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Home > Mounts & Tripods > Equatorial Mounts > SkyWatcher EQ8 Mount

Printable version

SkyWatcher EQ8 Mount

Price: £2643.00
Incl. VAT 20% ( £440.50 )

EQ8 Polar Scope

EQ8 Tripod

Product code: EQ8-20292

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The EQ8 is a new heavy duty Equatorial mount from Skywatcher, with a head weight of 25.3kg, and a very high 50kg payload capacity. It ships with 2x 10kg counterweights allowing it to operate near maximum capacity right out of the box. An impresive equipment case is included.

The mount fits onto a pier or tripod with a central M12 bolt protruding upwards into the mount base.

A polar scope is not standard with the EQ8, but is available optionally in the dropdown menu.

Skywatcher EQ8 key features:

Maximum 50 Kg payload capacity (110lb) and head weight of 25.3kg.
High resolution stepper-motors directly drive the worm gears to minimise backlash.
Patented dual-encoder technology for perfect harmony between manual handling and automated Synscan driven operation, never losing position.
Modern driver software with AUTOHOME, PPEC and hardware compatible with the Synscan handset and new starchart driven Synscan Tour.

Freedom Find^TM Function: The EQ8 mount is equipped with auxiliary encoders on both the R.A. axis and Dec. axis. Therefore, the mount can keep tracking its current position even when a user unlocks the clutches and rotates the mount in R.A. axis and Dec. axis manually. With this feature, a user can manually operate the mount anytime without worrying about losing the mount’s alignment status. When the user wants to operate the mount with the SynScan hand control again, no alignment is required and all that is needed to be done is to re-lock the clutches.

This feature can be enabled or disabled on the SynScan hand controller.

Permanent Periodic Error Correction (PEC): The EQ8 mount is equipped with an index on its R.A. worm thus the motor controller can keep tracking the current position of the worm. After a proper PEC training routine, in which the training data is stored in the motor controller permanently, a user can start the periodic error correction (PEC) at any time to improve the tracking performance for short focal length astrophotography. A training process is not required in the next observing session (assuming that the polar alignment is always accurate), thus this is a Permanent Period Error Correction (PPEC). A user can train the mount with manual guiding or auto-guiding. For detailed instructions,

Batch Exposure Function: The EQ8 mount is equipped with a SNAP port which can control the shutter release of a camera. Working with the SynScan hand control’s “Camera Control” function, a user can take batch exposures when doing astrophotography. Up to 8 groups of “Exposure-time & Frames” combinations can be set on the SynScan hand controller. For detailed information, refer to the SynScan hand control’s instruction manual.

Auto-Home Function: The EQ8 mount is equipped with two home position sensors. Working with the SynScan hand controller, the mount can be placed to the same home position after turning on the power. For detailed information, refer to the SynScan hand control’s instruction manual.

Skywatcher EQ8 technical specifications: (subject to change without notice).

Product Name	EQ8 Mount
Mount Type	German Equatorial Mount
Max Payload (Counterweights excluded)	50kg
Latitude Adjustment Range	10 to 65 degrees
Azimuth Adjustment Range	±10 o
Weight (Tripod excluded)	25.3 kg
Counterweight	2 x 10kg/ea
Tripod	Standard Tripod 29.4kg, Starbase Tripod 17.5kg
Counterweight Rod Weight	2.6kg
Power Requirement	DC11~16V 4A
Motor	0.9 o Hybrid Stepper Motor
Transmission	435:1 Worm Drive + 64 Micro-step/0.9o Stepper Motor Drive
Gear Ratio	435
Resolution	11136000 Counts/Rev., approx. 0.12 arc-second
Maximum Slewing Speed	3.3 degrees/second
Tracking Rate	Sidereal rate, solar rate, lunar rate
Tracking Mode	Equatorial mode
Auto-guiding Speed	0.125X, 0.25X, 0.5X, 0.75X, 1X
PEC	100 Segments Permanent PEC
Hand Controller	SynScan
Database	42000+ Objects
Celestial Object Catalog	Messier, NGC, IC, SAO, Caldwell, Double Star,Variable Star, Named Star, Planets
Pointing Accuracy	Up to 5 arc-minutes (RMS)
Resolution of Aux. R.A./Dec. Axis Encoders	17624 Counts/Rev., approx. 1.2 arc-minutes