HEQ5 (very) low altitude? - Forums

Topic starter

Mar 5, 2024

The good old HEQ5 is finalist in my travel mount quest, but as per specs it can't handle near-Equator latitudes <10°.

I was wondering, can that be solved by adding a short minipier extension to the tripod, or using a transportable pier instead of a tripod?

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Michael Ring

Mar 5, 2024 · Edited: Mar 5, 2024

The HEQ5 would not be my first choice for a travel mount, if you have one then fine but I'd rather not buy that one for traveling…
Have you looked into the AM3 or something similar? I own both HEQ5 and AM3 and the AM3 is much, much lighter and takes up less space and it is designed for operating at 0°

But back to your question:
What should work is to use some shimming between the mount and the tripod so that the back of the HEQ5 aligns with one leg of the tripod when it is firmly attached.
Then you can lower the two other legs to get those extra 10 degrees. Carefully check that the whole thing does not go out of balance, in that case you need to look for another solution.

Michael

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Michael Ring

Mar 5, 2024

I saw in your other post that you are thinking about RT90, they offer it with a 'Bowl Adapter' which will make it easy to get those extra 10° without compromising stability. I own a Feisol Tripod with the same kind of 'Bowl Adapter' and it holds position without any issues. Only problem is that aligning horizontally is a little more difficult.

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GTom

Topic starter

Mar 5, 2024

Michael Ring:
I saw in your other post that you are thinking about RT90, they offer it with a 'Bowl Adapter' which will make it easy to get those extra 10° without compromising stability. I own a Feisol Tripod with the same kind of 'Bowl Adapter' and it holds position without any issues. Only problem is that aligning horizontally is a little more difficult.

That's right, will be getting either the RT90 or the slightly bigger ST424 Max tube! So far I was a bit worried about a Bowl base, if it really holds position solid enough for us, astrophotographers (REALLY heavy gear, long time, high resolutions).

Michael Ring

Mar 5, 2024

I have used the Feisol + Bowl with a Sachtler Fluid Head and a 600mm F4 lens, definitely same league of weight….

Adel Kildeev

Mar 5, 2024

I do remember that Sky-Watcher did produce minipier for its mounts but stopped ten years ago or so…. Too bad, so sad…

GTom

Topic starter

Mar 5, 2024 · Edited: Mar 5, 2024

Adel Kildeev:
I do remember that Sky-Watcher did produce minipier for its mounts but stopped ten years ago or so…. Too bad, so sad…

Minipiers can still be found or can get a portable pier. The key question: is it just the "counterweight banging the legs" problem, or simply the head can't be set to 0° Latitude??

Michael Ring:
I have used the Feisol + Bowl with a Sachtler Fluid Head and a 600mm F4 lens, definitely same league of weight....

Don't forget to add the weight of the mount+counterweights (approx 16kg) and the fact that it has to hold position for HOURS (polar alignment!)

Gabriel R. Santos (grsotnas)

Mar 5, 2024

I have used my HEQ5 down to 15 degrees latitude without a minipier.

What happens is that the counterweight shaft start hitting the tripod leg. That happens at about 20 degrees.

The solution is to simply "un-level"/tip the tripod, so that the tripod atatching base is at an angle. I would recommend the tipping tripod aproach for relatively low-weight and short-moment-arm setups, since everything gets a bit unbalanced and "North-heavy". I have used it with compact camera lenses, and a payload of about 8kg.. Wouldn't use it with a 200mm newtonian or long refractor. I also consider the tipping tripod a more stable alternative to the minipier.

It is a common misconception that the tripod must be perfectly level.
What must be aligned is the mount polar axis to the Earth's rotation axis.
Having the tripod dead-level is useful because then your altitude and azimuth adjustments become also 100% accurate. Having the mount base at an angle mean that the mount's altitude and azimuth knobs will not correspond to real altitude-azimuth. So you might have a harder time polar aligning the mount, but once it is polar aligned, then you will be good to go!

Best regards,
Gabriel

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