Hi, i like the HEQ5. It is bulkier than the Vixen mounts, but able to carry more load (plus it has goto and an autoguider interface). The tracking, without autoguiding, is as good but not vastly better than an SP/AP in my experience. The handset (which i still use but which can be swapped for a wifi/app combination) is fine when you get used to the menus, and gives you a lot of options if you decide to experiment. When i bought my 2nd HEQ5 i was unsure whether to go for a more modern and lighter iOptron, which many users like, or to stick with Skywatcher. I chose the HEQ5 as i don't have to carry it a long way, it's a proven mount, and i knew i could fit the belt mod in future if needed. I'm not sure if this is helped you as there are many options these days. In summary the HEQ5 is solid, capable and dependable in my experience, but it isn't the lightest or latest tech. Graham
excelent! One question please: I just bought a new skywatcher120/1000 rig with equatorial neq5 and I'm still learning the equatorial (before it had a 70mm with altaz mount. Once I managed to put it in parking position (orient the tripod to the north with a quality compass, level the tripod , level right ascension and level declination and adjust latitude of Madrid), can I consider that I am aligned with the polar? even if it is fake alignment? because sometimes you want to see the moon during the day or because there is something that does not allow you to see the polar. And Would you know how many degrees you have to deviate to true north in the location of Madrid, since the compass will indicate magnetic north?
Hi Mike, for visual observation what you describe is good enough i.e. park position level tripod point the polar axis to North with a compass. But while the Mount itself was pointing almost to Polaris it’s not fully aligned until you’ve done some movement and centring on alignment stars and adjusted it precisely, which in turn only makes sense if you actually done a slightly better alignment on Polaris to start with using a polar alignment scope or similar. so if all you want to do is track the moon and you don’t need to actually find something with the goto what I would suggest is set it up as you said and then in the hand controller instead of going into the alignment process you can tell the mount to just track in RA. have a look in the menus to find this option, it’s a couple of key presses. once you’ve done that even though the mount doesn’t fully know which direction it’s pointing and it couldn’t locate an object for you using the goto, you unlock the axes and turn it to line up with the moon, re lock and then it will track for you sufficiently for visual work. I may not be explaining this very well but in summary if you can already see the object you’re going to look at because it’s bright, This is the quickest way to do visual work with the benefit of tracking without going through all of the actual alignment slowing censoring process.
As for you being in Madrid the only relevant factor is that you need to set the latitude of the polar axis to match your latitude. you need to do this once using the scale on the side of the mount.
@@JenhamsAstro thank you very much. In fact, my NQ5 mount is manual, i still didn´t install the go-to device. So i guess i will just put it in park mode, then do the fake align with polar, then point to the moon/planet, etc, and follow it with A.R. slow motion manual control. I guess if i lose it, i can correct a little with declination control? thank you again
@@mikegordonbrasov161 Yes that will work. It the mount is level and your latitude set quite well you’ll find it’s fine with a basic “put the mount down pointing north and go” approach.
Nice unboxing movie - I have the same montage HEQ5 (I’m a beginner) and it would be nice if you also show me how you align it with Polaris (in your backyard) and how to setup SynScan for the first time.
Jantje Hello, l will try to make a video at some point, but the main things about the SynScan setup are on the manual “initialisation” section. You will need to know the latitude and longitude of your location. The next alignment with Polaris seems difficult but the handset helps you. Read paragraph 6 “display polaris position.” The handset gives a time, and you need to position Polaris as if it were at this number on a clock face, treating the “up” position as 12 o’clock. If the handset says 3:00, Polaris will be on the right side of the circular “ring” in the polar scope. Give it a try.
Nice video Graham. I just can't decide which mounts to buy.ive got a evolution alt az mount,which is ok for the moon and inner solar system. But I've got my eye on heq5 with belt mod,neq6 or eq6 r pro.which would you go for.?
Hi Kevin, I suppose it depends on payload and portability. I like the HEQ5 Pro (not belt modded yet but on the list). If you were looking at the higher payload range the Eq6 r pro leaves the Neq6 feeling a bit dated I think. Plus the eq6 r has a belt - and a handle! No bad choice among them really. Graham
Congratulations for your new mount. I'm curious to know all the USA online sellers have stock of az-heq5, none of them have heq5. May I ask where did u get this mount from, I too plan to buy heq5.
I'm curious, what are your reasons for purchasing this mount over the ioptron ieq30 for example? I am nearing a purchase myself of one or the other. I have read many good things about both brands. Both appear to be equally reliable to each other. Thanks
Hello, not an easy choice! Firstly i used an HEQ5 about 8/9 years back, so i know it's strengths (good payload vs weight, good alignment options, decent PEC, cheap wifi add-on) and weaknesses (noisy slewing without the belt mod, poor power cable connection). The latest model has hardly changed, which you could argue means it's old-tech, but it works! I like the novelty of iOptrons, plus they are lighter with GPS (a small point for me as i know my home lat/long!), but i have been a bit put off some of the quality issues i have read on the forums. Users with good mounts do rave about them though and I sense that the quality is now much better. Portability may be a useful discriminator, if that matters to you. Tricky.
How "accurate" does your actual Latitude need to be ajusted? I'm at 44 degrees, 34 minutes North. And my Equatorial mount only lets me set it to within about the nearest half a degree!. BUT...... for visual Astronomer here in "the States" that seems to be more then accurate enough. BUT you do Astro-imaging. Is that missing 4 minutes going to blur out my images???? Guess I'm about to find out!
It’s solid and reliable if not sophisticated. It has enough portability to carry outside quite easily - I add the weights on a 2nd trip. The larger NEQ6 has a bigger payload but is a lot heavier, so a key decider is the OTA you plan to use with either mount. The HEQ5 is sufficient for fast Apos and Maks/SCTs upto 8” in my opinion.
Thanks. I bought it at First Light Optics. After some thought and indecision i went with the basic mount with the gear drive. I used one of these mounts years ago and the slewing noise didn't really bother me, plus I'm planning to autoguide with it so I'm not really sure of the extra benefit of the belt. Still, I'd say the belt mod is on my list of possible future purchases though as I've read a lot of good reviews (with only a few people having trouble with installation).
Jenham's Astro do you know any of these problems with the belt drive, I am planning to buy one and you know I am searching very hard..can you give me the link of the mount on eBay or amazon please.
I saw some posts on the Cloudy Nights and Stargazers Lounge forums - you will find them with a search. Mainly people were under or over-tightening the belt. The mount itself wasn't on ebay or amazon, i got it here: www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-heq5-pro-synscan.html
anthonyexmouth Ummm.. well there was only one in the box but I also remember a second one on the mount I used quite a few years back. I might query this with the supplier.
anthonyexmouth I just spoke to FLO and it looks like the other one fell out of the damaged box while enroute from OVL! Another one now on the way. Thanks for the heads up. Graham
Yes I was tempted to buy one installed with the mount. The old HEQ5 I used made a fair amount of noise (and so does this one), and i think the belt reduces this. I'm unsure on the benefit from removing the backlash - is this still worth having when you are autoguiding?
Vasco Ribeiro I haven’t used the AVX so it wouldn’t be fair to judge them. I suggest you look on the Astro forums, where many views are aired about declination bearings, handset ease of use etc etc. For me the HEQ5 works, I’ll say that much.
I have this mount on 2 inch legs from Celestron. Rock solid now!
Congratulations on the new gear. Excited to see what you produce with it.
So plug it in! We want to see how fast it will slew!
Thank you for the video! I have a very old Vixen SPDX mount and wondered whether the HEQ5 was much better (more accurate, user-friendly)?
Hi, i like the HEQ5. It is bulkier than the Vixen mounts, but able to carry more load (plus it has goto and an autoguider interface). The tracking, without autoguiding, is as good but not vastly better than an SP/AP in my experience. The handset (which i still use but which can be swapped for a wifi/app combination) is fine when you get used to the menus, and gives you a lot of options if you decide to experiment. When i bought my 2nd HEQ5 i was unsure whether to go for a more modern and lighter iOptron, which many users like, or to stick with Skywatcher. I chose the HEQ5 as i don't have to carry it a long way, it's a proven mount, and i knew i could fit the belt mod in future if needed. I'm not sure if this is helped you as there are many options these days. In summary the HEQ5 is solid, capable and dependable in my experience, but it isn't the lightest or latest tech. Graham
Great video, Jenham. Would love to see you do a video on your astrophotography setup if you haven’t done so already.
excelent! One question please: I just bought a new skywatcher120/1000 rig with equatorial neq5 and I'm still learning the equatorial (before it had a 70mm with altaz mount. Once I managed to put it in parking position (orient the tripod to the north with a quality compass, level the tripod , level right ascension and level declination and adjust latitude of Madrid), can I consider that I am aligned with the polar? even if it is fake alignment? because sometimes you want to see the moon during the day or because there is something that does not allow you to see the polar. And Would you know how many degrees you have to deviate to true north in the location of Madrid, since the compass will indicate magnetic north?
Hi Mike, for visual observation what you describe is good enough i.e. park position level tripod point the polar axis to North with a compass. But while the Mount itself was pointing almost to Polaris it’s not fully aligned until you’ve done some movement and centring on alignment stars and adjusted it precisely, which in turn only makes sense if you actually done a slightly better alignment on Polaris to start with using a polar alignment scope or similar. so if all you want to do is track the moon and you don’t need to actually find something with the goto what I would suggest is set it up as you said and then in the hand controller instead of going into the alignment process you can tell the mount to just track in RA. have a look in the menus to find this option, it’s a couple of key presses. once you’ve done that even though the mount doesn’t fully know which direction it’s pointing and it couldn’t locate an object for you using the goto, you unlock the axes and turn it to line up with the moon, re lock and then it will track for you sufficiently for visual work. I may not be explaining this very well but in summary if you can already see the object you’re going to look at because it’s bright, This is the quickest way to do visual work with the benefit of tracking without going through all of the actual alignment slowing censoring process.
As for you being in Madrid the only relevant factor is that you need to set the latitude of the polar axis to match your latitude. you need to do this once using the scale on the side of the mount.
@@JenhamsAstro thank you very much. In fact, my NQ5 mount is manual, i still didn´t install the go-to device. So i guess i will just put it in park mode, then do the fake align with polar, then point to the moon/planet, etc, and follow it with A.R. slow motion manual control. I guess if i lose it, i can correct a little with declination control? thank you again
@@mikegordonbrasov161 Yes that will work. It the mount is level and your latitude set quite well you’ll find it’s fine with a basic “put the mount down pointing north and go” approach.
@@JenhamsAstro thank you verry much
Happy Christmas Graham and clear sky's :-) Looking forward to your next Astro Vlog
Thanks Rob, Happy Christmas to you too. I haven't heard much from you about your mount. How are you getting on with it?
thanks for the video. what is the min latitude this mount can be used?
Hi, I'd say down to about 30 degrees. After that the counterweight shaft will clash with the tripod.
Nice unboxing movie - I have the same montage HEQ5 (I’m a beginner) and it would be nice if you also show me how you align it with Polaris (in your backyard) and how to setup SynScan for the first time.
Jantje Hello, l will try to make a video at some point, but the main things about the SynScan setup are on the manual “initialisation” section. You will need to know the latitude and longitude of your location. The next alignment with Polaris seems difficult but the handset helps you. Read paragraph 6 “display polaris position.” The handset gives a time, and you need to position Polaris as if it were at this number on a clock face, treating the “up” position as 12 o’clock. If the handset says 3:00, Polaris will be on the right side of the circular “ring” in the polar scope. Give it a try.
Good video, very quiet.
Nice video Graham. I just can't decide which mounts to buy.ive got a evolution alt az mount,which is ok for the moon and inner solar system. But I've got my eye on heq5 with belt mod,neq6 or eq6 r pro.which would you go for.?
Hi Kevin, I suppose it depends on payload and portability. I like the HEQ5 Pro (not belt modded yet but on the list). If you were looking at the higher payload range the Eq6 r pro leaves the Neq6 feeling a bit dated I think. Plus the eq6 r has a belt - and a handle! No bad choice among them really. Graham
Congratulations for your new mount. I'm curious to know all the USA online sellers have stock of az-heq5, none of them have heq5. May I ask where did u get this mount from, I too plan to buy heq5.
Thanks. I purchased the mount from First Light Optics in the UK.
So I have skywatcher skyliner 300p ,can be use on this mount?
You would have to add a dovetail bar and possibly tube rings.
A 300 would be better on an EQ6R pro
I thought you weren't allowed to lock both bolts at the same time?
Yes, when you turn one of the altitude adjustment bolts the other must be loosened off.
@@JenhamsAstro thank you! Got an EQ5 in the mail today and i'm still figuring things out haha
thanks :D
I'm curious, what are your reasons for purchasing this mount over the ioptron ieq30 for example? I am nearing a purchase myself of one or the other. I have read many good things about both brands. Both appear to be equally reliable to each other. Thanks
Hello, not an easy choice! Firstly i used an HEQ5 about 8/9 years back, so i know it's strengths (good payload vs weight, good alignment options, decent PEC, cheap wifi add-on) and weaknesses (noisy slewing without the belt mod, poor power cable connection). The latest model has hardly changed, which you could argue means it's old-tech, but it works! I like the novelty of iOptrons, plus they are lighter with GPS (a small point for me as i know my home lat/long!), but i have been a bit put off some of the quality issues i have read on the forums. Users with good mounts do rave about them though and I sense that the quality is now much better. Portability may be a useful discriminator, if that matters to you. Tricky.
How "accurate" does your actual Latitude need to be ajusted? I'm at 44 degrees, 34 minutes North. And my Equatorial mount only lets me set it to within about the nearest half a degree!. BUT...... for visual Astronomer here in "the States" that seems to be more then accurate enough.
BUT you do Astro-imaging. Is that missing 4 minutes going to blur out my images????
Guess I'm about to find out!
Can you post a link in the description to buy it?
DummyJoe www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-heq5-pro-synscan.html
Jenham's Astro thank you
Can ir be used manually? Thanks
What is your overall assessment of this mount
It’s solid and reliable if not sophisticated. It has enough portability to carry outside quite easily - I add the weights on a 2nd trip. The larger NEQ6 has a bigger payload but is a lot heavier, so a key decider is the OTA you plan to use with either mount. The HEQ5 is sufficient for fast Apos and Maks/SCTs upto 8” in my opinion.
nice video but the volume recording is very low :(
Fair comment! With time I hope the audio has improved, but it wasn't great when the HEQ5 turned up.
Hand controller comes with it?
Yes
That’s very nice! From where you bought it? is it a belt mod drive?
Thanks. I bought it at First Light Optics. After some thought and indecision i went with the basic mount with the gear drive. I used one of these mounts years ago and the slewing noise didn't really bother me, plus I'm planning to autoguide with it so I'm not really sure of the extra benefit of the belt. Still, I'd say the belt mod is on my list of possible future purchases though as I've read a lot of good reviews (with only a few people having trouble with installation).
Jenham's Astro do you know any of these problems with the belt drive, I am planning to buy one and you know I am searching very hard..can you give me the link of the mount on eBay or amazon please.
I saw some posts on the Cloudy Nights and Stargazers Lounge forums - you will find them with a search. Mainly people were under or over-tightening the belt. The mount itself wasn't on ebay or amazon, i got it here: www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-heq5-pro-synscan.html
Does it only come with one counter weight now? I bought mine about 6 months ago and it came with two.
anthonyexmouth Ummm.. well there was only one in the box but I also remember a second one on the mount I used quite a few years back. I might query this with the supplier.
@@JenhamsAstro I would, anything bigger than a small frac will need 2. I got mine from FLO, being local to me i picked it up.
anthonyexmouth I just spoke to FLO and it looks like the other one fell out of the damaged box while enroute from OVL! Another one now on the way. Thanks for the heads up. Graham
@@JenhamsAstro cool, my next purchase is the Rowan belt kit. Apparently it's a game changer for the mount.
Yes I was tempted to buy one installed with the mount. The old HEQ5 I used made a fair amount of noise (and so does this one), and i think the belt reduces this. I'm unsure on the benefit from removing the backlash - is this still worth having when you are autoguiding?
Спасибо большое 😼
How it compares with Celestron AVX?
Vasco Ribeiro I haven’t used the AVX so it wouldn’t be fair to judge them. I suggest you look on the Astro forums, where many views are aired about declination bearings, handset ease of use etc etc. For me the HEQ5 works, I’ll say that much.
@@JenhamsAstro thanks Jenham. AVX is lighter and supports 14kg, and they cost about 1000€ for me. I'll look in the forums.
sound is terrible