NEQ6-Pro upgrades

[Elara]

I’ve a  NEQ6-Pro, bought early 2014, so 9 years old.

I’m going to sell my 12” Meade SCT (in good condition, primary and secondary recoated very recently ) 

I’m considering a smaller aperture refractor and getting into AP.

Question:

Is it worth upgrading the NEQ6 mount ie Rowan belt mod. and/or investing in a Dark Frame Optics ‘tune up’?

I’ve funds set aside but should those be invested instead in the future AP setup.

Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[Stuart1971]

It is well worth the belt upgrade…But as for sending you mount to DFO….personally I wouldn’t, but that’s another story…😉

[kbrown]

I did the rowan belt mod myself and documented it on utube. This was the first and only time I've done it so not claiming to be an expert on the subject. At times it was a bit fiddly job but I'm glad  I did it.

Another worthwhile upgrade I've done afterwards was to replace the counterweight shaft with this. The original shaft has a nasty "backlash" type of wobble feature in certain orientations due to the design of the locking mechanism. The upgrade got rid of that problem completely.

[iapa]

8 hours ago, Elara said:

Question:

Is it worth upgrading the NEQ6 mount ie Rowan belt mod. and/or investing in a Dark Frame Optics ‘tune up’?

Experience says no to DFO

[Elara]

Thank you all! - very helpful stuff! I may well get RVO to do the Rowan mod. but I’ll look at the @kbrown YouTube video first.

Clear skies!