New mount

Hey,
If you don't need to carry much more than a 80 mm triplet the Heq5 pro will be the best choice if you don't want to spend much money.
If you make a good polar alignment you will be able to make good subs of ten minutes with autoguiding without problems.
I recommend you also to use the qhyccd polemaster. Your polar alignment will be very good with that and autoguiding will also work much better.

Clear skies,
Sébastien

Thanks! I'm a bit worried about the altitude bolts on the heq5, neq6 and eq6 because I live pretty far north. The altitude bolt solution on az-eq mounts are much better. The neq6, eq6, az-eq6 would be more future proof if I want to go bigger.

Thanks! I'm a bit worried about the altitude bolts on the heq5, neq6 and eq6 because I live pretty far north. The altitude bolt solution on az-eq mounts are much better. The neq6, eq6, az-eq6 would be more future proof if I want to go bigger.

as a  mater of fact, with bolts it is a problem, i live @ 55 degrees, if live with more than 60 might have a problem with lenght of bolts, need to cut one shorter to solve that problem

Thanks! I'm a bit worried about the altitude bolts on the heq5, neq6 and eq6 because I live pretty far north. The altitude bolt solution on az-eq mounts are much better. The neq6, eq6, az-eq6 would be more future proof if I want to go bigger.

the SKYWATCHER AZ-EQ5 GT GOTO MOUNT dont have this problem

AZEQ5- already has the belt mod done, lower PE than HEQ5-Pro, PPEC and better Alt/Az bolts.  Some people complain about a wobble, do a search for it on CN but it can be fixed. But if you think you may want a larger scope in the future… NEQ6-R : )

HEQ5 can carry much more than any of EQ5 versions, that was the point

HEQ5 can carry much more than any of EQ5 versions

So does that mean that the Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 GT GOTO MOUNT won't take the same weight as an HEQ5.

Just curious, not needing a new mount at the moment, but just keeping myself abreast of what's available just in case I do need a new one in the near future.

Carole

az-eq5 gt Payload 11kg for imaging and 15kg for visual  heq5 also 15 kg max.

for imaging split it in 2 .. 7 kg max scope weight

Séb GOZE:
No Carole, Az Eq5 can carry a max of 12kg and the Heq5 pro 10kg for astrophotography.But by experience, the system of polarscope on the Az eq5 is very bad. You have to use the qhyccd polemaster if you want to make a good polar alignment.

Sébastien

Séb GOZE:
No Carole, Az Eq5 can carry a max of 12kg and the Heq5 pro 10kg for astrophotography.But by experience, the system of polarscope on the Az eq5 is very bad. You have to use the qhyccd polemaster if you want to make a good polar alignment.

Sébastien

well AZ EQ max load is 30lbs thats about 12kgs HEQ5 max load is in some pages says 18kg. people say that need to divide number by 2 to get best weight for imaging.
what can i say about all this - if You divide number by a factor of 2 you will get very stable platform for "drop and image" if you use more heavy equipment then you need to do small thing - balance.
 I use 250/1250 newton (14kg) + 1.5kg imaging gear, for me HEQ5 works super duper nice !   dont know about AZ EQ5 have not used it, but HEQ 5 super mount especially if upgrade with Rowans belt mod   guide <--- guiding graph

Thanks for both lots of advice guys.  I have Polemaster already so no problem, I am using an HEQ5 that is a few years old and I have no skills to belt mod.  I currently use a dual rig of an ED80 & W0ZS71 or - on its own an ED120, just wanted to check if the AZEQ5 would be up to that should I need to replace the HEQ5 at some point.

I am going to the London Astrofest on 10th February, hopefully they might have an AZEQ5 on display so I can take a look at it.  I previously also owned an NEQ6 (which is a bit too heavy for me to lug around) which I ultimately permanently mounted in my observatory when I bought an HEQ5 to go to Astro campsites as I got fed up with having to re-polar align every time I came back.  I Recently decided to sell the NEQ6 to release some of my equity, as now having bought Polemaster it made having to re-PA every time I put the HEQ5 back into the obsy much easier.  So I don't want to be going down the AZEQ6 route, so it would be nice to have a lighter version in mind.

Carole

I went with AZ-EQ6 and it was definitely above my budget, now i never look at EQ5 or similar, not even EQ6-R, and because of it now i have more options of scopes to go with, so better go for nearly ultimate of EQ6 mounts and forget about the budget, you will buy once that will live for long time until you can afford something much higher, and believe me, even AZ-EQ6 is not a high end one yet.