Update on my £6.50 scope and an EQ mount question.

[RyanL]

Hi,

Some of you you may have seen my post about eyepieces where I mentioned I picked up a Starwatcher 114/1000 scope on an EQ 1 for a steal.

Since then I've learned to removed the lense in the focuser, collimate and replace the lense and I've been getting some nice views out of it, Including The Moon, Jupiter and a couple of double stars. I was also gifted an SVbony 27-9mm zoom eyepiece which I really like and it has improved the views but the scope still can't match my 100p for contast.

The issue I'm having is the mount. I really hate using it as an EQ and have it set up as Alt,/Az for now. I find using the EQ ties me up in knots and it doesn't feel natural scanning the sky. Is this because Eq1 mounts are just junk as I suspect? 

Cheers

Ryan.

Edited June 14, 2023 by RyanL
Grammar

[RT65CB-SWL]

I 'dislike' GEM/EQ mounts. The reason... because of the EQ1. The 'best' EQ mount I have owned and used was the Vixen GP. I regret selling it. I have an obsession [not the ‘scope brand] to dual-mount and it was not quite suitable for the 'scopes in my collection.

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by RT65CB-SWL
reworded some of the text and image added.

[Jiggy 67]

It all depends on what you want to do. you've identified your first problem....EQ mounts are not designed for scanning the sky, they are designed so you can track objects once you have found them, so, if you want to take photos or stay on one object with it staying in the field of view, then an eq is what you want (however, that presents further issues in the form of polar alignment). You are also correct in that an eq1 is garbage. My first mount was an EQ1, it was really hard work so I progressed to an EQ5 which i then adapted to GoTo and then on to an EQ6-R-Pro.......the difference is huge. Personally I like to stay on my objects for quite some time, after all , it's usually been a pain in the backside finding it, so i like to study it, make notes and remember it so I have a driven EQ that will do that with ease, sometimes staying in the fov for as much as an hour or more

My advice would be, decide what you want to achieve and then save up to buy what will service that achievement, no matter what you decide, get rid of the EQ1.......eventually.

[Louis D]

@Jiggy 67 What's the advantage of the EQ6-R-Pro over the ZWO AM5 for visual observing?  For about the same money, the latter is far lighter, and can be used without a counterweight for lighter loads, something I don't think the EQ6-R-Pro is capable of doing.  I'm thinking about getting an AM5 with a ZWO TC40 carbon fiber tripod to use visually in alt-az mode instead of using a similar capacity manual alt-az mount like an AZ-100 similarly equipped with encoders.

[RyanL]

22 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

It all depends on what you want to do. you've identified your first problem....EQ mounts are not designed for scanning the sky, they are designed so you can track objects once you have found them, so, if you want to take photos or stay on one object with it staying in the field of view, then an eq is what you want (however, that presents further issues in the form of polar alignment). You are also correct in that an eq1 is garbage. My first mount was an EQ1, it was really hard work so I progressed to an EQ5 which i then adapted to GoTo and then on to an EQ6-R-Pro.......the difference is huge. Personally I like to stay on my objects for quite some time, after all , it's usually been a pain in the backside finding it, so i like to study it, make notes and remember it so I have a driven EQ that will do that with ease, sometimes staying in the fov for as much as an hour or more

My advice would be, decide what you want to achieve and then save up to buy what will service that achievement, no matter what you decide, get rid of the EQ1.......eventually.

Hi,

Good point about staying on target and thanks for confirming the eq1 is rubbish!