Eq8 is under 4k in Canada pre order

A local scope shop is taking pre orders for June delivery with a cost of 3,913$

At this price it should put the cge pro out of business assuming it works.. I would post a link but I'm not sure it's allowed.

While I want an ap mount or paramount. This is much more in my price range as a final observatory mount to use for decades...

Not bad as a price, it could be a nice alternative to the cge-pro.

Just seen it on another Canadian dealer site for $3289. I see they state the capacity at 50kg too.

Just seen it on another Canadian dealer site for $3289. I see they state the capacity at 50kg too.

Wow!

Another Canadian site has it listed at $3799.

A local scope shop is taking pre orders for June delivery with a cost of 3,913$

At this price it should put the cge pro out of business assuming it works.. I would post a link but I'm not sure it's allowed.

While I want an ap mount or paramount. This is much more in my price range as a final observatory mount to use for decades...

I ain't afeared: http://khanscope.com...?productID=4761

This is no way constitutes my endorsement of this particular dealer, however...

I wonder why there is such a price difference. You would think there would be a minimum price. I'm really thinking ill pre order from te 3289 dealer. Even if shipping is 200$ it's way cheaper then the local places..

What's the PE like on the EQ mounts? They don't seem to provide a spec.

Thanks, Chris

What's the PE like on the EQ mounts? They don't seem to provide a spec.

Thanks, Chris

How could any of us possibly answer that?

What's the PE like on the EQ mounts? They don't seem to provide a spec.

Thanks, Chris

How could any of us possibly answer that?

Reviews
Word of mouth
Personal use
Other forums
User groups

I'm totally unfamiliar with the EQ line and haven't been able to find much on them. Just thought someone might know a little more than me and would be willing to share.

Chris

Even if it costs $2500, would you pre-order a mount for which there are no guaranteed performance specifications ?
You might end with a PE of +-5 arcminutes
A Decent and respectable manufacturer should not offer pre-order sales of a product, when there are no minimally guaranteed performance specs.

I understand where you are coming from, I do remember though that on one of the YouTube videos about the mounts, they where indirectly hinting that the mount would perform along the same lines as an astrophysics mount.

They have a very big worm wheel on the mount, which to my understanding reduces the effect of the PE from the worm gear.

All this is speculation, I am not prepared to stand by my statement, so make your pre-order purchase decisions at your own risk.

A local scope shop is taking pre orders for June delivery with a cost of 3,913$

At this price it should put the cge pro out of business assuming it works.. I would post a link but I'm not sure it's allowed.

While I want an ap mount or paramount. This is much more in my price range as a final observatory mount to use for decades...

I agree that if this mount works out (and based on Meade's recent experience I think that it would be prudent to wait and see) it will be very disruptive to the middle to high end market and very likely deadly to the CGE PRO, Losmandy G11 and the like. It would be nice if market competition moved all mounts of this caliber to have encoders on both axis... But as I said above, I will wait until a good number of these are in users hands before making any judgement.

It also makes me wonder if there is a CGE PRO2 in the works.

Reviews
Word of mouth
Personal use
Other forums
User groups

I'm totally unfamiliar with the EQ line and haven't been able to find much on them. Just thought someone might know a little more than me and would be willing to share.

Chris

The mount has not been released yet. Soooo...that kinda cuts back on those things as sources of information...

Reviews
Word of mouth
Personal use
Other forums
User groups

I'm totally unfamiliar with the EQ line and haven't been able to find much on them. Just thought someone might know a little more than me and would be willing to share.

Chris

The mount has not been released yet. Soooo...that kinda cuts back on those things as sources of information...

I think the question was about the EQ line in general...

Ummm, do you know what the phrase "Pre order" means in the context of this thread's title?

Hint: it involves no one owning one or having had a chance to use one, yet.

-Rich

What's the PE like on the EQ mounts? They don't seem to provide a spec.

Thanks, Chris

How could any of us possibly answer that?

Reviews
Word of mouth
Personal use
Other forums
User groups

I'm totally unfamiliar with the EQ line and haven't been able to find much on them. Just thought someone might know a little more than me and would be willing to share.

Chris

Even if it costs $2500, would you pre-order a mount for which there are no guaranteed performance specifications ?
You might end with a PE of +-5 arcminutes
A Decent and respectable manufacturer should not offer pre-order sales of a product, when there are no minimally guaranteed performance specs.

If it costs $2500 to not know and almost 4k to know, yes I'd be willing to take the chance, if it doesn't work at that price I could still pawn it off to a visual user with a big refractor or even C14.

It would be nice if the mount is tested before it's sold. I'm not 100% buying one and gambling but I am seriously considering it.

This may be a totally idiotic question, but is it easy to order equipment from Canada and have it serviced locally or would that require shipping back to Canada. Is Orion likely to market the equivalent in the USA soon? I know there is no official word but if anyone has heard of any rumours?

Here is some details on the EQ8 from a vendor.

Details

SkyWatcher EQ8 Telescope Mount EQ7 NEQ8

50 Kg load bearing
R.A Worm Gear D=219.5mm with 435 teeth
DEC Worm Gear D=219.5mm with 435 teeth
Counterweigh shaft 31.5mm
Latitude adjustable from 15 to 65 degrees
Polar Scope - **optional **YES
Polar alignment - Polar scope or software adjustment
SynScan Hand Control with over 42000 object
Dual or Singl Axis tracking modes
Tracking Options: Sidereal, Lunar, Solar and PEC+sidereal
PEC Included
Dual Encode Control Included
Motors 12V stepper
Tracking Accuracy = 0.1164 arc seconds
Power Requirement 12VDC

Dual Encoder Design

With the patented dual encoder design, you may move the telescope to any position manually or electronically without deactivating the tracking mode first. After moving to a new object the telescope will automatically begin to track the new object accurately. No re-setup is required in one observing session.

Motors

The EQ8 utilises 0.9 degree per step bipolar stepper motors to get high resolution. It uses stepper motors without without reduction gear to drive worm shaft directly so to remove the periodic error caused by reduction gear.

Computer Operation

Couple this solidly-built mount with the included SynScan computer controller to utilise many of the same functions and feature as SkyWatcher's most advanced SynScan Mounts. It can also be controlled by SynScan Tour.

PPEC

Permanent Periodic Error Correction (PEC) - corrects for periodic tracking errors inherent to all worm drives.

If anyone wants to take advantage of the $3289 price it will apparently be in effect until the end of april. I'm currently mulling it over.

I have a CGE this might or might not be a huge step up from that mount. However I do have 2 completely different locations and I don't move mounts back and forth. That one only has a CGEM. This assuming it works out of the box certainly is a step up.

I could continue to use the CGEM for say 3 years, then look into a higher end mount, or get this and not look back. Tough choice.

I think the question was about the EQ line in general...

If it was, he didn't make that clear, and that doesn't have much bearing on the EQ-8, anyway, which, if anything is more similar to a cotton picking CGE Pro than an EQ-6...

I understand where you are coming from, I do remember though that on one of the YouTube videos about the mounts, they where indirectly hinting that the mount would perform along the same lines as an astrophysics mount.

They have a very big worm wheel on the mount, which to my understanding reduces the effect of the PE from the worm gear.

All this is speculation, I am not prepared to stand by my statement, so make your pre-order purchase decisions at your own risk.

Hilmi,

Everyone hints that there performance will be like and AP mount (seems to be the standard these days), but there are plenty of examples of mass-produced mounts that don't meet that standard. I would not expect this to be the exception unless they have gone to the length of using similar design and manufacturing techniques as those used for the AP (which they haven't). Remember that this is the company that makes the Celestron, Orion and SkyWatcher mounts.

If it costs $2500 to not know and almost 4k to know, yes I'd be willing to take the chance, if it doesn't work at that price I could still pawn it off to a visual user with a big refractor or even C14.

It would be nice if the mount is tested before it's sold. I'm not 100% buying one and gambling but I am seriously considering it.

Don't forget that people thought the same thing about the LX80 and LX800. Look where that got them. Someone has to trust the manufacturer and get the ball rolling, but there seems to be a fair amount of risk in that these days. However, Synta's rollouts have been pretty good lately.

While this mount may be a very nice mount, I reccommend a healthy dose of skepticism and caution until a few tenths of mounts are bought and tested.
I must say it's quite tempting Though.

This may be a totally idiotic question, but is it easy to order equipment from Canada and have it serviced locally or would that require shipping back to Canada. Is Orion likely to market the equivalent in the USA soon? I know there is no official word but if anyone has heard of any rumours?

Not an idiotic question at all. SkyWatcher mounts can't be serviced here in the US because no one sells them here. That could be a problem. If recent history is any measure, there will be an Orion version before too long and I would wait for that. One problem that requires you to send the mount back over the boarder for repair would make sure that you never made the mistake of buying from outside the US again. The shipping and boarder charges (even without customs which they will try to charge anyways) are outrageous.