How to convert manual mount to computerized mount

[Articunos]

Hi Everyone!

I am from India.I own a EQ-5 non-computerized mount.I would like to upgrade it to a GoTo mount.Is it possible?

The mount which I have is:

http://www.tejraj.com/eq5-da-ps.html

Is the Bresser GoTo Upgrade kit compatible with my mount?

EDIT:I have dual axis motor drive on my telescope mount already

 

[adyj1]

Hi Articunos, and welcome. 

I have recently looked at this myself and came to the the conclusion there were 3 options;

1. The official Skywatcher upgrade kit for around £300.  https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-synscan-pro-v3-goto-upgrade-kits.html

2. A DIY upgrade using AstroEQ.  https://www.astroeq.co.uk/tutorials.php Building the board yourself and sourcing the stepper motors can cost in the region of £100-£150.

3. Sell your mount and buy a second-hand goto mount. £??? 

Unfortunately the Skywatcher dual axis motors are not geared correctly for goto - they are just far, far too slow*.

Option 2 is *very* DIY. The AstroEQ project is excellent but you do still have to do a lot of a) soldering and b) tinkering with the motors and drivers to get everything working.

Do not underestimate option 3. It may be your cheapest option. 

I chose option 2 and have very much enjoyed the soldering and tinkering, learning along the way - but it has taken me many weeks and I don't have a reliable setup just yet... (I'm so close!) 

Hope this helps

Ady

* technically you *can* run AstroEQ on the SW dual axis motors - and I planned to do this for a few months while I worked out what stepper motors to get and how to mount them - but it was so, so slow it made goto unusable, IMHO. I got second-hand steppers within a week.

[almcl]

+1 for the AstroEQ solution.  It is possible to get a ready built unit, although the inventor, Tom Carpenter, does not have much spare time to make them these days so there is often a bit of a wait. It also requires brackets to hold the stepper motors to the mount.  These can be fabricated with a few hand tools, if you are that way inclined.

Once working, it is a great resource, but I had few false starts along the way.

[Cornelius Varley]

The mount looks like a generic EQ5 (not Skywatcher) copy of the original Vixen GP. The Bresser goto upgrade should fit it, the Bresser EXOS-2 is a Vixen GP clone too.

[Articunos]

I contacted the dealer from whom I bought the telescope.He said I cannot add GoTo functionality on my mount.But I would like your opinion.

Is this kit from Bresser compatible with my EQ-5 mount?

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p6975_Bresser-GoTo-upgrade-kit-for-EXOS-2--MON-2--EQ5--GP-and-similar-mounts.html 

1 hour ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The mount looks like a generic EQ5 (not Skywatcher) copy of the original Vixen GP. The Bresser goto upgrade should fit it, the Bresser EXOS-2 is a Vixen GP clone too.

See this:https://www.telescopehouse.com/bresser-messier-mon2-eq-mount-and-tripod.html

[Articunos]

My Telescope and mount are quite new.I bought them on 30th April.The reason why I want to add GoTo functionality on my scope is I live in a very light polluted area(Mumbai,India) and except for the planets and a few stars,I can see nothing.

2 hours ago, adyj1 said:

Hi Articunos, and welcome. 

I have recently looked at this myself and came to the the conclusion there were 3 options;

1. The official Skywatcher upgrade kit for around £300.  https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-synscan-pro-v3-goto-upgrade-kits.html

2. A DIY upgrade using AstroEQ.  https://www.astroeq.co.uk/tutorials.php Building the board yourself and sourcing the stepper motors can cost in the region of £100-£150.

3. Sell your mount and buy a second-hand goto mount. £??? 

Unfortunately the Skywatcher dual axis motors are not geared correctly for goto - they are just far, far too slow*.

Option 2 is *very* DIY. The AstroEQ project is excellent but you do still have to do a lot of a) soldering and b) tinkering with the motors and drivers to get everything working.

Do not underestimate option 3. It may be your cheapest option. 

I chose option 2 and have very much enjoyed the soldering and tinkering, learning along the way - but it has taken me many weeks and I don't have a reliable setup just yet... (I'm so close!) 

Hope this helps

Ady

* technically you *can* run AstroEQ on the SW dual axis motors - and I planned to do this for a few months while I worked out what stepper motors to get and how to mount them - but it was so, so slow it made goto unusable, IMHO. I got second-hand steppers within a week.

Your options are good,but where can I buy them in India?

I don't want to sell my mount

[Articunos]

Does anyone have experience on using the Bresser GoTo upgrade kit?How good is it's GoTo?

[Cornelius Varley]

1 hour ago, Articunos said:

I contacted the dealer from whom I bought the telescope.He said I cannot add GoTo functionality on my mount.But I would like your opinion.

Is this kit from Bresser compatible with my EQ-5 mount?

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p6975_Bresser-GoTo-upgrade-kit-for-EXOS-2--MON-2--EQ5--GP-and-similar-mounts.html 

See this:https://www.telescopehouse.com/bresser-messier-mon2-eq-mount-and-tripod.html

Did the vendor explain why you could not remove the existing dual axis drives and replace them with the Bresser unit ?  The mount looks like a copy of the Skywatcher/ Celestron / Meade / Bresser mount. It might even have been sourced from the same factory. 

[Articunos]

How do other motor drives work?

In my case, the motors are connected to the slow motion knobs and I just have to fasten a screw so the mount moves along with the motors

The slow motion knob is on the right just beside the silver cog

[Cornelius Varley]

4 minutes ago, Articunos said:

How do other motor drives work?

In my case, the motors are connected to the slow motion knobs and I just have to fasten a screw so the mount moves along with the motors

The slow motion knob is on the right just beside the silver cog

 

Exactly the same way.

[adyj1]

1 hour ago, Articunos said:

Your options are good,but where can I buy them in India?

I don't want to sell my mount

Sorry, Articunos, I don't know - maybe we have other members from India? 

Also, my comments are based on a Skywatcher EQ5, and I don't know much about the clones. 

Astronomy! The hobby that keeps reminding me that even when I think I know something, I don't ? 

Good luck with finding something,

Ady

[Articunos]

Does anyone have any experience with Bresser Goto upgrade kit?

Will it work on any EQ5 mount,specifically mine?(I have posted a link to my telescope mount above)

Can anyone provide any other goto upgrade kits?

[Articunos]

If I buy the Bresser GoTo upgrade kit,will it fit on my mount?

If it doesn't fit,I will have wasted a lot of money on something useless.

Or can I somehow make it fit on that with a little modification?

[Cornelius Varley]

5 minutes ago, Articunos said:

If I buy the Bresser GoTo upgrade kit,will it fit on my mount?

If it doesn't fit,I will have wasted a lot of money on something useless.

Or can I somehow make it fit on that with a little modification?

If the mount is a generic EQ5 and has the correct number of teeth (144) on the large RA gear then it should fit. Other options are the Skywatcher Synscan upgrade or the iOptron goto upgrade. 

From the iOptron website:

The GoToNova^® dual axis GOTO upgrading kit is available for the EQ5-like mounts (144 teeth). The kit is compatible with the following mounts: EQ5, Vixen Great Polaris (GP), Orion SkyView Pro, Celestron CG-5, Meade LDX55/LDX75 and Astro-5. The kit may also be used on the older Vixen Super Polaris (SP) with some more modification to the housing.

[Articunos]

18 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Did the vendor explain why you could not remove the existing dual axis drives and replace them with the Bresser unit ?  The mount looks like a copy of the Skywatcher/ Celestron / Meade / Bresser mount. It might even have been sourced from the same factory. 

I contacted the vendor again but he didn't reply to my mail.

[Articunos]

However, what do you people think of Bresser Computerized technology?

Is the GoTo good enough?Is the tracking good?Is the alignment easy?

[Articunos]

18 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

If the mount is a generic EQ5 and has the correct number of teeth (144) on the large RA gear then it should fit. Other options are the Skywatcher Synscan upgrade or the iOptron goto upgrade. 

From the iOptron website:

The GoToNova^® dual axis GOTO upgrading kit is available for the EQ5-like mounts (144 teeth). The kit is compatible with the following mounts: EQ5, Vixen Great Polaris (GP), Orion SkyView Pro, Celestron CG-5, Meade LDX55/LDX75 and Astro-5. The kit may also be used on the older Vixen Super Polaris (SP) with some more modification to the housing.

My mount has less than 50 teeth on it

But gears do come along with the upgrade kit,don't they?

I have to just fit the gears supplied with the kit and remove the old ones,right?

Correct me if I am wrong

[Cornelius Varley]

12 minutes ago, Articunos said:

My mount has less than 50 teeth on it

But gears do come along with the upgrade kit,don't they?

I have to just fit the gears supplied with the kit and remove the old ones,right?

Correct me if I am wrong

The 144 teeth refers to a large gear wheel inside the mount which is driven by a wormwheel connected to the RA motor (not the small brass gears you can see on the side of the mount). On EQ5 mounts this gear wheel has 144 teeth with a gear reduction ratio of  704:1.

The goto upgrade kit is supplied with new gear wheels and motors to replace the old ones.

[Articunos]

30 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The 144 teeth refers to a large gear wheel inside the mount which is driven by a wormwheel connected to the RA motor (not the small brass gears you can see on the side of the mount). On EQ5 mounts this gear wheel has 144 teeth with a gear reduction ratio of  704:1.

The goto upgrade kit is supplied with new gear wheels and motors to replace the old ones.

You don't mean those two brass gears which are in the pic I posted earlier?

[Articunos]

32 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The goto upgrade kit is supplied with new gear wheels and motors to replace the old ones.

Does that mean I can attach the Bresser Goto Upgrade Kit to my telescope without any modifications?Do you have any experience with it or any other upgrade kit?

How good is Bresser technology?

[Articunos]

The dealer said that I cannot upgrade my mount as an EQ5 mount is different and the Bresser Upgrade Kit own't fit my mount

What do you people think?

[Cornelius Varley]

40 minutes ago, Articunos said:

The dealer said that I cannot upgrade my mount as an EQ5 mount is different and the Bresser Upgrade Kit own't fit my mount

What do you people think?

Did the dealer give a fuller explanation of why your mount and an EQ5 mount differ ? The photos on the dealers website and the close up photos of your mount suggest that there is no difference. Can you upload some more photos of the head of the mount ?

[Articunos]

32 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Did the dealer give a fuller explanation of why your mount and an EQ5 mount differ ? The photos on the dealers website and the close up photos of your mount suggest that there is no difference. Can you upload some more photos of the head of the mount ?

Sure,I will upload the photos in some time

He said that I should have bought the Exos-II mount from him and later should have added a upgrade kit

But another question which I thought of:Even if the upgrade kit fits on my mount,will the motors be able to bear the weight of my 8 inch telescope?

My OTA weighs 6kg fully assembled with the finder scope and the mounting rings

[Cornelius Varley]

An EQ5 should handle the weight of the telescope.

[Articunos]

2 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

An EQ5 should handle the weight of the telescope.

I didn't get you

Won't the motors have to be strong enough to lift the weight of the telescope?