What a solid setup Glenn. And ain't that the honest truth about astrophotography, you have to be committed. Even if that means sometimes sleeping in the observatory haha!!
Haven’t quite slept there yet as I can remote monitor from the house once its up and running. So happy with the set up and now I just need some clear skies to grab those photons. Take care dude, clear skies
Brilliant video Glen, thoroughly enjoyable watch. Wow that mount is something else, so happy for you. Looks superb in your observatory and can't wait to see your captures, they always impress me.
New beefy mount and two clear nights as a result? Unpossible! Grats on the mount Glenn.. It's perfect for your scope. I really like the built in ports. CS!
Hi James. I know right, new gear and clear nights. Never!! Its perfect for the scope and proper observatory grade mount for the Obsy. The through mount cabling always set the CEM120 apart from the EQ8 so really good they addressed that. Its very smart and will mean no cables to get snagged anymore. Clear skies
Great video Glenn and congrats on an awesome mount man! That things a beast and really looking forward to seeing you work with it and future videos on it.
Top video Glenn , just love the look of eq8 range. Look forward to future videos. Nice rendition of M1 crab nebula as well mate. I have just finished this target as well with a esprit 120 here in Queensland Australia. Thanks for Time and Input required for these videos
Hi Steve and thank you for the comments, very much appreciated. Have you shared your image anywhere, would love to see it. It must be quite a low object for you to image.
@@Astrobloke hi Glenn, I have put in up in ice in space (the southern hemisphere equivalent to cloudly nights) It is the beginners section under kuz currently got quite a few on there at the moment thanks
I have one and it has terrible dec backlash. Apparently that is not unusual. Adjusting it is a course in cuss words as you quickly learn that you need special Allen Keys. One day I hope to get them delivered and do something about the backlash. Enjoy...
Hi Stephen. using guide assistant mine reports fair bit of backlash in the DEC but so far it hasn't caused me issues in guiding. Depending on seeing it ranges from 0.3 - 0.6 total rms. I think you can buy Allen keys that would work or it would have to be a grind or file down job on a normal one.
Hi Glenn, in one of your videos (I think the one with Joe on PPEC) you mentione a piece of software called PECPrep. If you have a chance would you take a tour with a bit of explanation on this one? Thanks, and congrats on the new mount. Hope you are not paying your share of clouds. I just got a EQ6R 3 weeks ago and since then the gods had no mercy on me. Cheers and keep up the great work.
Hi Denis. Yes PECPREP is part of EQMOD but can be very complicated in building a smoother PEC curve. I have since tried a software called PEMPRO which automatically builds a smooth pec curve for you and although quite complicated much easier to use. Only thing is its $149 but does have a 60day free trial. I will be looking to do a video soon to follow up the pec training video.
@@Astrobloke hahaha, i have full approval so no sneaking lol I have two sons as well and they can do all the heavy lifting for living rent free form birth. it's the least they can do hahaha
Thank you. Very pleased with the mount. Sure is a beast. Was very happy with the Crab image, really beautiful target actually. Will be re visiting that. Take care and clear skies
Hey Glenn! - Brilliant vid mate, It was a nice chilled out watch - really enjoyed it 🙂 It was good to chat with you when you were still in the decision phase mate, and I feel good to know we've got basically the same mount! eq8 bros unite! 😀 Superb M1 shot by the way mate!! you inspired me to take a little look at it a few nights ago actually! Hope you really enjoy that mount mate, it's a lovely bit of kit and I don't have a bad word about mine, well... except maybe it's a bit of a slog to carry in the house again at 6 in the morning, haha Cheers for sharing! Luke
Hi Luke, thanks mate. Thank you again for the excellent advice, I couldn’t be happier with the mount. I have moved it with the head and Tri pier together and just wondered what year you are considering to enter the worlds strongest man contest? When you have a large Newt like we do you need something like this to get the best out of them so its worth all that effort and of course you have the perfect mount for a pier one day. M1 surprised me at just how beautiful it was and the colours just pop. Thanks again Luke and clear skies sir.
She's a beast. It looks to be a sweet mount, good quality and handy that the cable management is sorted. Pleased for you mate. Great video Glenn as always, and love the final image. Take care and Clear Skies!!!
That is a beast of a mount. Being able to run power,usb etc thru cable management system is such a big plus on these big mounts as it removes all concerns about cables snagging and makes for a more restful imaging session :) . Fantastic image of the Crab nebula - such a cool looking target.
Thanks Logan. It was so nearly a Cem120 but fate and timings meant the EQ8 won the honour of being my Obsy mount. The through mount cabling is a major plus, all mounts should have this. Its been brilliant and a perfect match for my CT10 so couldn’t be happier. The crab is a stunner, first time imaging that and will be going back to that for more. Clear skies
WOW Glenn ... that new mount and your setup are AMAZING! That is adding several new heights in your astrophotography ventures. I am certainly looking forward to seeing more results. That Crab Nebula is awesome! First, you get that amazing new mount, then Joe Navara got his new mount. Am I jealous? You bet I am. Keep up the great work.
Thank you Pat. Mind you I am always impressed when you are imaging with that large 130 refractor. Hopefully i will soon have my set up all finished (awaiting some filters) and then I will be making the most of any clear nights I get. Clear skies
Bravo Glenn, you handled that monster like it was made of Styrofoam! Seriously you deserve a great mount like the EQ8R-Pro and we'll look forward to the images you put out for us to see. Great mount for a super guy !
Great vid and it’s a fantastic mount Iv been using it for nearly 12 month and love it especially the auto home position Feature look forward to ur captures with it
Thank you Paul. I love the mount, you can tell its their flagship. Used the auto home position and then set that into EQmod as I never use the handset but I agree what a great feature. Hope to post new content soon.
Congrats Glenn. I like how it bolted right up to your pier with the adapter. Interesting how you mentioned EQ6 being portable as I have the equivalent Atlas Pro which I currently use as my portable mount as it is easier to set up than the Sirius Mount. If I get another mount the EQ8 top on my list - thanks for the review and good luck with it. PS: Your intro was pretty cool watching you drive on the opposite that we drive on. - Cheers
Hi Kurt. Thank you for watching and commenting. When I first got the EQ6 i thought it was on the heavy side to move about a lot but after handling the EQ8 it feels very portable. It is a lovely mount and perfect for handling large scopes or heavy payloads. It must look funny watching us drive all completely flipped. clear skies
Congratulations Glenn on your new mount ; what an absolute monster !! I'm sure you'll have guiding below 0.4 total before long. If I was in the market for a mount of that payload it would be the eq 8 r pro.....love skywatcher products. Good luck with Glenn and well deserved 👏
Thank you Paul. Its a lovely mount and I am very happy. The guiding is very good and extremely stable, it handles my CT10 like its a twig. Had a couple of sessions now and at times it guided down at 0.2 but 0.4 seems to be its constant level which is brilliant and to be fair all I need. Clear skies mate
Looks like a great mount. I almost bought one of these but I would have had to wait 6 months for it. So I got an iOptron CEM120 instead which has a similar payload capacity.
The CEM120 is a lovely mount and I was deciding between the 2. The CEM always seemed better because of the through mount cabling but seems Sky Watcher finally caught up with that idea. In the end it was availability that meant the EQ8 won the race. I absolutely love the mount but would have been just as happy with either. Clear skies
hi Craig and thank you. It is an excellent mount but does not come with wifi built in. I know sky watcher sells a wifi dongle you can plu into the mount. I used one with the EQ6 R PRO and it worked really well. I think the iOptron CEM120 has wifi and gps but you would need to confirm this. Good luck with whatever you choose
Great video, Glenn! I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on how you do the 3d star field fly-through at the end? That's such a cool presentation of the image.
Congratulations Glenn! Beautiful mount. Thanks again for your channel - very entertaining and even more informative. I need to get busy and hyper-tune my HEQ5 mount that finally arrived per you excellent episode a year or so ago. Been busy with some house upgrades necessitated by a new washer and dryer. Always best to do wife projects before mine sometimes. Clear skies and stay safe and healthy in 2022.
Hi Richard. Thank you for your support. Good luck with the HEQ5. I have now sold mine as all my mounts have moved down one step for the EQ8 so now the EQ6 is my garden ( portable !!) mount. The saying is so true ‘Happy wife, Happy life’ Clear skies and happy new year to you too.
My EQ8 arrived today! So this is really great. Thanks mate! Interesting that you are still using the Pegasus Powerbox. I had one of those too (with my EQ6) but I am wondering if it's still needed with all the thru connections on the EQ8?
That's great mate, bet you are well excited. I only really keep it on there as I can switch on/off and control the auto dew feature as I often remote in. I have just bought a decent usb 3.1 active ext cable which is 5m long. Lindy 5m USB 3.1 active ext cable amzn.to/38FdDSQ The link is also in the description below the video. This runs up to the mount and I have a short usb 3 (0.5m) to the mount and another (0.5m) usb 3 from the saddle to the camera. Before I was using a usb 2.0 repeater. Basically long cables don't work and you will struggle to detect your camera or keep it connected. The Lindy cables are high quality and this overcomes this issue. Many have pulled their hair out with the through mount cabling as the usb 3 is bot perfect on it as the board they used was not the best. My follow up video does talk about this but I am releasing a new one covering this cable and also some adjustments I made to the DEC backlash to improve things.
@@Astrobloke Yep! V excited. Though I nearly pout my back out getting it up on to the tripod! Ok, then in that case, if the through mount board isn't much good, I'll just stick with my Ultimate Powerbox and my long USB cable into the house. Thanks for the tip
Looks a beast. Do you know if you got the version that has the usb 3.0 hub issue fixed (it was widely reported a lot of cameras didn’t work with the usb 3 port on the dovetail)
Hi Hogarth. Yes its certainly a lump. I think mine is pre the fix as my camera is not detected. I run the powerbox advance however as I control all the auto dew functions via NINA so the camera works fine through that. Problem with powering all the dew heaters etc from the mount is they would be on constantly. Its still a brilliant mount and am loving it.
Looks incredible mate, congratulations. I can’t wait to see what you can capture with that at the C10! Have you removed the Pegasus box yet? Looks like it will be redundant now with all those ports on the mount, such a cool feature! You’ll have to start charging people to remote into your observatory soon! #astroblokelive
Thanks Russell. We need to see that new toy you have stashed away too. Once I work out how to control the auto dew functions through NINA the powerbox will go on my garden rig the now demoted EQ6. If you would like first dibs at the obsey rental scheme its £100/hr. 😜
Haha seems you and Joe aligned on the timing or are you guys having a competition? I have the same mount as you for 1.5 years now. still happy appart from the USB3 mount which doesnt drive my camera in USB3 mode
lol, it does look like that. I was ready to get the bigger mount so I could make the most of my CT10. Joe was looking to extend his Obsy and add a second pier and mount and I think i pushed him up as at first he was thinking a 2nd EQ6. we talk most days so its easy to encourage each other further down the rabbit hole lol
Picking your brain again here again glen :) the m12 bolt in the middle how long should this be I’ve just got a pulsar antivibration pillar with the flat plate on but does not look like it’s got the centre bolt .. thank you for any help :)👍
I am looking into getting one of these, as a EQ6-R user I think it is the next logical step. How much plastic is used on the outside of the mount. Also is all the metal aluminum and stainless?
Hi Peter. I was looking at this or the CEM120. One of these came up first so thats the way I went. Absolutely no regrets, its an excellent mount. The only plast is the front housing that bears the skywatcher name and where the electric enter and leave the mount. The rest I would say is Steel as at 29KG I doubt much Aluminium was used. Its a beast and the paint or powder coated finish is very thick so nice finish.
Hi Glenn Wow, 3 months goes by fast. I have one of these coming in 2 days, I got $1000 off. After I bought it, I then started to look at the CEM120. A deal breaker for me with that mount is the D saddle plate, you have to slide every scope into the dovetail and there are 3 screws that make contact with the D Plate on your scope. I put my scopes in from the side so I can set it on the edge of the dovetail and then tilt it into place. Have you had any issues with backlash and if so, have you done any adjusting to reduce it? Pete
Hi Pete and thank you for your message. Not sure why you have me as Dave as its Glenn but its cool. Funny thing was I was looking at the CEM120 also but when this came up I couldn’t resist. At the end of this year I will have owned it for 2 years and it has been flawless. Just the other night guiding like it always has at around 0.4 total rms. On really great seeing nights it will guide all night at 0.2 - 0.3 and on bad seeing it rarely goes over 0.6-0.7. This is with a 10” newtonian mounted. Never had to adjust a thing. All I have ever done is run guide assistant in PHD2 to measure and compensate for any backlash and I also recorded a PEC curve which is also applied. Its a beast and a brilliant performer, you will love it. Clear skies and best of luck. Glenn
@@Astrobloke Hi Glenn, I edited my last comment. I guess I heard your name wrong, sorry. Thanks for your recommendation, it means a lot since you have used one for almost 2 years. It is going on a Primalucelab C120 and will be covered with a ROR observatory at some point, hopefully next year. I only have an SVX 102T and 8" EdgeHD for now, but the Sky will be the limit eventually. Actually, I want to mount both of my scopes at the same time. Pete
@@peterleveillee1321 that’ll be my dodgy accent 😂. I really have had no issues with the mount at all and love it. It will track those scope lovely and a ROR obsy will make it a perfect set up. All the best to you.
That EQ8R is a friggin BEAST!!!!
It certainly is, Thanks James
Congrats. What a great mount. I got a lot of pleasure watching you set it up. The obs looks amazing
Hi Robert, Thanks mate, It is a lovely mount and really finishes the Obsy set up perfectly
Thanks Glenn. Thoroughly entertaining & informative video as per all of yours. Clear Skies.
Simon
Thank you Simon. Really appreciate you taking the time to watch an comment on my videos
Thank you for making this video Glenn. It is timely as I am getting ready to install my new EQ8-Rh Pro on my pier.
Hi David. You will love that mount. Good luck with it all and clear skies
Great mount and a good match for the CT 10, good luck with it and clear skies.
Thank you. Clear skies to you too.
Wow,.what a beast of a mount, congratulations on getting it.
Hi Steve, thank you, it really is a big mount.
What a solid setup Glenn. And ain't that the honest truth about astrophotography, you have to be committed. Even if that means sometimes sleeping in the observatory haha!!
Haven’t quite slept there yet as I can remote monitor from the house once its up and running.
So happy with the set up and now I just need some clear skies to grab those photons. Take care dude, clear skies
Congratulations on the new mount. She's a big, beauty! Clear skies for 2022 and beyond.
Thank you so much Greg, Clear skies to you too.
my EQ8-R Pro mount arrived today. hopefully first this weekend :)
Good luck mate. Its a beast isn’t it?
Awesome mount and awesome Crab! Nicely done. 🍻
Thank you Ron. Clear skies
Brilliant video Glen, thoroughly enjoyable watch. Wow that mount is something else, so happy for you. Looks superb in your observatory and can't wait to see your captures, they always impress me.
Thanks Derek. Love the mount. Thanks for commenting
Excellent job Glenn, enjoyed that
Cheers Mark, glad you enjoyed it, clear skies
@@Astrobloke Such a gorgeous mount. you must be super happy with it
I am more jealous of the obsy, than I am envious of that EQ8. If only my garden was as large as yours... ;-)
Its all smoke and mirrors Martin, its not as big as it looks. But yes big enough for me to have a little Obsy. Clear skies
I love your video. It's amazing to see the love you have for your hobby and every little detail about your equipment!
Thank you Alex. Really appreciate you comment
New beefy mount and two clear nights as a result? Unpossible!
Grats on the mount Glenn.. It's perfect for your scope. I really like the built in ports. CS!
Hi James. I know right, new gear and clear nights. Never!!
Its perfect for the scope and proper observatory grade mount for the Obsy. The through mount cabling always set the CEM120 apart from the EQ8 so really good they addressed that. Its very smart and will mean no cables to get snagged anymore.
Clear skies
Awesome man! The videos are going to keep rocking now!
Thanks for commenting. Just checking out your content, clear skies
@@Astrobloke appreciate it brother! You and joe convinced me to tear down the eq6r as well. Bearings on the way. Should be interesting
@@easyastroimages5818 cool, any issues let me know and I will try and help.
Great video Glenn and congrats on an awesome mount man! That things a beast and really looking forward to seeing you work with it and future videos on it.
Thanks Joe, appreciate that and cannot wait to compare stats
Top video Glenn , just love the look of eq8 range. Look forward to future videos. Nice rendition of M1 crab nebula as well mate. I have just finished this target as well with a esprit 120 here in Queensland Australia. Thanks for Time and Input required for these videos
Hi Steve and thank you for the comments, very much appreciated. Have you shared your image anywhere, would love to see it. It must be quite a low object for you to image.
@@Astrobloke hi Glenn, I have put in up in ice in space (the southern hemisphere equivalent to cloudly nights) It is the beginners section under kuz currently got quite a few on there at the moment thanks
I have one and it has terrible dec backlash. Apparently that is not unusual. Adjusting it is a course in cuss words as you quickly learn that you need special Allen Keys. One day I hope to get them delivered and do something about the backlash. Enjoy...
Hi Stephen. using guide assistant mine reports fair bit of backlash in the DEC but so far it hasn't caused me issues in guiding. Depending on seeing it ranges from 0.3 - 0.6 total rms. I think you can buy Allen keys that would work or it would have to be a grind or file down job on a normal one.
Excellent presentation. Congrats on the mount!
Thank you Tom. Clear skies
Great video and love the new mount, congrats
Thank you Claire
Great video and a wonderful image at the end.
Many thanks!
Hi Glenn, in one of your videos (I think the one with Joe on PPEC) you mentione a piece of software called PECPrep. If you have a chance would you take a tour with a bit of explanation on this one? Thanks, and congrats on the new mount. Hope you are not paying your share of clouds. I just got a EQ6R 3 weeks ago and since then the gods had no mercy on me. Cheers and keep up the great work.
Hi Denis. Yes PECPREP is part of EQMOD but can be very complicated in building a smoother PEC curve. I have since tried a software called PEMPRO which automatically builds a smooth pec curve for you and although quite complicated much easier to use. Only thing is its $149 but does have a 60day free trial. I will be looking to do a video soon to follow up the pec training video.
Ordering one of these very soon hopefully
Congrats. Its a lovely scope. Comes on 2 pallets mind so you won’t be able to sneak it in lol
@@Astrobloke hahaha, i have full approval so no sneaking lol
I have two sons as well and they can do all the heavy lifting for living rent free form birth. it's the least they can do hahaha
Congrats On Your New Mount, Glenn!! That's A Beast. Nice Image of Crab!! An awesome Target! Lookin forward to see More with!
Thank you. Very pleased with the mount. Sure is a beast.
Was very happy with the Crab image, really beautiful target actually. Will be re visiting that.
Take care and clear skies
Hey Glenn! - Brilliant vid mate, It was a nice chilled out watch - really enjoyed it 🙂
It was good to chat with you when you were still in the decision phase mate, and I feel good to know we've got basically the same mount! eq8 bros unite! 😀
Superb M1 shot by the way mate!! you inspired me to take a little look at it a few nights ago actually!
Hope you really enjoy that mount mate, it's a lovely bit of kit and I don't have a bad word about mine, well... except maybe it's a bit of a slog to carry in the house again at 6 in the morning, haha
Cheers for sharing!
Luke
Hi Luke, thanks mate.
Thank you again for the excellent advice, I couldn’t be happier with the mount. I have moved it with the head and Tri pier together and just wondered what year you are considering to enter the worlds strongest man contest?
When you have a large Newt like we do you need something like this to get the best out of them so its worth all that effort and of course you have the perfect mount for a pier one day.
M1 surprised me at just how beautiful it was and the colours just pop.
Thanks again Luke and clear skies sir.
She's a beast. It looks to be a sweet mount, good quality and handy that the cable management is sorted. Pleased for you mate.
Great video Glenn as always, and love the final image.
Take care and Clear Skies!!!
Thanks Ben, she sure is and is very well made. I was happy with the crab too, clear skies mate
congrats Glenn!! Love the 8. if you ever get tired of it.... ship it over my way!!! great image as well!!
Hi Jason, thanks mate and nice to see you at the premier. I’ll get a quote on postage for you, i am sure it won’t be much lol.
Clear skies mate
That is a beast of a mount. Being able to run power,usb etc thru cable management system is such a big plus on these big mounts as it removes all concerns about cables snagging and makes for a more restful imaging session :) . Fantastic image of the Crab nebula - such a cool looking target.
Thanks Logan. It was so nearly a Cem120 but fate and timings meant the EQ8 won the honour of being my Obsy mount. The through mount cabling is a major plus, all mounts should have this.
Its been brilliant and a perfect match for my CT10 so couldn’t be happier. The crab is a stunner, first time imaging that and will be going back to that for more. Clear skies
Thanks for sharing Glenn, looks like a beast of a mount, superbly mated to the pier. Clear skies.
Thanks Paul.
Great watch! Excellently made documentation of the new mount setup. Thanks for taking us through the process. Keep it up Astrobloke!
Thank you for the kind comments Jay, appreciate it a lot.
Nice mount 🔭
Thank you. You have some very nice gear too
WOW Glenn ... that new mount and your setup are AMAZING! That is adding several new heights in your astrophotography ventures. I am certainly looking forward to seeing more results. That Crab Nebula is awesome! First, you get that amazing new mount, then Joe Navara got his new mount. Am I jealous? You bet I am. Keep up the great work.
Thank you Pat. Mind you I am always impressed when you are imaging with that large 130 refractor. Hopefully i will soon have my set up all finished (awaiting some filters) and then I will be making the most of any clear nights I get.
Clear skies
Following your progress on the observatory build and the gear you use is fascinating and inspiring Glenn. Keep it up.Clear skies!
Hi Mark. Thank you so much and really appreciate your support joining the channel.
Bravo Glenn, you handled that monster like it was made of Styrofoam! Seriously you deserve a great mount like the EQ8R-Pro and we'll look forward to the images you put out for us to see. Great mount for a super guy !
Thank you so much thats very kind.
What an awesome mount Glenn - great video and review of the EQ8 R PRO, looking forward to seeing further images with this and the CT10
Thank you so much and hope to post new content soon, I am just happy it all fits in. To say its snug is an understatement lol
Beautiful image!
Thank you Nick
Great vid and it’s a fantastic mount Iv been using it for nearly 12 month and love it especially the auto home position
Feature look forward to ur captures with it
Thank you Paul. I love the mount, you can tell its their flagship. Used the auto home position and then set that into EQmod as I never use the handset but I agree what a great feature. Hope to post new content soon.
Congrats Glenn. I like how it bolted right up to your pier with the adapter. Interesting how you mentioned EQ6 being portable as I have the equivalent Atlas Pro which I currently use as my portable mount as it is easier to set up than the Sirius Mount. If I get another mount the EQ8 top on my list - thanks for the review and good luck with it. PS: Your intro was pretty cool watching you drive on the opposite that we drive on. - Cheers
Hi Kurt. Thank you for watching and commenting. When I first got the EQ6 i thought it was on the heavy side to move about a lot but after handling the EQ8 it feels very portable. It is a lovely mount and perfect for handling large scopes or heavy payloads.
It must look funny watching us drive all completely flipped.
clear skies
Congratulations Glenn on your new mount ; what an absolute monster !! I'm sure you'll have guiding below 0.4 total before long. If I was in the market for a mount of that payload it would be the eq 8 r pro.....love skywatcher products. Good luck with Glenn and well deserved 👏
Thank you Paul. Its a lovely mount and I am very happy. The guiding is very good and extremely stable, it handles my CT10 like its a twig. Had a couple of sessions now and at times it guided down at 0.2 but 0.4 seems to be its constant level which is brilliant and to be fair all I need.
Clear skies mate
Looks like a great mount. I almost bought one of these but I would have had to wait 6 months for it. So I got an iOptron CEM120 instead which has a similar payload capacity.
The CEM120 is a lovely mount and I was deciding between the 2. The CEM always seemed better because of the through mount cabling but seems Sky Watcher finally caught up with that idea. In the end it was availability that meant the EQ8 won the race. I absolutely love the mount but would have been just as happy with either. Clear skies
This is a very good review. One of the best I've watched. Does the EQ8 have Wifi? I'd like to get one to support my Celestron 14" Edge HD
hi Craig and thank you. It is an excellent mount but does not come with wifi built in. I know sky watcher sells a wifi dongle you can plu into the mount. I used one with the EQ6 R PRO and it worked really well. I think the iOptron CEM120 has wifi and gps but you would need to confirm this. Good luck with whatever you choose
Great video, Glenn! I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on how you do the 3d star field fly-through at the end? That's such a cool presentation of the image.
Thank you Scott. I will see if I can sit down and sort something. Its a lot of keyframe work. Still trying to develop it
Congratulations Glenn! Beautiful mount. Thanks again for your channel - very entertaining and even more informative. I need to get busy and hyper-tune my HEQ5 mount that finally arrived per you excellent episode a year or so ago. Been busy with some house upgrades necessitated by a new washer and dryer. Always best to do wife projects before mine sometimes. Clear skies and stay safe and healthy in 2022.
Hi Richard. Thank you for your support. Good luck with the HEQ5. I have now sold mine as all my mounts have moved down one step for the EQ8 so now the EQ6 is my garden ( portable !!) mount.
The saying is so true ‘Happy wife, Happy life’
Clear skies and happy new year to you too.
My EQ8 arrived today! So this is really great. Thanks mate! Interesting that you are still using the Pegasus Powerbox. I had one of those too (with my EQ6) but I am wondering if it's still needed with all the thru connections on the EQ8?
That's great mate, bet you are well excited. I only really keep it on there as I can switch on/off and control the auto dew feature as I often remote in. I have just bought a decent usb 3.1 active ext cable which is 5m long. Lindy 5m USB 3.1 active ext cable amzn.to/38FdDSQ The link is also in the description below the video. This runs up to the mount and I have a short usb 3 (0.5m) to the mount and another (0.5m) usb 3 from the saddle to the camera. Before I was using a usb 2.0 repeater. Basically long cables don't work and you will struggle to detect your camera or keep it connected. The Lindy cables are high quality and this overcomes this issue. Many have pulled their hair out with the through mount cabling as the usb 3 is bot perfect on it as the board they used was not the best. My follow up video does talk about this but I am releasing a new one covering this cable and also some adjustments I made to the DEC backlash to improve things.
@@Astrobloke Yep! V excited. Though I nearly pout my back out getting it up on to the tripod! Ok, then in that case, if the through mount board isn't much good, I'll just stick with my Ultimate Powerbox and my long USB cable into the house. Thanks for the tip
Looks a beast. Do you know if you got the version that has the usb 3.0 hub issue fixed (it was widely reported a lot of cameras didn’t work with the usb 3 port on the dovetail)
Hi Hogarth. Yes its certainly a lump. I think mine is pre the fix as my camera is not detected. I run the powerbox advance however as I control all the auto dew functions via NINA so the camera works fine through that. Problem with powering all the dew heaters etc from the mount is they would be on constantly. Its still a brilliant mount and am loving it.
Looks incredible mate, congratulations. I can’t wait to see what you can capture with that at the C10! Have you removed the Pegasus box yet? Looks like it will be redundant now with all those ports on the mount, such a cool feature!
You’ll have to start charging people to remote into your observatory soon! #astroblokelive
Thanks Russell. We need to see that new toy you have stashed away too. Once I work out how to control the auto dew functions through NINA the powerbox will go on my garden rig the now demoted EQ6.
If you would like first dibs at the obsey rental scheme its £100/hr. 😜
Haha seems you and Joe aligned on the timing or are you guys having a competition? I have the same mount as you for 1.5 years now. still happy appart from the USB3 mount which doesnt drive my camera in USB3 mode
Curious on your phd2 settings with and after PEC. are u using eqmod or gsserver?
lol, it does look like that. I was ready to get the bigger mount so I could make the most of my CT10. Joe was looking to extend his Obsy and add a second pier and mount and I think i pushed him up as at first he was thinking a 2nd EQ6. we talk most days so its easy to encourage each other further down the rabbit hole lol
@@screetch82 I use EQMOD and not tried GSSERVER yet. (what do you think of it?)
Picking your brain again here again glen :) the m12 bolt in the middle how long should this be I’ve just got a pulsar antivibration pillar with the flat plate on but does not look like it’s got the centre bolt .. thank you for any help :)👍
Hi, it doesn’t have to be very long at all. Mine is about 50mm maybe a bit shorter
@@Astrobloke thank you 🙏
I am looking into getting one of these, as a EQ6-R user I think it is the next logical step. How much plastic is used on the outside of the mount. Also is all the metal aluminum and stainless?
Hi Peter. I was looking at this or the CEM120. One of these came up first so thats the way I went. Absolutely no regrets, its an excellent mount. The only plast is the front housing that bears the skywatcher name and where the electric enter and leave the mount. The rest I would say is Steel as at 29KG I doubt much Aluminium was used. Its a beast and the paint or powder coated finish is very thick so nice finish.
👍
Thanks
Hi Glenn
Wow, 3 months goes by fast. I have one of these coming in 2 days, I got $1000 off. After I bought it, I then started to look at the CEM120. A deal breaker for me with that mount is the D saddle plate, you have to slide every scope into the dovetail and there are 3 screws that make contact with the D Plate on your scope. I put my scopes in from the side so I can set it on the edge of the dovetail and then tilt it into place. Have you had any issues with backlash and if so, have you done any adjusting to reduce it?
Pete
Hi Pete and thank you for your message. Not sure why you have me as Dave as its Glenn but its cool. Funny thing was I was looking at the CEM120 also but when this came up I couldn’t resist. At the end of this year I will have owned it for 2 years and it has been flawless. Just the other night guiding like it always has at around 0.4 total rms. On really great seeing nights it will guide all night at 0.2 - 0.3 and on bad seeing it rarely goes over 0.6-0.7. This is with a 10” newtonian mounted. Never had to adjust a thing. All I have ever done is run guide assistant in PHD2 to measure and compensate for any backlash and I also recorded a PEC curve which is also applied. Its a beast and a brilliant performer, you will love it. Clear skies and best of luck. Glenn
@@Astrobloke Hi Glenn, I edited my last comment. I guess I heard your name wrong, sorry. Thanks for your recommendation, it means a lot since you have used one for almost 2 years. It is going on a Primalucelab C120 and will be covered with a ROR observatory at some point, hopefully next year. I only have an SVX 102T and 8" EdgeHD for now, but the Sky will be the limit eventually. Actually, I want to mount both of my scopes at the same time.
Pete
@@peterleveillee1321 that’ll be my dodgy accent 😂. I really have had no issues with the mount at all and love it. It will track those scope lovely and a ROR obsy will make it a perfect set up. All the best to you.
@@Astrobloke What is funny is I got your name wrong, but the CC got it right. I need to clean my ears out with lens cleaner and a camel hair brush.
If I connect my Zwo 294 directly at the usb hub of EQ8, then it will works?
It depends on how you connect the mount to your chosen pc. If that lead is low quality or too long connection maybe unstable
@@Astrobloke with 1 mt of usb cable
@@fiorenzomanganiello2853 amzn.to/3zBfnXN
this is the cable I use. Its 5m usb 3.1. I then have a short 0.5m usb3.0 from this to the mount.
Did this model jump in price like the 6?
I heard that Celestron and sky watcher prices were raised by 20% in USA. Still the same in the UK, don’t know about anywhere else though
If you ever want to sell the tripod let me know.
Hi Charles. I am not sure I will use it tbh so if you want to message me I am sure we can sort something.