Telescope Reviews: AZ EQ6 in the US?

· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt

· Submit a Review / Article

Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums

Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User

You are not logged in. [Login]

Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online
FAQ · Calendar

Equipment Discussions >> Mounts

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | (show all)

Mike X.
professor emeritus

Reged: 06/28/10

Loc: Greece-Athens and Rome-Italy

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: martl]
#5530731 - 11/20/12 06:07 PM

nice job!!! Thnx for posting this picture!

Post Extras:

rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: martl]
#5530833 - 11/20/12 07:00 PM

Cool!

Post Extras:

neilson
sage

Reged: 08/22/10

Loc: outside Pleasanton, Texas

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: jrbarnett]
#5531409 - 11/21/12 12:45 AM

Wow that AZEQ6 is a really awesome looking mount. Especially the belt drive. I wish my new CGEM DX had that. The LX80 I recently dumped isn't even in the same class. This thing looks like some kind of cool weapon in that picture of it in duel scope mode. But I would have to agree with Jim about the tripod. I think a CGEM DX tripod under the AZEQ6 would have completed this mount for me. That's alot of mount swinging around when loaded down with two OTA's in duel scope mode.

It's even got a 5 year warranty.

I definitely like it alot. I wonder if I could adapt it to my DX tripod. That might increase the capacity.

neilson

Post Extras:

TMSP
member

Reged: 07/21/12

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: Lee Jay]
#5531655 - 11/21/12 08:13 AM

Looks like the beagle has landed in England. Another board has a dealer reporting delivery in the last days and a manual is posted. Couple of "-": If I read it right, in AltAz dual mode there is no way to align two scopes in Azimuth. The manual leaves it to the operator to figure out. Not good if the FOV for 2 scopes is different and the operator can't figure it out! Also, to acheive balance in AltAz (this seems a more inherent issue with the design), you have to move the mount head so the "polar axis" is tilted, balance, then mark and remove everything to set back to AltAz. Scope on, Scope off, Scope on. Seems a hassle, but I guess you can "calculate" this, or do a pre-marked set-up. Any thoughts?

Post Extras:

Mkofski
professor emeritus

Reged: 07/19/11

Loc: Greenfield, Indiana, USA

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: TMSP]
#5531690 - 11/21/12 08:40 AM

The 2 issues you pointes out are problems with the LX80 also. I would have expected the AZ EQ6 to have solved the azimuth adjustment considering its price.

Post Extras:

neilson
sage

Reged: 08/22/10

Loc: outside Pleasanton, Texas

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: Mkofski]
#5531808 - 11/21/12 09:44 AM

Those motors look like their nice and big, no wonder the amp draw is more. Now that looks like a mount that can move my ota with ease even if it's out of balance.
I'm really starting to like this mount. But someone else is going to have to do all the testing on this one before I buy another new design.

neilson

Post Extras:

DuiA1
member

Reged: 05/07/12

Loc: Ontario, Canada

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: neilson]
#5531949 - 11/21/12 10:52 AM

Well said Neilson. Would like go see real performance before I jump ship on the lx80 also. I wanted a platform that I could get into ap. I think the lx80 is good for visual but not ap. Wonder if the dealer will credit my lx80 for this?

Post Extras:

andysea
professor emeritus

Reged: 09/03/10

Loc: Seattle, WA

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: DuiA1]
#5531992 - 11/21/12 11:10 AM

It doesn't seem fair to compare the LX80 to this new Atlas. Given the huge price difference I would expect the Atlas to be better.
Quite frankly I would be very skeptical of any mount around 1k that was advertised as astrophotography capable. Unless it was a tracker for DSLR and lenses.

Andy

Post Extras:

neilson
sage

Reged: 08/22/10

Loc: outside Pleasanton, Texas

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: DuiA1]
#5532014 - 11/21/12 11:19 AM

My dealer (OPT) did, and so did several others and they mentioned it on cloudy nights. Just explain to them that you expected it to work for imaging and/or that its not handling the weight of your ota despite its 40lb rating. My vendor and others also paid for return shipping. They emailed a return UPS label. I was credited the full amount I paid, and it was applied towards my purchase of a CGEM DX. Your vendor might not but I cant see why not.

Andy,
The LXD75 and the CG5 cost alot less than $1,000 and they are both good AP platforms. I do agree the LX80 and the AZEQ6 are not in the same price class and I would expect the AZEQ6 to perform better. Meade gave their mount its rating of 40lb in polar, so I would expect it to perform well in AP with an ota weighing 20lbs.

neilson

Edited by neilson (11/21/12 11:33 AM)

Post Extras:

johnpd
sage

Reged: 04/13/08

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: TMSP]
#5532712 - 11/21/12 05:34 PM

As I had posted in another thread here, here is a link to the manual:

AZ EQ6 Instruction Manual

You read it correctly regarding no Az adjustment to align two scopes.

JohnD

Post Extras:

Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: martl]
#5533117 - 11/21/12 11:14 PM

Quote:

Bingo! 20 out of 20x4min turned out to be perfectly round 100% crop with 200/900mm Newton, guided with OAG and MGEN. Very happy indeed so far!!

CS
Martin

Impressive. Thanks for posting.

Post Extras:

jrbarnett
Eyepiece Hooligan

Reged: 02/28/06

Loc: Petaluma, CA

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: martl]
#5533185 - 11/22/12 12:11 AM

Nice tracking Martin. I think you have a winner!

Regards,

Jim

Post Extras:

ccs_hello
Postmaster

Reged: 07/03/04

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: neilson]
#5533546 - 11/22/12 08:53 AM

Quote:

Those motors look like their nice and big, no wonder the amp draw is more. Now that looks like a mount that can move my ota with ease even if it's out of balance.
I'm really starting to like this mount. But someone else is going to have to do all the testing on this one before I buy another new design.

neilson

Nelson,

AZEQ6 is using the same microstepping driving system as in the EQ-G EQ6. Its mechanical gear down is rather minimum thus a high current, high toque stepping motor is required. I.e., it's a necessity not over-engineering. Mount overload is not a desirable thing since it will cause "driving pulse slip (i.e., hear the horrorable buzzing sound)". Mount will lose its GOTO position, but no actual mechanical gear wearing (which is good after all).

Clear Skies!

ccs_hello

Post Extras:

Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: ccs_hello]
#5533685 - 11/22/12 10:24 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Those motors look like their nice and big, no wonder the amp draw is more. Now that looks like a mount that can move my ota with ease even if it's out of balance.
I'm really starting to like this mount. But someone else is going to have to do all the testing on this one before I buy another new design.

neilson

Nelson,

AZEQ6 is using the same microstepping driving system as in the EQ-G EQ6. Its mechanical gear down is rather minimum thus a high current, high toque stepping motor is required. I.e., it's a necessity not over-engineering. Mount overload is not a desirable thing since it will cause "driving pulse slip (i.e., hear the horrorable buzzing sound)". Mount will lose its GOTO position, but no actual mechanical gear wearing (which is good after all).

Clear Skies!

ccs_hello

On this mount, it wouldn't lose its goto position due the dual-axis encoders, correct?

Post Extras:

EFT
Vendor - Deep Space Products

Reged: 05/07/07

Loc: Phoenix, AZ

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: Lee Jay]
#5533926 - 11/22/12 01:01 PM

According to the daily digest a user by the name of "smee" posted a big long review of his new AZ-EQ6 but I cannot find the new thread or the post in an old thread anywhere. Anybody know where it ended up?

Post Extras:

ccs_hello
Postmaster

Reged: 07/03/04

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: Lee Jay]
#5534192 - 11/22/12 04:42 PM

Quote:

On this mount, it wouldn't lose its goto position due the dual-axis encoders, correct?

The encoder resolution is much more coarse 3.4 arc-min per tick. So for sure, the encoder is not used for closed-loop servo position tracking.
Encoder is only used in manual push-to situation.

I.e., view such design as a hybrid solution, either GOTO or PUSH TO, but not a combined solution.

Clear Skies!

ccs_hello

Post Extras:

Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? new

[Re: ccs_hello]
#5534315 - 11/22/12 06:34 PM

Quote:

Quote:

On this mount, it wouldn't lose its goto position due the dual-axis encoders, correct?

The encoder resolution is much more coarse 3.4 arc-min per tick. So for sure, the encoder is not used for closed-loop servo position tracking.
Encoder is only used in manual push-to situation.

I.e., view such design as a hybrid solution, either GOTO or PUSH TO, but not a combined solution.

Clear Skies!

ccs_hello

Right, isn't that what I said? It wouldn't lose it's GOTO position, same as if you manually pushed it somewhere.

Post Extras:

ccs_hello
Postmaster

Reged: 07/03/04

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? [Re: Lee Jay]
#5534521 - 11/22/12 09:48 PM

AZEQ6 GOTO resolution is 0.140625 arc-sec/microstep, while PUSH TO is 3.4 arc-min/tick. The difference is 1451:1 thus PUSH TO is not so useful in regaining GOTO positioning. Roughly, perhaps; in precision, no.

Post Extras:

Mike X.
professor emeritus

Reged: 06/28/10

Loc: Greece-Athens and Rome-Italy

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? [Re: ccs_hello]
#5534629 - 11/22/12 11:25 PM

You have a point on that.nevertheless I believe for visual use in alt/az mode could be valid even for not doing the entire alignment process from scratch.
In eq mode probably the most interesting parts are the belt driven gears,the altitude adjustment mechanism,the thicker counterweight shaft could also be of some extra help and the slightly larger gears...92,5mm of D instead of 90...but this has all to be proven in the field.
Does all that justifies the extra money instead of a regular atlas? I don't know..But if someone is intending to add a thicker counterweight shaft on the atlas like the geoptik for example or upgrade the altitude bolt...etc..etc...and the new mount performs the same it could be a valid alternative probably.

Post Extras:

Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: AZ EQ6 in the US? [Re: ccs_hello]
#5534635 - 11/22/12 11:38 PM

Quote:

AZEQ6 GOTO resolution is 0.140625 arc-sec/microstep, while PUSH TO is 3.4 arc-min/tick. The difference is 1451:1 thus PUSH TO is not so useful in regaining GOTO positioning. Roughly, perhaps; in precision, no.

The point is, goto accuracy is in the multi-arc-minute range anyway, and pushing is no different from stepper motor slipping.

Post Extras:

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | (show all)

Extra information

16 registered and 28 anonymous users are browsing this forum.

Moderator: Bowmoreman, bilgebay, iceblaze

Print Thread

Forum Permissions
      You cannot start new topics
      You cannot reply to topics
      HTML is disabled
      UBBCode is enabled

Thread views: 14443

Jump to

CN Forums

Home

Cloudy Nights LLC
Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics