CG5 kicks the bucket

Hey all, Well my mount has finally gone caput. Got some damage a number of years ago and has been flaky ever since, occasionally harder to guide on DEC, sometimes turns on, sometimes not and now finally the DEC motor will always run a very high speed, much higher than the normal max setting.

Guessing that it will be pretty costly to repair (probably boards + motor + dec casing) so looking for an alternative mount, preferably a beefier one. Current night equipment is a Megrez 90FD + piggybacked SD66, which was quite solid on the CG5 and for solar use it's a 100mm modded PST, which is OKish if it's not breezy (that's a 4 inch f10 so it's pushing things a bit far for that class of mount).

Was wondering what people thought of the HEQ5? I've never used a SW mount but I do remember a very favourable review Astronomy Now a few years back + eqmod looks good. The IEQ45 & CGEM is out of my price range and the HEQ6 looks to be a bit of a beast to transport compared to the others.

Or if someone has any other suggestions?

Trev

A lot of folks here use the EQ6 and get great results. It's not that big to move around compared to say a CGE and SW seem to be good with dealing with any quality issues that may arise. Dealers keep plenty of spare parts (unlike Celestron) and most people have no issues. It can handle a good bit of weight too which you might need in the future.

I had a similar problem with the dec motor on a CG5. There are many reports on the web of the motor only running at max speed, and they suggested that the problem is usually due to a failed encoder. I ordered a dec motor assembly from Rother Valley Optics (about £50 incl postage) in early December. It took a few weeks before they got one and sent it to me, but it did eventually arrive in January. Fitting the new assembly was a little tricky because it is a slightly different design from the old one, and because the electrical connections are awkward. However, after fiddling about for half an hour, it was sorted and working perfectly.

If your problem is the same, and it does sound very similar, you will be able to rescue the CG5 relatively cheaply. I'm happy to give further details of the dec assembly installation if you decide to go that route.

Mike

Thanks Mike! Come to think about it I do remember reading threads about the issue a few years ago. I tried to find a replacement encoder a month ago but Celestron have very recently removed their replacement parts catalogue. www.celestron.com/astronomy/parts.html Will drop a mail to the guys in RVO and see if I can get this to tide things over.

A lot of folks here use the EQ6 and get great results. It's not that big to move around compared to say a CGE and SW seem to be good with dealing with any quality issues that may arise.

Cheers John. That's good to hear - very hard to judge by just reading reviews on the web. Pity we don't have a bunch of showrooms in Ireland to check these things out
Looks like I would probably go for the heq5 or heq6 in the long run. Much appreciated.

Hi,

I had similar issues with my LXD55 (similar to the CG5) recently. Hand controller would sometimes work sometimes not and occasionally the motors would slew off at high speed. Meade suggested I buy a new mount. Tracked it down to the hand controller cable. Cut it back a few inches and put on a new RJ45 connector and it worked fine.

So as Mike says you might be able to repair it fairly cheaply.

Cheers,
~Al

TrevorDurity wrote: Pity we don't have a bunch of showrooms in Ireland to check these things out
Looks like I would probably go for the heq5 or heq6 in the long run.

Im trying :laugh: