Celestron Dual Axis Motor Drive (Advanced CG4)

I have an Orion EQ-3 mount to which, several years ago, I added a dual-axis drive motor kit - bought from Orion. In a hurry one day, I mistakenly plugged a 12VDC power source into the hand controller (it's designed for _6_VDC!). This fried the electronics in the hand controller. Orion no longer sells their dual-axis motor drive add-on kit. This kit looked identical (and it IS) to my original, but the price was a bit steep (if I recall about $200 all said). But, I needed a replacement - as having drives on both axis is very handy for what I do (asteroid occultations). In short, it seems to be identical in every way (except for the lettering on the hand controller). Normal RA tracking speed is spot-on. I took a chance on this as I've read some version of the EQ-3 mount have different worm/gear ratios for RA. But this seems to work -- perfectly.

Very easy to install. Clutch on Dec. is really handy. Takes a little time to learn the remote control but I don't learn as fast as I used to. You'll like this kit because it will keep tracking while you change eyepieces. I bought a zoom eyepiece just because I would lose my target while changing. No longer a problem. A lot less money than a go-to mount and I don't need a computer to run it.

While it worked it was very good - held on target even at highest magnification. But after about 50 hours of use the box died and the stepper motors no longer working. I would rate this as very unreliable electronics! Buy a decent go-to-mount instead!

Absolutely essential for astro-photography through the CG-4 mount. It works very well, I can pull almost 2 minutes exposures with it if I am super carful in my alignments.Only two things that I am really missing with this device:1. I wish it would move faster. x8 is super slow - not practical if you want to look for an object, only to align it in your view.2. What would I give for another clutch for the RA axis... It is soooo annoying to try to use the coarse knob and my entire body in order to control the movement not to miss the spot. And I always miss.If you are thinking about going into Astro-photography, you should consider getting a better mount than the CG-4.

I originally bought these motors to allow hands-free tracking of the planets with my CG-4. What I didn't expect was the excellent planetary images it was capable of aiding in. If you're looking for an entry into AP with the planets and the Moon, look no further.The motors are a breeze to install, allowing more time outside tracking your favorite objects. I bought 4 Tenergy Centura rechargeable D batteries to power the setup which last many days before needing charged. The Dec and RA motors are placed on the brass shafts that the slow-motion knobs are attached to on your mount. On the CG-4, this prevents you from using the slow-motion controls to starhop. The Dec motor has a clutch which can be loosened so you can manually track in Dec (up and down). The RA has no such clutch, so the coupling will need to be loosened with an allen wrench if you hope to manually track in RA (left and right). Also, be aware that this setup cannot slew. It only tracks, and even at the fastest setting (8x, which I use when imaging), you can barely tell it's moving. For quickly pointing at an object, you will need to hold the telescope tube with both hands and aim it at the desired target.These motors also open the door to beginner astrophotography of the various solar system objects. With accurate polar alignment, i've been able to take upwards of 3 minute subs. I'm sure it's capable of more, but this is as far as i've gone.Whether you're looking to keep Saturn centered in the eyepiece, or you want to try your hand at planetary imaging; there's no doubt these motors are more than capable. At $100, they have already more than paid for themselves.UPDATE: 2/25/14 - I've since upgraded to the Advanced VX mount, but have returned to update this review. First, do not buy the batteries I recommended. They only provide 4.5V of power when the motors require 6V; even when fully charged, it still isn't enough. Instead, I bought a cheap 6V power adapter (6V 1A AC Adapter to dc Power Adapter 5.5/2.1mm) which worked like a charm. Even though i've moved on to a bigger mount, I would still recommend this product in a heartbeat.

I have read a lot of reviews regarding the aesthetics of this motor set up and while I have nothing to compare it to in that regard, mechanically it works great. This motor set up comes with a clutch you can disengage with your hand for quick slewing and a simple controller. When you get your target centered in your eyepiece (using the controller) with your tripod polar aligned, the motor drive will track in single sidereal when you switch it on. Essential for astro-photography.

This kit requires you to remove the RA cable (or at least renders it useless), meaning you cannot fine tune RA except with the motor. This would be fine, except the motor moves way too slowly even on 8x speed to be useful.Every single piece of this kit is made of the cheapest materials obtainable, with no thought whatsoever given to quality. There are exposed circuit boards, cable management is a mess, the cables are not replaceable, the battery pack is inexplicably separate from the controller which gives you even more cables hanging around everywhere, and for some reason it requires three different sizes of Allen wrenches to assemble.Lastly, it also does not track stars unless you hold the tracking button, so it isn't especially useful for exposures longer than 10 seconds or so--or even for visual astronomy, if you just want to sit back for a few minutes. The entire ensemble feels more like a bored hobbyist's weekend project than an OEM adapter. The only positives are that it does, in fact, sort of work, and it's really easy to install despite how it looks. I would highly recommend saving the money and putting it towards buying a Star Adventurer if the prices ever come back down to sane levels.