Anthony's Astrophotography

Hi Everyone,

While there is still no official release of details for the EQ8 from Sky Watcher, I found an article from http://www.deltasky.pl/ referencing some new details about the EQ8 that I found very interesting and thought I would share. While Google translate does an OK job of converting Polish to English it still left for a bit of interpretation so I hope I have these details correct. The photos listed below show what the final product may look like and some more details about the mechanics of the mount head.

All the specs stated so far by most distributors appear to be true such as the Worm diameter and carrying capacity however it does look like some details appear to have been omitted or where unknown. As an example it looks like the Declination axis has a precision stepper motor tied direct to the Worm Shaft (or Direct Drive as stated in some circles), however it looks like the RA Axis is not as direct drive as we have been lead to believe with what looks like a 1:1 belt drive system between the Stepper motor and the Worm shaft. IMHO I don’t see this being a major issue but found it interesting nonetheless.

Of favourable note was the mention of the machining quality of the mount, as I mentioned in a previous post, I think Synta have really started to get their game on when it comes to the construction of their mounts, as always the proof is in the pudding but I think they have a good recipe to bring to the table.

Another detail I found was the presence of a SNAP port, this looks to be a 2.5 or 3.5 mm jack and was indicated as being for use with a Canon camera for shutter release control, who knows if this will be on the final product that ships? but either way I think this shows some degree of innovation by Synta on their mounts.

These images also show the sheer size of the mount in comparison to a HEQ5, this really is one heavy duty mount and I think is on the border of “portable”, also the polar scope arrangement is shown. I find this a little unsightly but that’s just my opinion and I suspect this arrangement was chosen to maintain structural rigidity in the mount base and RA Axis rather than a central mounted polar scope.

Lastly you can see the quality of the tripod, this does look to be “Heavy Duty” and I am sure will hold anything you throw at it.

I would like to thank Delta from www.deltasky.pl for sharing his findings on the EQ8, I hope this has shed a little light on the shrouds of secrecy over the EQ8 and it’s proclaimed release in March 2013.

       

I hope you enjoyed the article and please feel free to leave a comment.

Cheers

Anthony