Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro dropped :O :O :'(

[Lorraine Eason]

Hi everyone,

 

Apologies for spending far much time lurking and not posting, but.....

 

I finally got the nice shiny new mount above for my yard cannon back in late April, having ordered it in January.  Was able to get it set up basically a couple of weeks later, though only to see how everything went together.  I didn't counterbalance it, power everything up or do any observing that night but had to strip it back down and pack it away due to the weather.

 

Fast forward to last weekend, and there was finally a few clear nights and as my partner is working away for the next month, I had an opportunity to spend the night out observing.  Having roughly attempted to set it up back in May, I wasn't expecting too much bother.  How wrong I was.  It all seemed to go wrong from the moment I lifted the hefty mount onto the top of the tripod.  For some reason, I couldn't get the long bolt from the tripod to engage in the bottom of the mount.  In hindsight, if I'd have just kept rotating it I'd have probably been alright; but at the time it seemed to be taking forever so I assumed something was wrong.  With one hand on the mount, I tried to look underneath to see where the bolt was going. Everything did seem to be lining up okay, but as I got up the mount started to tip off the tripod.  Cue mad panic to grab it before it fell.  I was almost successful, having managed to wrestle the beast to within about 30-45cm of the ground when I finally lost my grip. It fell with a clunk onto the patio, catching a corner of the saddle dovetail and taking a small chunk out of it 😭  I did take a few deep breaths after I'd finished freaking out and continue with the process of set-up, but I'd lost confidence in what I was doing and ended up giving up 😢

 

I still haven't had the confidence to have another proper go.  I have no idea if I've done any damage to the electronics.  So if anyone has a mount test procedure or set up I can use that doesn't involve going the full hog and setting it up with my OTA / counterweights, I would be grateful.  I think I may well be better off to wait until my partner comes home in case I struggle again with anything, as the last thing I'd want to do is end up dropping my OTA as well....

[+RonC]

If you can find a flat surface to stand the mount on , (you won't need the weights or the bar) then just plug in the power, handset and then switch on. Red light should show power on. Then just press the arrow keys and check there is movement both ways.

That's all you can do but if you can put it on the tripod (secure with bolt) you can run through the alignment etc.. without putting the OTA on until you feel confident too.

Hope this helps?

 

Ron

Edited July 25, 2021 by RonC

[Lorraine Eason]

10 hours ago, RonC said:

If you can find a flat surface to stand the mount on , (you won't need the weights or the bar) then just plug in the power, handset and then switch on. Red light should show power on. Then just press the arrow keys and check there is movement both ways.

That's all you can do but if you can put it on the tripod (secure with bolt) you can run through the alignment etc.. without putting the OTA on until you feel confident too.

Hope this helps?

 

Ron

Thanks Ron 🙂  To be fair, I wasn't expecting that I would be able to do an awful lot more than you've suggested, but being unfamiliar with the specifics of GOTO mounts I thought it was worth asking the question.  Do you have any videos on the alignment process for this mount that you would recommend?

[+Graham]

Have a look on You tube.

Loads of good videos on there relating to the HEQ 5