Motor drive

[meddyliol]

I have a Helios 15cm Sky Scan with an EQ3-2 mount. Is it possible to fit a motor drive to this mount or do I have to get a EQ5? My main hobby is photography so it makes sense to combine the two.

Cheers

Brian

[RichM63]

No problem adding motor drives to this mount. You can either obtain dual axis motors or RA only, see FLO at the top of the page and look under Mount Accessories.

For info, both the EQ3-2 and the EQ5 use the same motors but with different brackets and a slightly different gear connector.

I have both.

[Bizibilder]

Before you spend your money - Are you thinking of long exposure Deep Sky Photography?  ie Nebulae and galaxies etc??  If so a simple motorised mount will not really be adequate.  These motor drives are really meant for visual observing where the occasional "nudge" on the hand controller buttons can be used to keep your chosen target in the centre of the field of view.  You really need something like an HEQ5 (or better) for serious astrophotography.  Some brave folk have managed to use the EQ5 mount for long-exposure work but it is quite an effort to get decent results.

Having said that, for Lunar, Solar and Planetary imaging using a high frame rate camera the EQ3 and EQ5 will work admirably - you can keep an object on the camera chip for long enough to get your "movie" and then adjust, ready for the next shot.

[meddyliol]

Thanks. Will do some more investigation.

Cheers

Brian