eq1 for camera mount

[Dave Lloyd]

Since I acquired (scav'd) my sons spare eq5 I've got an eq1 sitting around. I was contemplating building a barn door rig but I think the eq1 although very lightweight would be ok to mount a DSLR. I've made a mounting plate and was wondering if I should buy the RA motor to drive this or would an adjustable stepper motor be a better option. Any advice?

[Starlight 1]

My mate got one just for the camera with the RA motor that go with it and he getting 60s with his nikon 710 with the 420mm lens on a good night . hope that helps

[Dave Lloyd]

Thanks for that starlight, I'll look into getting the dedicated RA motor.

[happy-kat]

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/234057-ultra-portable-widefield-rig/?fromsearch=1

Related read

[happy-kat]

There is also a thread on building a replacement motor (not the link in that post).

[Dave Lloyd]

Thanks for the link happy-kat. I also saw the thread by F137CHA. EQ1s seem a reasonable choice for camera only mount. Whether or not the build quality of my RA slow motion mechanism will be adequate for anything other than shortish subs remains to be seen.

[jgs001]

With a short focal length, I was able to get between 1 and 2 minutes... I found the motor drive to be rather temperental, and the drive speed varied with temperature, which made any form of accurate setup challenging. You'll need to rig up some form of polar scope. I attached a finder to the mount for this purpose.

[Dave Lloyd]

Thanks jgs.