Telescope Mounts - A Question of Noise!

[Leedsgreen]

Dear All,

I recently bought a SW AZ GOTO mount with Synscan but had to return to vendor becuase of the noise of the scope disturbing neighbours in the night. What I found is that whilst I could reduce the slew speed when I was manually moving it (and thereby make it quieter), whenever I performed two star alignment or a GOTO command it went at (noisy) full speed, which could not be controlled.

With this in mind, I have a couple of questions:

1. For other Synscan users, do the larger mounts (i.e. EQ5, EQ6, HEQ5) suffer from a similar noise problem or are these more expensive mounts quieter?

2. With regard to Celestron mounts and SkyAlign procedure (i.e. Celestron SLT or Nexstar SE) is it possible to carry out SkyAlign and GOTO slewing at variable (i.e. quieter) rates?

3. How noisy are the Celestron CG-5 GT mounts?

4. Finally, can anyone recommend the quietest mounts (either cheap or more expensive)?

Thanks for any help,

Nick

[Merlin66]

I've got the HEQ5pro and the NEQ6pro as well as a Classic Lx200 but can't compare them with your SW Alt-Az GOTO.

It's always said the Lx200 (at18V slewing) is a noisy drive unit... it is; but I've never had any great concerns ( or comments from neighbours) but both the other mounts are quieter - they have they're own noises - a bit like Golf car doors! but sound as is they are doing their job.

Don't know if this helps??

[NickH]

EQ6 is about as quiet as you could wish for...compared to some of the hair dryers I have heard (no names mentioned....)

[Helen]

The CG5 is really noisy.

You can reduce the problem for goto noise if you know the sky reasonably well. Just slew at lower speed to somewhere quite close and then do the goto, the mount won't have to move very far so it doiesn't need full speed and so its much quieter.

Helen

[Whippy]

1. For other Synscan users, do the larger mounts (i.e. EQ5, EQ6, HEQ5) suffer from a similar noise problem or are these more expensive mounts quieter?

Certainly the HEQ5 and EQ6's are quiet enough when slewing at full speed, not sure about the EQ5 though.

2. With regard to Celestron mounts and SkyAlign procedure (i.e. Celestron SLT or Nexstar SE) is it possible to carry out SkyAlign and GOTO slewing at variable (i.e. quieter) rates?

You never used to be able to but I haven't used for a while so it may have changed in some of the more recent firmware updates,

3. How noisy are the Celestron CG-5 GT mounts?

Very. Again the issue is them slewing to targets both during and after the align procedure. It only works at full speed and is noisy.

4. Finally, can anyone recommend the quietest mounts (either cheap or more expensive)?

HEQ5 or EQ6's are probably the cheapest quiet GOTO mounts. They make a nice (but quiet) whine/phasing sound when they're slewing. If you have neighbors that would compain at the drop of a hat, I think these are probably your best bet.

HTH

Tony..

[brympton]

I owned an HEQ6 Pro and used it extensively in my back garden (on a housing estate) without issue. It was very quiet and performed flawlessly. I recently bought a used CG5 GT which also performs well but I'm afraid is just too noisy to use in the same situation late at night. A good strip down, careful re-adjustment and re-grease helps but does not reduce the noise sufficiently to feel comfortable using it in the small hours. I have not received any complaints as yet and don't wish to so I switch over to manual slewing at rate 7 after 11.00pm. If this doesn't suit you and you can afford it then yes the EQ6 is a possible solution - as long as you can cope with the extra weight.

[Leedsgreen]

Dear All,

Thanks very much for your replies. Really helpful. My sense is that the cheaper end mounts all have potential noise issues and that controlling slewing speeds during alignment and GOTO function is not possible. I guess you get what you pay for and something more substantial would give me a more gentle purr/hum!

Helen, the idea about placing scope in relative position before GOTOing is a good one and something that I've read before. Originaly I thought it solved the problem but realised that I still had one/two noisy alignment slews to set the scope up, which is a real shame! I actually wrote to SW asking if they could send out a new firmware but no response as yet!

Thanks all again,

Nick

[Tinners]

4. Finally, can anyone recommend the quietest mounts (either cheap or more expensive)?

Dobsonian

[jgs001]

I'm pretty sure the high speed slew on my HEQ5 is much quieter than the high speed slew on the NexStar SLT... I never worried about the noise disturbing the neighbours... normally when it's dark enough it's too cold for the windows to be open anyway...

[Astro_Baby]

My HEQ5 was always relatively quiet. After the strip and rebuild and tuning its as quiet as I think you'd ever get a mount to be. Even in high speed slewing its only the initial motor start up thats really noticeable.

The Nexstar 4SE mount is also pretty quiet but it does have an irritating high pitch to it.

[skye at night]

Just dont ever buy the dreaded Meade LXD 75 mount !!!!

Like a badly tuned tractor that's been given the wrong fuel.

Steve

[Rossco72]

All i can compare is my NEQ6Pro and Celestron CGE. The CGE is much more expensive but also noisier. The EQ6 never raised any concerns over noise.

[StarMan1701]

Just dont ever buy the dreaded Meade LXD 75 mount !!!!

Like a badly tuned tractor that's been given the wrong fuel.

Steve

While I agree that the LXD75 does make a bit of a racket when slewing at full speed, the noise can be reduced significantly by selecting 'quiet slew' from the handset. Having said that, I've never had any complaints from the neighbours or the rest of my family, regardless of the slewing speed I set.

Lee.

[Macavity]

Among the plethora of X-factor wannabes, I see some Youtube videos put to REAL use, with demos of MOUNTS in action. Unfortunately one cannot (obviously!) guage relative volume, but ISTR one(?) had a rather engaging: "whiiiiir... kachunk" sound.

My first-level solution is to be out of SIGHT of the neighbours. (We'll see!)

[NickH]

"Quiet Slew"...crikey why don't they just fix the thing so it doesn't sound like a moped in La Dolce Vita...?...there was a Meade/Celestron field at one star party (sic). Mt old ETX90 mount was noisier than the EQ6 carrying the C11

Skywatcher for sub £1500 if you want quiet mounts...then Losmandy

[StarMan1701]

"Quiet Slew"...crikey why don't they just fix the thing so it doesn't sound like a moped in La Dolce Vita...?

A good point.

Lee.

[Spider]

My second hand HEQ5 PRO was vastly quiter and more accurate than my new CG5GT even after sending it back to Hinds for them to sort the problems, it is still not as acurate as the HEQ5 pro and now makes as much noise just at a different pitch, sounds like a dustcart reversing

colin

[NickH]

that's a good point too.. the pointing accuracy of a correctly setup EQ6 is just staggering, and under EQMOD, as good as anything I have seen