Mount recommendation

[BillKinn]

Hi all, I'm quite new to all this and looking into astrophotography so looking for some recommendations.

I'm looking in buying a Go-To mount  and I think I have narrowed it down to two mounts the Skywatcher EQ5 Pro GOTO or the Explore Scientific EXOS-2 PMC-Eight has anyone had any experience with any of these mounts?

I have a Skywatcher 200PDS would any of these mounts support the scope, A few people have said the EQ5 is rather loud  so that's sort of putting me of due to my neighbours.

Any info or recommendations would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks, Bill.

[Maho]

Looking forward to the responses here as I'm considering the EQ5 myself and have the 130PDS.

 

Am I correct in thinking that the EXOS-2 is only WIFI enabled and does not come with a handset?

[Erling G-P]

I'm imaging with a 200PDS on a HEQ5 Pro, and many here will say that my mount is too small for the scope, so using an EQ5 Pro would probably be pushing it.  Haven't heard the EQ5, but if it's anything like the HEQ5, then it will be noisy when slewing at full speed, especially when stopping & starting, as this produces a loud, grinding noise.  When just tracking, it's virtually silent.  Noise & tracking can be improved with a Rowan belt mod (about £100 if you buy the kit and install it yourself, about £200 pre installed from First Light Optics).  With this the noise is greatly reduced.

Not familiar with the Explore Scientific, but a quick check reveals the quoted capacity for imaging to be 28 lbs (40 lbs visual).  That ought to be enough for a 200PDS with camera & guide scope, so of the two mounts you mention, this seems the better choice.

[BillKinn]

1 hour ago, Maho said:

Looking forward to the responses here as I'm considering the EQ5 myself and have the 130PDS.

 

Am I correct in thinking that the EXOS-2 is only WIFI enabled and does not come with a handset?

Yes that's right it controlled via a laptop or tablet.

[BillKinn]

35 minutes ago, Erling G-P said:

I'm imaging with a 200PDS on a HEQ5 Pro, and many here will say that my mount is too small for the scope, so using an EQ5 Pro would probably be pushing it.  Haven't heard the EQ5, but if it's anything like the HEQ5, then it will be noisy when slewing at full speed, especially when stopping & starting, as this produces a loud, grinding noise.  When just tracking, it's virtually silent.  Noise & tracking can be improved with a Rowan belt mod (about £100 if you buy the kit and install it yourself, about £200 pre installed from First Light Optics).  With this the noise is greatly reduced.

Not familiar with the Explore Scientific, but a quick check reveals the quoted capacity for imaging to be 28 lbs (40 lbs visual).  That ought to be enough for a 200PDS with camera & guide scope, so of the two mounts you mention, this seems the better choice.

Thank you for the response very helpful. 

[masjstovel]

Hi, I had the EQ5 Goto. I am have a 150PDS, so smaller than yours. I was heartbroken with the cost of this hobby when i started with it - I therefore bought the EQ5 intead of something bigger. 6 months or so later i sold the EQ5 and bought a EQ6 instead. If i were you I would , I would pay the exrtra  bucks and buy the EQ6-R or Az-EQ6. The EQ5 will be to small.

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by masjstovel

[fozzybear]

8 minutes ago, masjstovel said:

Hi, I had the EQ5 Goto. I am have a 150PDS, so smaller than yours. I was heartbroken with the cost of this hobby when i started with it - I therefore bought the EQ5 intead of something bigger. 6 months or so later i sold the EQ5 and bought a EQ6 instead. If i were you I would , I would pay the exrtra  bucks and buy the EQ6-R or Az-EQ6. The EQ5 will be to small.

 

+1 go for the bigger mount for the 200PDS

[BillKinn]

3 hours ago, masjstovel said:

Hi, I had the EQ5 Goto. I am have a 150PDS, so smaller than yours. I was heartbroken with the cost of this hobby when i started with it - I therefore bought the EQ5 intead of something bigger. 6 months or so later i sold the EQ5 and bought a EQ6 instead. If i were you I would , I would pay the exrtra  bucks and buy the EQ6-R or Az-EQ6. The EQ5 will be to small.

 

Thank you I'm starting to understand what I need now, I was told by a so called professional that the EQ5 would be suitable for the 200pds but after doing more research I'm starting to think it's not maybe he was trying to pull a fast one on me, I will definitely look into something bigger now, everything is so confusing but thanks again for the information.

[wookie1965]

I have a EQ5 with a rather heavy 5" frac I have got round this getting a EQ6 tripod getting a adaptor plate (https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/geoptik-heq5-tripod-adaptor-for-eq6-2-tripods.html) so my EQ5 mount fits really sturdy now.

[BillKinn]

8 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I have a EQ5 with a rather heavy 5" frac I have got round this getting a EQ6 tripod getting a adaptor plate (https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/geoptik-heq5-tripod-adaptor-for-eq6-2-tripods.html) so my EQ5 mount fits really sturdy now.

Thanks for the info, how heavy is your telescope?

[wookie1965]

2 hours ago, BillKinn said:

Thanks for the info, how heavy is your telescope?

It is 8 kg without eyepieces 

[jonathan]

I skipped the EQ5 and went straight for the NEQ6 Pro, following advice to buy the biggest mount I could afford.  Although I didn't want Goto (it's just a different handset) so I have the SynTrek version, tracking only.  I'm not sure that the SynTrek version is still available as I generally only see the Goto NEQ6 Pro for sale these days.

As for slewing and noise, I've only ever experienced one other Goto mount and that was the one supplied with the Celestron 8SE 8" SCT, that mount made a lot of gear-meshing noise and generally sounded awful, it was kind of overloaded with the 8SE out of the box.  Once I switched to the NEQ6 Pro the sound and motion was smooth as anything, a beautiful mewing as it tracks and a pleasant wwweeeeEEEEEeeeuuu as it slews, not silent but definitely not grindy geary.

On a windy hillside the NEQ6  Pro is rock-steady, the 2" thick tripod legs will take a lot of weight, but be warned - the mount itself is a very big and heavy lump of metal!  Probably one to permanently mount on a pier and/or in an observatory setup if possible.  Me, I don't have that so I have to lug it out into the garden each time, it doesn't get a lot of use!

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Whilst people have managed good images using small mounts I think you will find it very frustrating without a decent sturdy mount. You have a pretty sizeable scope that will catch any slight breeze that is present and you will end up with a lot of wasted exposures. When frustrated with these issues a lot may just give up which is a shame as it is just due to equipment not really up to the job and not their ability.

When setting up for imaging on a budget i really would recommend that a large portion of your budget goes on your mount.

A popular way into imaging is a 2nd hand HEQ5, there are a fair number come up for sale and are generally around £500 to £600 depending on age and upgrades they have had.

It may seem a lot but in my opinion is ideal for imaging and pretty surdy with payloads around 10Kg.

Also if looked after tend to hold their value pretty well so if you advance to a bigger scope and need a bigger mount then you can sell it on very easily.

Please don't skimp on the mount, honest you will regret it later.

Steve

 

[Erling G-P]

It does sound like you're no longer considering the EQ5, but just realised I should clarify something in my earlier post:  The Rowan belt I mod mentioned, is only available for the HEQ5 Pro & for the EQ6 / NEQ6 - I don't believe they make one for the EQ5.  

[BillKinn]

23 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

It is 8 kg without eyepieces 

Thanks.

[BillKinn]

19 hours ago, Erling G-P said:

It does sound like you're no longer considering the EQ5, but just realised I should clarify something in my earlier post:  The Rowan belt I mod mentioned, is only available for the HEQ5 Pro & for the EQ6 / NEQ6 - I don't believe they make one for the EQ5.  

Thanks for letting me know.

[BillKinn]

Thank everyone for the information, after a long talk with someone on the phone I have ordered an Explore Scientific EXOS2-GT with PMC-Eight Mount.

I did look into the HEQ5 but couldn't find any in stock even eBay where overcharging, I hope I've made a good choice. 

The person I spoke to on the phone said the mount can hold up to 12.5kg for imaging and 18kg for visual and the mount is belt driven so it should be a little quieter.

I guess if this setup wont work well I have the option of downsizing my scope.

Thanks again. 

 

[banjaxed]

Hope you enjoy using your new mount.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Wise move to go for the heavier of the two mounts. I have used a Celestron C8 on a Vixen Great Polaris (GP) mount. The EQ5 is a clone of the GP, and the GP handles the C8 well for visual and planetary imaging. However, I wouldn't want to put an 8" Newtonian on it, especially for imaging, as it is much heavier and longer (more torque) than the C8 OTA. For DSO imaging I generally use the GP mount with my APM 80mm F/6 triplet, and might give the Meade SN6 (6" F/5 Schmidt-Newton) a go on it.

[Tenor Viol]

Most kit, SW or otherwise, is currently difficult to obtain. There are signs that this is beginning to improve.

[nephilim]

On 24/08/2020 at 17:52, Maho said:

Looking forward to the responses here as I'm considering the EQ5 myself and have the 130PDS.

 

Am I correct in thinking that the EXOS-2 is only WIFI enabled and does not come with a handset?

I have the EXOS-2, your right that it is controlled via WiFi  with a tablet or laptop using ES's own app (Explorestars) but it can also be connected (cable) directly to a laptop & is fully ASCOM compliant.