New Drives for EQ3

[Ant]

I recently decided that I fancied trying to get an image of the Comet Swan. Little did i realise this would mean getting up early...! Which is something I just don't seem to be able to manage.  lol

So I bought the enhanced EQ3 Drives from FLO - the EQ3 is the only mount I have since getting rid of the HEQ5 a few years ago. Well they turned up pretty much as soon I clicked buy, which is typical of FLO, so I wanted no time installing them. 

It took a few days for the motivation to actually try them out on the stars. But of course being the end of May, its never dark, so I wasn't expecting awesome results - especially as I'm at my desk working at 7:30, so being up for the darkest hour isn't really doable (I've recently learnt just how important sleep really is). 

But I did manage 90 x 30 seconds, with nothing more than a rough polar alignment and turning in the mount :). 

I have to say that I was rather pleased with the result, this image is a stack of course, with minimal processing of anything. There is movement over the 45 minutes duration, but looking at the image its all in Dec. 

All in all very happy, looking forward to darkness (haven't said that in a few years...)

Ant

[russ]

Looks like its working well Ant. Nice sharp field as well. Very promising indeed. Just sold my EQ3 to buy some bits for the 200P. I know i'll regret it as I won't be allowed to take the HEQ5 camping but the EQ3 i could sneak in.

[Ant]

Thanks @russ, yes there is a significant size difference between the EQ3 and HEQ5. 

I recently bought a new (to me) car, its a decent size family car (Ford Mondeo). But I wanted to go for the hybrid, Ford made a couple of really odd choices when designing the car. First they made the hybrid available in the estate and saloon only, and they placed the battery in the boot. The estate version was/is really rare second hand, so I bought the saloon. It's a lovely car, but one carrier bag of shopping and the boots full.  I stand absolutely no chance of getting anything astro in the boot when we go on holiday. Why did Ford not use the hatchback....

Just need to get hold of a EQ3 counterweight and an accessory tray and my mount will be complete.

Ant

[russ]

Yes that's definitely one of the drawbacks to the hybrid and EV cars at the moment. They do impact on boot space with the battery and if EV, all the charging kit. Seems daft not offering the hatch.

Have you tried Astroboot for the counterweight and tray?  Probably the best chance of finding those. Or a wanted ad on here or UKABS. My EQ3 was missing the polarscope cover and Astroboot had one.   

 

Russ

[Ant]

Good idea Russ, ill try astro buy sell.

I do look through our sale boards, but nothing like that comes up...

Ant