HEQ5 or Celestron AVX for newbie

[bodtwo 16]

Hi all,

relative newbie, had an Astrotrac for a year and now time to step up. Whats peoples real world usage opinions of these two mounts?

Will be for DSO and will likely have an ED80 of some sort on it for AP. I'm looking for ease of use, setup and operation but realise 'ease of use' is relative when it comes to AP.

Thanks All.

[CodnorPaul 66]

HEQ5 - tried and tested over time, simple to use, cant really go wrong with this, polar aligning simple to do

AVX - new mount, some initial teething issues seem to have died down (still a couple of posts though), all start polar align, may get some issues

I chose the NEQ6 when I made the decision last year - it is a solid mount that has stood the test of time

[bodtwo 16]

Fair points, i like the VX but too new to say.

Cheers.

[brettg40 10]

Heq5

[mcro89 10]

Hey,

Im also looking to upgrade my mount soon. I'm looking at getting Heq5 as I'm planning to ramp up my AP skills.

What is different between the Heq5 and Neq6. Apart from the price of course

[CodnorPaul 66]

Load bearing - NEQ6 is more stable with heavier loads, and more stable for AP

[Chris Rowland 97]

I'm very happy with the AVX.  It's been reliable, solid and easy to set up.  The ASPA polar alignment works well.  It will carry an ED 80 easily.  I use two 80mm or a 150mm RC with an 80mm guider for astrophotography.

Chris

[GraemeC 83]

I'd probably vote for the EQ6. Although the Eq5 would match your scope and camera equipment to make a good balanced system, as soon as you would want to take the next step up with some upgrade then the Eq5 could become the limiting factor in your system. I've added bits and pieces to my GPDX based setup recently, and although the mounting was well matched to start with, I am beginning to see signs that I am approaching the limit of its capabilities. As a result I'll probably be upgrading my mounting later this year to something that will be at least one or two steps up in performance.

Graeme