say just get that! Get what you like but I know that saving £200 has been vital in allowing me to buy a camera, eyepieces and other accessories!

[Stephen]

If you get the NEQ6 then in 6 months another dearer mount will become available and everyone would say just get that!

Sorry but that's just plain rubbish

Collected my NEQ6 yesterday as a replacement for my HEQ5, as per earth titan ... should of gone with it from the start.

[earth titan]

Having had an HEQ5 and an NEQ6, both obsy mounted, I can report that the NEQ6 has a FAR bigger payload. I currently have 2 x 8" scopes mounted on it and it doesn't grumble.

I shall be gobsmacked if I get £650 for my HEQ5. Offers anyone?

[earth titan]

I'm not knocking the HEQ5 (a good mount) but could it cope with this payload?

I could not have done this with the HEQ5 ! The NEQ6 moves it all around without a grumble.

I'm waiting for a clear spell to see how it copes as an imaging set up, as I would dearly love to keep it set up permanently, but at 18Kg it is still within the load limit of 25Kg but a tad heavy. I'm probably going to replace the SCT with my 80mm refractor which will then allow me to change out the 8" newt for the SCT when I want to do visual instead of imaging while still keeping at least 2 scopes set up.

We'll see.

[ollypenrice]

Sorry but that's just plain rubbish

I'm glad you said it because I entirely agree! The truth is that, amongst budget mounts, nothing has changed in years. The HEQ5 and NEQ6 rule the roost in cheap mounts. You don't think a grand is cheap? You won't be buying a Paramount, then. The only real breakthrough that I'm aware of is the Mesu Mount 200 which humps a monster payload (officially over 4X the NEQ6) with a PE about 6X lower and zero backlash for a price around half of that of the opposition. That mount IS a breakthrough. It doesn't matter what will happen in the future. What matters is whether or not you can be consistently sub pixel in accuracy with the mount you have now. If you want that at long focal length you need a serious mount or some serious tuning of your NEQ6.

Olly

[Chris]

If portability is an issue then get the HEQ5. If you're a weight lifter then get the NEQ6. I just think spending almost £1000 just on a mount is crazy! The NEQ6 might be better but i went out last night with my scope and tripod/mount and saw unbelivable views of Saturn and 4 moons! What I would say is: if you have a big inch scope with a camera and another piggyback scope then get the NEQ6 but if you have like I have; an 8" scope and a SLR then the HEQ5 is perfectly fine! After all if I did change my mind and wanted to 'upgrade' to the NEQ6, then I could just sell my HEQ5 for £650. Only lose out by £100 and apparently £650 would be cheap for a second hand mount/tripod!

I think Danny's original post stated that he wants the mount to be pier mounted in his obsy so he can image with his 102mm triplet Apo and guide scope therefore portability won't be an issue for him. For imagers the mount is arguably the most important thing to consider (tracking accuracy is key) so 1000 pounds really isn't that crazy especially if you want to future proof your obsy setup. I spend fair amount of time on Astro buy and sell and Ebay and the going rate for a HEQ5 Pro in A1 is around 500 pounds, this is just in case you decide to sell yours, you might not get many calls at 650 pounds:)

Chris

[JamesF]

Errr, what Stephen and Olly said. There are plenty of more expensive mounts out there already. I think one of the reasons the NEQ6 gets recommended so much here is that most people likely to give a recommendation are aware that if you could afford something more expensive then you probably wouldn't be asking, and whilst the step from the HEQ5 to NEQ6 is hardly small when you're trying to justify it for a weather-dependent hobby, it pales into insignificance compared to the next step up from the NEQ6.

James