NEQ6 Pro upgrade. Noise query

[Telescope40]

Hi All.  Looking for wisdom as always. Mulling over a mount upgrade.  Currently have Celestron CG5 GT mount. Works fine.  Cracking goto, to be honest but toying with "going large". 

Read a few posts on here about the NEQ6  and I  seem to be coming across comments re the noise.  My current mount is noisy when slewing but I have set it to a slower max slew speed that has helped enormously. When tracking, I can hardly hear it running. No real reason to upgrade, if I think "sensible".

Any info from NEQ6 owners re the "quietness" of this mount.  Also can anyone shed light on how heavy it is to carry. FYI - Will be using a 200p and Meade 127 apo, as my weapons of choice. Not at the same time !!

The HEQ5 pro is also the other option.

Many thx in advance.   John

[jambouk]

I've got the AZEQ6, which is apparently lighter than the NEQ6, but it's still heavy, i think the mount head is about 15kg, and the legs another 8kg or so. Then two weights each of 5kg. I carry the mount head in a second hand suitcase which i got from a charity shop, which has wheels and a handle. It's manageable but it's certainly not light; would be easier to mount on he tripod when its low for the newt than when at full height for the apo.

Noise? Well it does make a noise when it slews at warp 9, but it's not especially loud. It is near silent when tracking.

Can you get to meet someone local who has one and have a lift and a listen?

James

[Scott]

IMHO all mounts using cogs is going to have a certain amount of noise (they're spinning pretty quickly when on max slew.

Apart from max slew I can't say I've heard my NEQ6 make any noise at all. (they do sound awful loud at 3 a.m. though I must admit )

[Velvet]

I did not find the NEQ6 too heavy, and i used to heft both head and tripod together.  total about 22kgs roughly.  Being a 5ft 4 ins female not built particularly large, i woudl not

think it too much of a problem.  i used geoptic bags to transport.

As for the noise, initial slew is somewhat noisy but then i quietens down.  But i would not call it very noisy at all.

Velvet 

[CodnorPaul]

I use the NEQ6 and don't find it particularly heavy, and it is certainly not loud.  I used to have my SCT on the Celestron SE mount (single fork arm) and that was embarrassingly loud.  The NEQ6 is virtually silent except for a very small mesh noise when slewing first starts which lasts about 1 second and then disappears completely - but that is nowhere near as loud as my old mount.

In short don't read anything into the 'noise' comments on an NEQ6 - it is a silent mount

[jambouk]

If noise really is the issue, then get the AZEQ6, and in stead of slewing at full speed to an object the other side of the sky, un do the clutches and turn the scope manually, then tighten the clutches again and you still have retained your GOTO accuracy as it has encoders. And like the NEQ6 is near silent when tracking at sidereal rate.

James

[kirkster501]

The NEQ6 is much heavier than the HEQ5.  A proper solid lump.  Manageable though.  Noise is not an issue at all. 

[jambouk]

You can probably find something around the house/garden/shops which weighs 15kg to get an idea of weight. 15 bags of sugar, 15litres of water, a 4 year old child, probably a battery from a medium sized-car.... You only need to lift to the desired height twice a night if setting up each observing session, and carry it from it's place of storage to where ever you set up, and back again, which is why i use a suitcase on wheels.

It's not "light" by any stretch of the imagination. But clearly is manageable by many. But we are all different.

James

[Scott]

When I first got mine I carried it like it was made of egg shells (very heavy eggshells) but now I tend to cradle the base and kind of tuck it under the arm, so I'm basically carrying it with one arm. I'm no body builder and I can do this easily.

[kirkster501]

When I first got mine I carried it like it was made of egg shells (very heavy eggshells) but now I tend to cradle the base and kind of tuck it under the arm, so I'm basically carrying it with one arm. I'm no body builder and I can do this easily.

Thats what I do to Scott.  Works well.

Steve

[ollypenrice]

People talk about the EQ6 noise because it's awful, not because it's loud! It sounds like something's breaking but you won't hear it from a few yards away. I can't see it bothering neighbours and since most of them make these noises it doesn't seem to matter. Both of mine do it but work fine.

Olly

[Takashi]

I too want to agree that the NEQ6 Pro is pretty silent. When I'm out with my friend (which has a Meade LX200GPS mount) the Meade is a lot noisier! You have a pretty decent "sound test" on this youtube-clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23G83RhQhys

[Allan the plumber]

I must admit at 3 in the morning in an enclosed area they sound loud apparently there is a company that will mod the NEQ6 to a belt drive I guessing this will be a lot quieter for back gardens usage

[jambouk]

My AZEQ6 is a belted version of the EQ6, and i don't think it is much quieter than the EQ6.

James

[Gina]

It's only really the horrendous grinding noise when it starts and stops fast slewing, otherwise no problem.  As Olly said, it's not that loud it just sounds awful - you almost expect it to spit out shards of metal

[r3i]

It does sound a bit disconcerting at first until you realise that everyone elses does the same.  Once it has finsihed slewing you get a gentle, reassuring swishing sound.

Even on fast slew it's a lot quieter than the LX90 I used to have.

[Telescope40]

Hello all.   Thanks for the opinions.  Laid any worries I had to bed.  Credit card is cowering.  A couple of mounts on ABS at the mo.

OOPs !!

Clear skies   John