EQ6 Pro - Rowan job: worth it or not?

[powerlord]

Hi chaps, bought an older EQ6 Pro. It came with Rowan kit in box. Is guiding much better with it ? I'm figuring I'll try it before for a night first, see what the RMS is, then when I fit it I'll know if it's better... but if enough folk say 'don't waste yer time, it's fine as it is' - then I'll not bother.

stu

[Pitch Black Skies]

Congratulations on acquiring an EQ6.

I'd say if you're guiding and have carefully removed any backlash, the difference would be negligible.

However, it will be much quieter once upgraded and you won't have to worry about backlash/slack in that area of the mount for quite some time.

I'd say do it.

[powerlord]

moving it around with the hand controller, it seems only a bit more whiny than my new eq6r-pro to be honest. certainly not what i'd call loud.

I'll see what it guide like first anyhoo then, otherwise I'll have no way of knowing if it was worth it or not.

cheers

stu

[Pitch Black Skies]

Oh right, that's interesting. I was considering upgrading my HEQ5 with the Rowan belt mod but not sure if it really needs it.

Just make sure you remove any backlash before your test for an accurate comparison.

If it's fine without it, you could sell it on. A handy £100 or so 🙂

[AndrewRrrrrr]

Hi there,

I did the rowan belt mod to my neq6 about 3 months ago. Before the mod I was getting about 0.7-0.8" total RMS and after the mod regularly get 0.5" or better. It's a bit hit and miss tbh depending on how carefully I balance things and polar align. I also installed new bearings on the worms.

I would say I found the post-mod tuning was incredibly difficult (for me) to get right and I spent weeks fiddling around, at one point I nearly gave up and was going to try and find professional help!!!! but got there in the end.

There's some great walk throughs on youtube so you can see what you think about doing it before giving it a go. 

ps I do sometimes wonder what improvement I could have made by simply tuning it up - regrease, new bearings for the dec and ra worms, fiddling with the backlash. 

good luck with whichever way you go. 

[Hallingskies]

I did the mod and now the mount judders in RA. Haven’t tried too hard to get to the bottom of it yet as I am using another mount, but it’s frustrating and I wish I hadn’t bothered.

[powerlord]

Having read the instructions, I'm going to leave well alone!

[Rob20236]

On 19/01/2022 at 22:56, Hallingskies said:

I did the mod and now the mount judders in RA. Haven’t tried too hard to get to the bottom of it yet as I am using another mount, but it’s frustrating and I wish I hadn’t bothered.

juddering is could be the worm gear to tightly adjusted. belt slipping. but in my opinion a worthwhile upgrade. plenty of online tutorials. best one is astrobaby. also while your in there a clean and regrease is also worth while. the older models used terible grease. luckily mine wasnt like that. just stripped it down cleaned all the bearing in soapy water and give everything a light coating of superlube. guides as good as a mount twice the price for a little effort

[Rob20236]

Didn't get a picture of actual guiding but here's my guiding calibration.  Pretty good backlash