Motor drive for my Soligor MT 750/6"E

[Skyrepo]

hi there what motor fits this tripod as im not up on motor side of things. if its the same tripod as mine any pictures of the tripod thanks phil doncaster UK

[Cornelius Varley]

Hello and welcome to SGL. Can you post a couple of photos of the mount ? Many of these telescope are supplied with a mount known as an Astro 3 or EQ3 (not to be confused with the Skywatcher EQ3-2) equatorial mount.

I found this one online

I think the mount is similar to the one used by Seben for their 1400/750 telescope here so mount might use this motor drive.

[Skyrepo]

many thanks for that Peter ill look into that

[Louis D]

Wow, Soligor, now that is a blast from my past.  I remember when that brand name was used on off-brand zoom lenses for 35mm SLRs in the 70s and 80s.  Apparently, the name has been resurrected for astronomy duty.

[Aleksandrs]

Hello there!

That is exactly the same telescope and mount that I have. Wow, bought this thing about 20 years ago!  Now I wanted to upgrade it with a 1-axis motor, and that is when I stumbled upon your post. I found out that this mount is one of a whole bunch of copies/clones (I found at least 3 from different makes, which look exactly the same.

The motor drive that you were advised to use will not be suitable for your telescope IMHO, because you don't have a built-in gear on your mount! The one that you need is a similar motor, but with an included gear, that you have to install on the shaft of your fine-tuning handle. I used motor that is listed on German ebay as "Zoomion RA-Motorset für Genesis 200 EQ" (https://www.ebay.de/itm/Zoomion-RA-Motorset-für-Genesis-200-EQ/291936668757). It has a good price too!

I ordered it, installed it on my Soligor MT-750 mount, and it operates perfectly! Even the gear ratio is precisely correct!

Next project - I am now carving a wooden adapter, so that it can accept dovetail rails  So happy about this mount, no issues during all these years that I've owned it.

Alex

Edited June 4, 2020 by Aleksandrs

[gijoe50000]

I've got one of these telescopes, bought it about 15-20 years ago, and WOW, I didn't expect to see any recent posts about them!

I was looking in the manual today, in regard to the motor, part number 49950, and ended up on the Soligor.de website that's not even online anymore. 

Then, just few minutes ago, I saw a motor that looked similar, and then I find this post linking to what I assume is the same motor.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p673_TS-Optics-Optics-Schrittmotor-mit-Steuerung-fuer-Montierung-EQ3-1.html

But the link above looks like a more complete package with the gear and the battery holder. And it looks awfully similar to the one in the Soligor manual.

Although I think my telescope is pretty battered at this stage, at least the mirrors are a bit patchy, not even sure if it's worth the while getting them recoated. Then again, maybe it is, the stand/mount and everything does seem to be well made, it's certainly not flimsy by any means.

I was thinking about getting a new telescope but it almost seems a waste to buy everything completely new.

How is this motor working out for long exposures?

[Aleksandrs]

Yes, I would definitely go after the complete version with the gear ring. You will need it. The motor compensates perfectly the right ascension axis. I still had to adjust the declination axis manually just slightly, but that was probably because the mount was not set up perfectly, as I didn't take long-exposure photos. The battery holder is quite bulky (and 6 D-type batteries cost a lot and aren't even rechargeable), so I didn't use it. I made my own power source, using 2x18650 rechargeable batteries and a step-up DC converter. This drive is not very efficient and draws about 300mA at 9V (it actually draws less at 8x speed 😀)

I really like the mount, you can upgrade just the optical tube and leave the mount. My next improvement - I have cut an adapter plate, so that my Soligor mount now can hold dovetail rails, you can see the picture.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Aleksandrs