9 replies to this topic

[ozzy9039]

I would recommend the mount to anyone that wants a stable mount with tracking, but does not require Go-To. While I cannot speak to any long astrophotography tracking, it seemed well enough for visual and short exposure astrophotography which suits my [current] purpose. This looks to be a keeper.

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[Wilsonman]

Great job on the review! Organized very well and so thoroughly.

[Challenger75]

I put up a review of my own on this mount. It can be seen on the EQ26 thread in Mounts.

[Bob51]

The one I received a new EQ26 from Orion that had excessive play in the dec an RA  axis with the locks engaged. It was so bad (3~4 degrees each way) that making corrections in tracking was impossible. The hand controller went haywire and would work intermittently or not even turn on to initialized at times. I returned it and got a full refund. I do not recommend unless you're willing to take a chance of having to go through the ordeal to return it which cost me over two hours talking with the Orion tech guy, repackaging and turning it into the UPS Store. Photography? Forget it. Way too much slop in the drivetrain. Others have concurred with this opinion as well. The 26-pound weight limit is way overly optimistic. I hope others have a better experience than mine. See more in the mount forum here:  https://www.cloudyni...6#entry12548049

Edited by Bob51, 05 April 2023 - 01:42 AM.

[Challenger75]

The one I received a new EQ26 from Orion that had excessive play in the dec an RA  axis with the locks engaged. It was so bad (3~4 degrees each way) that making corrections in tracking was impossible. The hand controller went haywire and would work intermittently or not even turn on to initialized at times. I returned it and got a full refund. I do not recommend unless you're willing to take a chance of having to go through the ordeal to return it which cost me over two hours talking with the Orion tech guy, repackaging and turning it into the UPS Store. Photography? Forget it. Way too much slop in the drivetrain. Others have concurred with this opinion as well. The 26-pound weight limit is way overly optimistic. I hope others have a better experience than mine. See more in the mount forum here:  https://www.cloudyni...6#entry12548049

You chose the correct word when dealing with a return from Orion: Ordeal. I had to call the customer service rep three times to see where my refund is. They received the last package on March 24th, but didn't issue a refund until yesterday, April 4th.That's if I take the word of the customer service rep saying the refund was processed. The excuse for holding onto the refund was that they were running a week behind schedule in the warehouse due to Covid. Did you get your refund right away and or an email from them showing the refund? I never received an email showing my refund was processed. 

[John O'Hara]

Sad to hear.  Orion once had a great reputation for customer service.  

[Challenger75]

Sad to hear.  Orion once had a great reputation for customer service.  

Just an update, they fully refunded my payment. Just sad that it would take so long and not get an email confirmation of the refund. I think these astro companies really need to stop manufacturing everything in China. The QC is pretty poor.

[mcoren]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review!  Your close-up photos of the mount are also much appreciated.

 

My overall impression from the Orion web site and your review is that this is a slight mechanical refinement to the venerable Orion SkyView Pro EQ5 mount, which isn't a bad starting point.  I like that they enclosed the drive motors in plastic housings, they replaced the flimsy telephone connectors on fiberglass PCBs with panel mounted DIN-style connectors, and the hand controller doesn't look like something that was put together using parts from Radio Shack!

 

On the other hand, it's too bad they still require the separate cable for the declination motor, and they still have all of the wires on the hand controller (the "bird's nest" you mentioned).

 

One question:  Can the support tray be rotated out of the way to allow the legs to fold with the tray attached?  Or does it have to be completely removed?

[Bob51]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review!  Your close-up photos of the mount are also much appreciated.

 

My overall impression from the Orion web site and your review is that this is a slight mechanical refinement to the venerable Orion SkyView Pro EQ5 mount, which isn't a bad starting point.  I like that they enclosed the drive motors in plastic housings, they replaced the flimsy telephone connectors on fiberglass PCBs with panel mounted DIN-style connectors, and the hand controller doesn't look like something that was put together using parts from Radio Shack!

 

On the other hand, it's too bad they still require the separate cable for the declination motor, and they still have all of the wires on the hand controller (the "bird's nest" you mentioned).

 

One question:  Can the support tray be rotated out of the way to allow the legs to fold with the tray attached?  Or does it have to be completely removed?

It has to be removed to collapse the legs.

[deSitter]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review!  Your close-up photos of the mount are also much appreciated.

 

My overall impression from the Orion web site and your review is that this is a slight mechanical refinement to the venerable Orion SkyView Pro EQ5 mount, which isn't a bad starting point.  I like that they enclosed the drive motors in plastic housings, they replaced the flimsy telephone connectors on fiberglass PCBs with panel mounted DIN-style connectors, and the hand controller doesn't look like something that was put together using parts from Radio Shack!

 

On the other hand, it's too bad they still require the separate cable for the declination motor, and they still have all of the wires on the hand controller (the "bird's nest" you mentioned).

 

One question:  Can the support tray be rotated out of the way to allow the legs to fold with the tray attached?  Or does it have to be completely removed?

Actually this appears to be a new version of the Orion Astroview mount, which itself was a descendant of the Synta EQ3-2 - like the Celestron CG-4. They ultimately trace back to the Super Polaris, which was the model used.

 

There are motor kits for the Astroview that allow use of a SynScan handbox with full goto capability - is that true here?

 

-drl