HEQ5 near the Equator?

[GTom]

Checking travel mount options, Latitude range is critical to me. I see, the HEQ5 covers only 10 to 65°, EQ5 pro 28 to 65°.

Any chance to get these two working at 4° South of the Equator?
 

(I know, I also need a proper, short and less heavy tripod, I am on the hunt ATM)

[wimvb]

With most skywatcher mounts, you can put the mount head turned 180 degrees. The counterweight bar will then fit between two tripod legs, rather than be above one leg. To clear the tripod legs, you may also need a pier extender. One trick that people living living on high latitudes use is to not extend the tripod legs completely. This has the effect of not placing the mount head exactly horizontal. Even then, reaching 4 degrees will be tricky. You might consider investing in a harmonic drive mount that doesn't need counterweights.

Edited March 4 by wimvb

[vlaiv]

Then, there is this thing:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/equatorial-astronomy-mounts/sky-watcher-eq-al55i-pro-go-to-astronomy-mount.html

(not quite up to HEQ5 level and to be honest, not even sure how it compares to EQ5, but it is capable of going all the way from 0 to 90).

[GTom]

30 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Then, there is this thing:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/equatorial-astronomy-mounts/sky-watcher-eq-al55i-pro-go-to-astronomy-mount.html

(not quite up to HEQ5 level and to be honest, not even sure how it compares to EQ5, but it is capable of going all the way from 0 to 90).

Thank you Vlaiv, yes, this mount is on the list of candidates, waiting for real-life reviews how much photography load it can carry. Pros and cons really: much lighter, even carry-on airline compatible but one might need the weight for stability. 

4 hours ago, wimvb said:

With most skywatcher mounts, you can put the mount head turned 180 degrees. The counterweight bar will then fit between two tripod legs, rather than be above one leg. To clear the tripod legs, you may also need a pier extender. One trick that people living living on high latitudes use is to not extend the tripod legs completely. This has the effect of not placing the mount head exactly horizontal. Even then, reaching 4 degrees will be tricky. You might consider investing in a harmonic drive mount that doesn't need counterweights.

Counterweights are not really an issue, they are small and fit in the checked luggage. There are several mounts doing this fine with adjustable counterweight shaft, like the AL55, Adventurer GTI, CEM26.