EQ3-2 motor?

[Thewitty]

Hi all,

Sorry if this question has been asked but couldn't find any previous posts.

I have an EQ3-2 mount and am thinking of getting the dual axis motor to go with it. Is it worth it / any good?

Cheers

Brian

[Bizibilder]

It will allow you to track objects without having to twiddle the slow motion knobs.  If you are reasonably polar aligned you should be able to keep an object in the field of view for several minutes.  The main advantage is that it will minimise vibration caused by the constant need to touch the mount.  You may also want to factor in the cost of a 6v rechargable battery and charger as the "D" cells the motors use can get expensive (and will always go flat when it is least convenient!).

[Alien 13]

The motors are very good the only slight downside is the slow slew rates which can make finding an object a bit harder but the clutches can be unlocked and manually slewed into the approx position.

The object will stay in the field of view for a long time with good PA.

Alan

[Avocette]

There seem to be a number of people whose SW motor kits stop working due to faults in the hand controllers which have specialist microcontrollers programmed for the particular mount and which are not repairable nor replacebale without buying another full motor kit. So I personally decided that rather than spend £90 on the whole kit, I would buy a pair of motors with failed handcontroller second hand and use them with AstroEQ PC interface drive unit with Cartes du Ciel planetarium and EQMOD free software to construct a PC controlled GoTo platform. The AstroEQ unit is available for about £100 including cables and mains power unit from Tom Carpenter (TCWORLD on SGL). Alternatvely you could buy the motor kit to begin with, and then add the AstroEQ when you wish (or if the hand controller dies!)