Which mount Advice Please

[Stu1976j]

Hi there all, I am looking for a little advice please. I am in the middle of building my first observatory at present and am looking for a EQ mount to locate on the pier, and I have to say have got myself in bit of a pickle due to looking at so many different mounts. I have mainly used Meade dual fork goto's in the past or single fork celestron mounts. but am now looking to have a EQ. its going to be used for astrophotography so needs to be able to be able to hold a main scope guide scope and a DSLR and guide cam. will not be needing tripod as will be on a pier and permanent in the obsy. I will continue to use my ETX105 for out and about work. I currently have a skywatcher 130 scope ready to mount on the new EQ mount. 

So any advice / help from people who have had some experience of EQ mounts would be fantastic. I have a budget of up to £600 maybe £700 at a push. and don't mind going down the second market to get a little extra value for money.

Thanks Stu

[spillage]

Hi Stu,

 

With your budget in mind I would go for at least a second hand heq5 and maybe join me in looking for a second hand neq6.

Looks like you are only half an hour from me so the race is on :).

I have found that the second hand market is a pain due to the weight of these things and although I can sort the courier the sellers have so far all been reluctant to package up the mounts.

 

Spill.

[RayD]

Yes agreed I think with your budget you'll be limited to the 2nd hand market for anything decent from the SW range certainly. AVX is in the range but not really aimed as a permanent mount. 

I think most who do AP here would advocate spending as much as you can on your mount, so if possible it may be better to hold out for a while and put some beer money in a pot and go for something a little better like the AZ-EQ6 or similar?

I'm sure in the future with a permanent obsey you'll probably event want to upgrade that. 

[brantuk]

+1 for NEQ6 Pro second hand. For your budget you should find a nice example under 2yrs old, in very good condition, and perfect working order.

[spillage]

21 minutes ago, brantuk said:

+1 for NEQ6 Pro second hand. For your budget you should find a nice example under 2yrs old, in very good condition, and perfect working order.

where? I have nearly lost all hope. 

[brantuk]

Sorry Spillage - I forgot to add a link - UK Astro Buy/Sell is a good site to find second hand astro gear:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php

You'll also find they come up now and again in the "Classifieds" section here on SGL. These are the two sources I use for s/h gear which tend to be pretty reliable being mostly used by astronomers who look after their instruments. Of course I always advise you go to view and check the item before parting with money. You may also find you have to travel some distance to acquire a suitable model.

This good lookingone seemed to sell very quickly - within a few days so you need to be quick sometimes:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=117339

[swag72]

16 minutes ago, spillage said:

where? I have nearly lost all hope. 

One sold on ABS only the other day for £600 ...  Sorry the link won't work for the Archive page on ABS, but it's there to see if you search the archives

 

[Owmuchonomy]

All good advice above. The HEQ5 pro mounts come up frequently in the used market. I think this is due to folk upgrading to the excellent AZ EQ6. That's what I did for my Obsy.

[Stu1976j]

thanks for the advice it has helped put me back on course

 

[red dwalf]

for your size of scope a heq5 would do but you`ll end up like i did upgrading at some point to a neq6 so i`d also recommend the second hand market for a neq6, or maybe bite the bullet and get a new one, i know they are a lot of money but there is no way you cab do this hobby cheaply if you are going down the imaging route especially, i`ve tried, you just end up selling stuff to buy better in the end.

plus you can always put a wanted ad on astro buy and sell also.

[MattJenko]

Unless you need the power of the NEQ6, the HEQ5 is the better bet in my view. It is easier to upgrade (belt mode etc) and maintain and I reckon is more reliable from the limited number of examples of each I have experienced.