eq 5 vs cg 5

[hemihaggis]

just a quick question ..im looking for a new affordable mount for my sct 150mm ...the eq 5 goto aqnd cg 5 goto are similar price ish ...any comments/help appreciated ...cheers

[Demonperformer]

I was asking a similar question a couple of weeks back. Here's the thread: http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-help/98591-eq-mount-purchase.html

[gary1968]

AFAIK, the mounts are basically the same, made by Synta. There is some differences in the software and the 'front end' of the user interface.

I personally prefer the Celestron interface if I am using the hand set to control the mount, but, the Skywatcher version allows the use of EQMod which is a vast improvement over both and is free!

HTH,

Gary

[russ]

The Skywatcher Synscan also has vastly superior motors, the same ones fitted to the HEQ5 Pro and EQ6 Pro. They are relatively quiet and the noise they do make is not unpleasent. The Celestron uses two Scaletrix motors which make a lot of noise and it's not a nice noise either.

The Celestron Nexstar software is nice to use but i don't have a problem with the Skywatcher version either.

Biggest failing of the Celestron mount is unlike Meade, they have not added a 'quiet slew' mode. The Meade mounts are equally loud but Meade thoughtfully added this option which limits the max slew of the mount. It takes longer to get around the sky but at least it does it quietly. The Celestron is full on all the time and depending on your observing location and the time of night that is not good.

[Deneb]

The Celestron uses two Scaletrix motors which make a lot of noise and it's not a nice noise either.

Luv It !

But the cg5 does have one plus point, it has 2" diameter legs over an eq5 which are 1.75". Thus adding more stability to your mount., but you could chop & change the mount with both legs.

Nadeem..

[russ]

Ah yes, good point Nadeem, i forgot about the legs.

[WayBig]

Are the motors on celestron's CG5 mount bigger and noisier than on their smaller mounts?

I ask because it's frequently mentioned that the CG5 motors are noisy when slewing. But the motors on the alt/az mount on my nexstar 114 are fairly quiet when slewing and just emit a barely audible ticking noise when tracking, there's no chance of them annoying the neighbours, they are a lot quieter than the ones on my mates meade etx125.

[russ]

The CG5 GT is on a par with the ETX125. The problem is the motors are tiny (and i mean tiny) and required to work at high speed for a GOTO slew. It's quite a shock when you remove the motor housings to reveal the motors.

But the CG5 does work well, the GOTO is accurate and it takes an 8" SCT no worries.