EQ1 Useage

[Stephen]

Apologies for the probably stupid question but .....

I picked up my cheap EQ1 yesterday (I'm not expecting wonders so don't worry there!) but I'm struggling to manoeuvre it into a position to view anything in the south.

When I rotate the RA, either the counter weight or the SLR (I'm using it for widefield) always bump into the RA motor. If that doesn't happen, the slow motion handles (for RA and DEC) get in the way just as much.

Am I using this incorrectly or is this just the nature of the beast?

Thanks in advance,

Stephen

[steppenwolf]

Sadly, it is the nature of the beast, you are not doing anything wrong. The solution is to use a substantial ball head adapter on the mount. Place the RA and DEC axes at a convenient place and make a coarse adjustment with the ball head to locate your object then refine the pointing using the RA and DEC axes. This way you can point anywhere and still have room doe the RA axis to move without fouling anything. Always keep in mind that as long as the mount is tracking in RA and is reasonably polar aligned, you can track any celestial object no mater how you are pointing at it.

[Stephen]

Sadly, it is the nature of the beast, you are not doing anything wrong. The solution is to use a substantial ball head adapter on the mount. Place the RA and DEC axes at a convenient place and make a coarse adjustment with the ball head to locate your object then refine the pointing using the RA and DEC axes. This way you can point anywhere and still have room doe the RA axis to move without fouling anything. Always keep in mind that as long as the mount is tracking in RA and is reasonably polar aligned, you can track any celestial object no mater how you are pointing at it.

Much appreciated, thanks

If I can ask one more question, do you have a recommendation on a ball head? I'm guessing a cheap eBay / Jessops one isn't going to cut it, but I'd rather keep the costs down as every spare penny is going towards the HEQ5

[jgs001]

I've been using a red snapper RSH21 (I think it was) for my EQ1, not sure they do it anymore. Something like

Redsnapper RSH-61 Ball Head

I have recently picked up a Manfrotto cheaply, and as that's a little lighter, I'll be using that instead.

[Stephen]

I've been using a red snapper RSH21 (I think it was) for my EQ1, not sure they do it anymore. Something like

Redsnapper RSH-61 Ball Head

I have recently picked up a Manfrotto cheaply, and as that's a little lighter, I'll be using that instead.

Thanks