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Should I buy an old eq6 or a new eq5

Petar b

By Petar b
in Discussions - Mounts

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Chris

Chris

Posted
Posted

More detail needed - what scopes do you want it to carry? your Astro interests? Also is it going to be fixed in an obsy or are you going to need to set up and tear down? Transfer by car to dark sites etc

 

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billyharris72

billyharris72

Posted
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Is there any opportunity to try before you buy on the EQ6? Only reason I ask is that I had a second hand EQ5 for ages and it was not the best - maximum exposure for no trailing with a 200mm telephoto lens was about 15 seconds (and that's with good polar alignment). When I finally decided to strip it down I found that the previous owned had done the same and regreased with petrolium jelly. There was also a lovely big scratch running across the face of the worm gear.

If you know for a fact that the EQ6 has been well looked after then go for it, but if unsure I would be wary of spending money without seeing it in action.

Billy.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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That's old and lacks important features.

If the scope you intend to use is comfortably within the HEQ5 payload then there is a lot to be said for it. It is neither more nor less accurate than the NEQ6 and is a lot more portable. While the standard advice is to go for the 6 on future proofing grounds, the portability of the HEQ5 might be a benefit to you.

Olly

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Peter Drew

Peter Drew

Posted
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39 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

That's old and lacks important features.

If the scope you intend to use is comfortably within the HEQ5 payload then there is a lot to be said for it. It is neither more nor less accurate than the NEQ6 and is a lot more portable. While the standard advice is to go for the 6 on future proofing grounds, the portability of the HEQ5 might be a benefit to you.

Olly

The OP was considering a EQ5 not the HEQ5.   :icon_biggrin:

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Petar b

Petar b

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27 minutes ago, Alien_Photons said:

I don't think you should buy either until you work out which one you need.

I have an eq2 and want an upgrade. Why do you think that i shouldn't buy a new one

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Alien_Photons

Alien_Photons

Posted
Posted

What I am thinking is that these mounts have very different specifications to meet specific needs. Its a very general idea that either will do. But if there is a specific need then one or the other could be the wrong choice. 

If you understood why you should need an EQ6 over an EQ5 the question would be buy new or used EQ6?

Chris and Olly have asked the right questions in their respective replies.

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spaceboy

spaceboy

Posted
Posted

A standard black EQ6 doesn't have a guide port and the drive motors are not brilliant. So not very good for long exposure imaging but good for visual if you already know where you need to point the scope. It does though require a power supply where as a driven EQ5 can be switched between manual slewing and driven so no demanding need for power.

Food for thought. The Teflon washers in mounts are one of the first things to fail on a mount and the EQ6 at 10 years old, there is a good chance they will need replacing requiring a complete strip down.

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spaceboy

spaceboy

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Petar b said:

Wich has better drive motors?

The old black HD EQ6 comes with drives as standard as it cannot be used manually. An EQ5 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-deluxe.html doesn't come with motors and you will need to buy them separately https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/enhanced-dual-axis-dc-motor-drives-for-eq-5.html. The standard drive motors are the same on both mounts but the enhanced handset for the EQ5 allows for guiding. Again this is ultimately restricted by the standard motors for successful long exposure imaging. You will need to upgrade the mount to syncan goto https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/synscan-pro-goto-version-3-upgrade-kit-for-eq5.html (or buy EQPRO https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-pro-synscan-goto.html mount with synscan already installed) at triple the cost if you want better stepper motors.

Only trouble is........if you intend to purchase a 200PDS https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200p-ds-ota.html and your intension is to image then you are going to require at minimum a HEQ5 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-heq5-pro-synscan.html  An EQ5 will not give the best results with the 200PDS and you may struggle to get anything worth wile out of a 10 year old standard EQ6 unless your willing to spend more money upgrading it to synscan https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/synscan-pro-goto-version-3-upgrade-kit-for-eq6.html

With an HEQ5 synscan mount at £775 and a 200PDS at £299 you'd be roughly in budget, GBP wise anyway. How this translates to EURO's I don't know but as with anything, if you buy used you'll get more for your money. My personal opinion, unless your getting the EQ6 at a steal I would take a rain check, simply because your probably going to find it cheaper you buy a used EQ6PRO than what it is to upgrade the standard black EQ6. As for the EQ5 you'd soon become frustrated by it's limitations when using a 200PDS and wish you had just held out for a used HEQ5 or EQ6PRO.

 

HTH

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SteveA

SteveA

Posted
Posted

If I were in your shoes I would go for the EQ5. You are on a budget and although you might just pick up a good bargain second hand EQ6, there's no guarantee you will. I suspect that even if the second hand equipment is in good condition you are likely to want to start spending money on it upgrading the motors etc. Before you know it you will have exceeded your original budget and you may be left thinking that you should have opted for a new EQ6. Keep the EQ5 in good condition, keep the packaging and if in a year or so you feel you do need a more substantial platform and you can afford it,  you may be able to sell the EQ5 for a reasonable amount. 

I would also say that from personal experience it wasn't until I mounted my EQ6 in an observatory that I really got good use out of it. Maybe I'm just a weed, but lugging the EQ6 around became a real pain...literally!

Steve

 

 

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