EQ mounts

[barry f]

Hi all I want to upgrade the mount on my Celestron Nexstar 6SE to an Equatorial mount so that i can do more imaging with some deep sky i have been looking at these 2:-

Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro SynScan

Celeston Advanced VX

I may also change the scope at some point so wanted to be able to cope with not only the scope but an auto guider so there maybe a weight issue on these mounts ?

There is also a matter of budget and these do fall into the kind of pennies I wanted to spend but if anyone has any suggestions please help me out and if i need to save more to get better then so be it but didnt really want to push into  a £1000 bracket for the mount.

hope someone can help

cheers in advance guys 

[Knighty2112]

Have you considered just a equatorial wedge for your existing mount and scope?

http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-wedge-for-evolution-nexstar-68-se-telescopes.html

Not used one so not sure how good they are, but worth a look at perhaps.

[Starlight 1]

The HEQ5 have been a good work- horse for me over the years and the only down side is the power port is not that good but I put a clip on the mount to hold the cable and it stop it from moving , and good battery or power unit is a must.  easy to use and take a good paid load. that about it for me.

[Bizibilder]

The HEQ5 Por Synscan is a good mount and can be guided for astro-photography.  One more to consider is the NEQ6 SynTrek mount.  This is about £70 more than the HEQ5 Pro Synscan and will make you more or less "future proof" - especially if you may be considering a larger scope (within reason).  Note the Syntrek non-goto configuration.  This is OK if you use EQMOD (freeware) to operate your mount.  It does mean that you will need a computer (a pretty basic laptop will do) - but you will need one for imaging anyway.  (PS You could also use EQMOD with the HEQ5 if you want the additional capabilities that it provides over the handset controls.)

[kendg]

When I did my upgrade to the AZ-EQ6 it was because I know I wanted to do mainly astrophotography. 

So, to answer your question, I'd get the beefiest mount I could afford and hope it lasts for a number of future upgrades for your OTA etc. 

[barry f]

Whats anyones take on the celestron as the rightups seem fair too?