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EQMOD-EQDIR cable for Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro

Sky-Watcher HEQ5 PRO Unspecified/unknown company EQMod Equatorial Mount Buying Advice
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Daniele Borsari avatar
Daniele Borsari avatar
Hi,

I’m thinking of buying a Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro as an upgrade from a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer. As of now, the payload consists of Samyang 135mm f/2.0, ZWO ASI533MC Pro, SvBony SV165 30mm, ZWO ASI120MM Mini and 3D printed rings (total weight around 2kg).

I think I'll control and guide it with N.I.N.A. and PHD2, hence the question in the title: which EQMOD-EQDIR cable do you recommend? I've seen the Pegasus Astro's and I like it, but I think it's a bit costly just for a cable.

Is there any cheap option (maybe if you can link something that I can easily buy from Italy) that you know works well?

Daniele
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Jordan Morley avatar
Jordan Morley avatar
Not cheap buy lynx astro make pritty good cables. I used it on my heq5 work well. If you really want the cheap cables aliexpress I'm sure would have something
Daniele Borsari avatar
Daniele Borsari avatar
Something from 20€ to 35€ is ok for me. There are cables on Amazon for that price but I would like to hear some opinions from people that use them.
Walter Leonhard Schramböck avatar
Walter Leonhard Schramböck avatar
Daniele Borsari:
Something from 20€ to 35€ is ok for me. There are cables on Amazon for that price but I would like to hear some opinions from people that use them.

I have four or five of these cables from Amazon. 
My first one broke because of tension while getting caught by something while flipping the mount. So i ordered it again. As I could not find it some day, I ordered three cables again, to have two reserve. Later I found the missing one. And I could fix the broken one.

These cables do the job, I see no reason to pay more.
Daniele Borsari avatar
Daniele Borsari avatar
@Walter Leonhard Schramböck Can you tell me which specific cable you're using?
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Walter Leonhard Schramböck avatar
Walter Leonhard Schramböck avatar
Daniele Borsari:
@Walter Leonhard Schramböck Can you tell me which specific cable you're using?

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08RYGQ24P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Mau_Bard avatar
Mau_Bard avatar
Daniele Borsari:
Hi,

I’m thinking of buying a Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro as an upgrade from a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer. As of now, the payload consists of Samyang 135mm f/2.0, ZWO ASI533MC Pro, SvBony SV165 30mm, ZWO ASI120MM Mini and 3D printed rings (total weight around 2kg).

I think I'll control and guide it with N.I.N.A. and PHD2, hence the question in the title: which EQMOD-EQDIR cable do you recommend? I've seen the Pegasus Astro's and I like it, but I think it's a bit costly just for a cable.

Is there any cheap option (maybe if you can link something that I can easily buy from Italy) that you know works well?

Daniele

Ciao Daniele, I am saying the obvious: this is is not a simple cable, as it includes a FTDI chip to convert the protocol. It is too expensive anyway? Well, everything is overpriced in this hobby, even a simple screw costs  x 20 the normal price. That said, and given that it is a critical component, I would go for the Pegasus without thinking. Pegasus quality is in my experience excellent. Another option is the Pierro Astro, that worked for me well since years now. Both are widely available. Hope this helps, Ciao. Mau

P.S. I am curious to hear your feedback regarding the upgrade. I have a Sigma 135 on a StarAdventurer-GTI and driving has been always challenging. It improved recently moving from EQASCOM to GSS mount driver. With the HEQ5 you will get a clearly superior level of guiding precision. Will be interesting to hear from you how much the better driving is impacting the final image. Ciao!
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DavesView avatar
DavesView avatar
I own both types cable (cheap and expensive). I have one from Amazon made of cheap wire that I paid about $18 US. It works... did I mention cheap? I also have a nice one from Pegasus, the EQDir cable. I coil the EQDir cable so that the coil is a swinging weight that always keeps the cable out and away from the HEQ5 when slewing or guiding. It's a quality built,  nice cable and it works. And the old saying, 'buy once, cry once'.
Jim Raskett avatar
Jim Raskett avatar
Hi Daniele,

Can you look up this one in Amazon at your location?

https://a.co/d/5hxT2Ym

I have used this cable for several years  without any issue.
It does take some configuration, but I’m sure that all cables would.

BTW, I have really enjoyed my HEQ5 pro for three years. If you purchase one, you should consider the Rowan belt modification in the future.

Jim
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Daniele Borsari avatar
Daniele Borsari avatar
Thank you for all the feedbacks!

@Jim Raskett Since my image sampling is around 6"/px, even guiding with 1" RMS should be good.
Guiding with the Star Adventurer has been quite good (around 2" RMS) but it has some sudden spikes which result in elongated stars (only on few exposures).
I think I will do the belt upgrade once I replace the scope, increase the focal length or put more weight as payload.
David Goldstein avatar
David Goldstein avatar
The cable specification you need is... FT232RL Chip USB to 5v TTL UART Serial Cable 6 Way Wire End, TTL-232R-5V.

Be sure and purchase the 5 volt version as specified above.

I can't get a good look at the top of the mount you are looking at, it appears to be an RJ45 rather than RS232 connector.

The wiring diagram below.

https://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/eqdirect2.htm
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