Any opinions on the HEQ5 Pro? - Mounts

[messier 111]

hi all ,

I would like to have your opinion on this mount.
i want to put a 120mm ed of skywatcher, for visual only.
thank you .

 

[Tomatobro]

My first decent mount of the go to type. A pleasure to setup and use. Only sold it because I needed more payload.

[Craney]

Good mount.  Probably a bit dated and agricultural in design when compared to other makes, but it delivers  and there are a lot of happy owners to testify to this.

The advantage of a large ownership is that there are lots of advice for mods, upgrades and fine tuning.  

For visual, should be OK for a 120mm refractor... if its not too windy. 

[Miguel1983]

I have one, for visual it's very good, for AP too, but more aimed at short focal lengths i would say.

Although a friend of mine has his Esprit 120 on it for AP, so it's possible for sure with some tuning and proper balancing.

[malc-c]

Googling the scope it amazes me that the weight is not one of the specifications listed, but given my HEQ5 handels my 200P and camera without issue then it would suggest that the mount should be very capable of handling the 120ED payload.

Look at getting the Rowan belt modification, either as a kit or pre-installed by any of the major retailers (assuming there is stock available) - it makes for a quieter and smoother operation.

Yes, as others have said it's somewhat dated ib design, but the design has been tried and tested, and fits that gap between the EQ5 and EQ6 (EQ6-R) mounts.

[messier 111]

I would like to thank you all for your good advice.

[Sp@ce_d]

Nice mount for portable, had mine for years. It gets more use than the NEQ6 which I find a bit heavy to lug about these days. Well worth doing the belt mod. Mines usually used with an Esprit 80 for imaging / C9.25 or Tal for visual. Works a treat well proven.

[Neil H]

I love my HEQ5 used with 200/1200 and with extension 127/1200 refractor

[rnobleeddy]

Not sure there's anything better for the price.

[pete_l]

My personal experience is that the HEQ5 Pro is boringly good. Simply put, it does what it should. Without fuss or drama. Just stay within its weight limit and stick to short-ish OTAs and it delivers.
I've had one for 7 years and it has given no problems or cause for concern.

[Merlin66]

+1 from me!

I use it most days for solar imaging....

It did at one stage have the dual CometSeeker and ED80 mounted. No issues no drama.

[messier 111]

thank you very much for all your comments, very appreciated.
thank you also for those who place photos.

[Staring]

I use it for an Esprit 100 photographically without any issues, should work well for the 120mm ED for visual. After a belt mod, no problems even at 1500mm FL with an RC8 (0.4”/pixel), guiding at 0.8-.09” RMS. Easy to set up. Only thing that could be said is that the Sky-Watcher hand controller seems a bit 80ies.