AZEQ5

[Steve Clay]

Question for AZEQ5 owners.

Can the mount be used manually in alt az mode I.E pushed in each axis with a bit of clutch/ friction, no power. I know there would be no slow motion control.

Can it track without alignment.

Might sound a weird question but I have my reasons.

Cheers

Steve

[GordonD]

Hi Steve

I  use mine without power sometimes, as a kind of grab and go, although it (well, mine anyway) is not very smooth to push around that way.

With regards to tracking without alignment, yes. When I am just going to use it visually on the moon say, I don't always bother to go through an alignment process. As long as it is turned on whilst pointing in pretty much north and level ( in alt-az mode) you cam use the go-to to get near the target and once homed in, it will track well enough for visual use.

 I confess I don't use mine much in alt-az mode because of the slop in azimuth - at least in eq mode you overcome that a bit by being slightly out of balance.

Hope that helps.

Gordon

Edited June 7, 2020 by GordonD

[johnturley]

I have an AZ-EQ5 mount for my ES 127 Refractor which is used for quick grab and go, and to access parts of the sky which are blocked off by trees from my observatory  shed.

I actually found it easier to set it up in EQ mode, and after setting my latitude by the scale on the mount (I know that it's not very accurate), and pointing the telescope in a north-south direction (determined by the shadow of the sun at local midday), I found that an object using a medium power eyepiece (around 100 x) would stay in the field of view for around 20-30 minutes, which is as accurate as I require as I only use it for visual. I have never used one of the alignment modes which the mount can perform. 

John  

Edited June 8, 2020 by johnturley

[Dr Strange]

If I recall correctly there are encoders on both axis' that allow you to release the clutches, star hop, then reengage the clutches and go back to GOTO. I would call or send an email to FLO and ask. They are very helpful and very quick to respond.