Orion 9011 EQ-1 Equatorial Telescope Mount

This is an update and revision of the original posted 8/ 17. It might be useless now, because the object is not available at this time, or maybe ever. Overall, I still love it.First, a correction: If the declinsion control reaches its limit, hold your instrument steady, unlock the axis and roll the control back to where there will be distance for further adjustment. Lock the axis.Now the review:It has its faults, but for the price, the apparatus (tripod and gizmo) is quite workable, if I ever learn how to work it (my problem, not the apparatus’). Otherwise, there needs to be better and more thorough instructions on assembly and moreso on operation. I have not found either activity to be a great problem, yet, but I worry I'll break something learning. (Update: I did).Weak parts:The weakest part of the gizmo is the ascension axis. It can break and/or unscrew when unlocked. Therefrom, the default condition of the axis must be locked.Unlocked it can break from rough usage or over- weighting or falling from a tip- over of the tripod. It also can come unscrewed from repeated loose retrograde rotation (Northern hemisphere. Southern I presume would be the opposite rotation.). The result of either achieves considerable error between loose siting and locked operation. If the field of your instrument is wide enough the difference might not matter and simple adjustment by way of the controls is all that is needed. I have that. I also have a .8 degree field instrument that needs more precise location.A combination of rough handling and overweighting would be dropping the counterweight when adjusting. I leave that tightly locked at the end of its shaft and add small weights at the instrument level for balance. The farther away from the axis the greater the effect of any weight.My instruments are photographic cameras, with lenses physically long enough to mount into scope rings after shimming the tubes and rings with two sided tape and strap- type hose clamps. Any given configuration can weigh up to five pounds, and the scope rings and other things I put on it add another fourteen ounces, so fully loaded, I need little extra weight and use less.NB! Loose siting can be rough handling. It can inadvertently place weight on the system in any direction – avoid it. Balancing the instrument by adjusting the counterweight is very risky – lift, do not press. Better to use small weights added to the instrument, but still lift and not press. **** Do not change balance configuration in any way in any position when axis is unlocked. Do not mount or unmount an instrument, the same.****To repair unscrewed axis:It can be screwed back in, but the base material seems soft. So, as resetting any screw in any material, gently back the screw off until you hear and/or feel a "Click." Then turn the screw gently in until tight, but not over tight. Never force a screw, to start, progress or at the end. Instead, start again. Forcing can strip the threads, eventually creating a hole the diameter of the screw.The unlocked ascension axis can also get broken in a fall as tipping over of the tripod. After orienting the tripod (below), I anchor the legs with quarter inch two by two inch, two- foot pointed angle- iron stakes driven in about 1/3 the length, pushing them tight to the legs after a few inches, driving them with a three pound hammer via another angle iron. If the ground is hard, I add water. I tie the stakes to the legs with strap-type screw fitted hose clamps available at auto parts stores.Error of orientation from this can be corrected with compass position correction which will likely need to be done anyway when looking through your instrument.The weakest part of the tripod is the leg adjustment set screws -- their sockets, actually. The socket- band thing is made of some softer plastic than the heads of the screws, maybe polypropylene. One broke from usage, another from getting caught in a pant lag, but after much usage. I wrapped strap-type hose clamps around the two bands that broke, and reinforced the third by wrapping the whole thing tightly with good strapping tape – again, tightly <https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00548QDZO/>. I tired of the awkward tightening and loosening of the clamps and bought another tripod alone, on another site. I have wrapped the weak parts with the tape, tightly.When breaking down or abandoning as for the day/ night, I bring my instrument toward horizontal, preferably with controls or motor, until counterweight is straight to the ground. I lock the ascension axis. I remove the instrument and any attending objects. Lifting slightly, I unscrew and remove the counterweight and its shaft. Then I turn the ascension upside down. I lock that axis. I unlock the declination and compass position axes to allow those rotations to turn the scope rings to relieve some stress of a knock or fall.I cover the apparatus with two garbage bags over which I put a modified suit carrier spray painted heavily, with the zipper held down by a pound of fishing weights. The painted suit carrier is not sufficiently sealed to hold out all the water, but the worst of a storm turns into leakage. And it weighs down the bags, extends the coverage well beyond the tray, and protects from debris.I have two operational apparati. I leave them up all the time, year round. I have had only one tip- over from wind in four years.Setup – orienting the platform:Lock the ascension axis. At initial setup, set one leg to the south, (North in the southern hemisphere) then adjust the legs to make the tray eye-ball-level. Then I use a compass <https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY6VVWU/> atop a 1 1/2" deep aluminum box to keep it from being affected by steel parts of the brace. I set the compass- box system as squarely to the southern (northern) leg against the sides of the tray, and work from the opposite side, the northerly (southerly) working side. I use the pop-up sight to center the compass between the posts of that leg, my eye centered across the compass by a gunsight built in.Go to the NCEI site for magnetic declination of your location <https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/calculators/magcalc.shtml#declination>. Rotate the tripod upon the southern (northern) leg until the compass aligns to that degree. Now set the stakes (Above)Lock the Ascension axis. Unlock the compass position rotation and set it so the long latitude adjustment screw is centered over the south (north) leg. Lock the compass position rotation.Next, set the latitude. Use a travel map or a geolocator to find the latitude. Lock the ascension axis. Set the latitude adjustment on the gizmo as well as you can, using the long screw over the south (north) leg The scale could be off and your setting poor, but that can be dealt with later. When finally established, it need never be done again from that position on Earth.Setup – I am slow and clumsy and it takes me about an hour including electrical setup for the motor https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000XMWCQ/ Setup – Leveling the platform:Adjust the legs until the joint of the gizmo with its base (the compass position axis) is eyeball-level as seen from two sides including the front working side. (Two sides of a triangle define the third The casting could be distorted, but two sides define the platform in space. Make sure that the front working side is one of them, when selecting the south [north] leg). Unlock the compass rotation and rotate the gizmo to center by eyeball the asension axis at the working side. Lock the compass position axis.Mount your instrument and balance it if necessary, following the principles given above. The instrument must be oriented to the west in the northern hemisphere, east in the southern, because of interference among various parts of the apparatus and instrument on operation.Set the declination to zero and lock it. Zero should be parallel to the east and west legs as a side of the triangle. If it is off, it can make for crazy configurations with the counterweight. You can adjust the declination to straighten things out it and the scale will get fixed, below. Meanwhile, note the position of the pointer and call that zero for the moment.Set the ascension clock to zero. Unlock the asension axis.While holding the ascension clock firmly at zero, site along the side of the counterweight mount with one eye to the point where the farther edge blends with the near edge, and note the position of that side against the ascension clock. Correct the position as needed by moving the counterweight shaft side to side until the two sides mirror same clock position. Lock the ascension axis and check the position again. If position is different, repeat the process. Lock the ascension axis.Find the block beneath the instrument mount. Locate a flat area machined onto the top of the block. Use that as your level edge or use another part of the block that might better position the counterweight, if there is one.Use a good bubble level with a groove <https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XK6HQRP/> Place the groove of the level squarely onto the edge you have chosen, always being careful to not press down, and to have the edge well seated in the groove withut applying pressure. Adjust the legs to center the bubble.NB! Level means bubble in the center, not just between the lines. Judge the position of the bubble by moving your vision to align the back and front of each line and adjust the legs until the spaces on the two sides are equal.Unlock the compass position axis and rotate the gizmo *by its base,* to center the ascension axis between the legs of the chosen adjacent side. Lock the compass position axis. Level the block using only the leg away from the first side – the south (north) leg as the first side was the working front. Return to the first side to check that the apparatus has not been disturbed by your work on the second side. If necessary, repeat the process more carefully, starting with the alignment with the ascension clock.Setup – Ascension and declination.Go to some web site to determine the position of a large object, sun, <https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc>, moon https://www.heavens-above.com/moon.aspx?alt=0&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&tz=CET, or an easily sighted star, to be set at center of the field. Then set that declination on the gizmo, compensating for any adjustment you made previouslyCheck the time. Holding the ascension clock at zero, ascend to the current time along the numbers that descend. Lock the ascension axis. Set the ascension clock to the current time, along the numbers that advance as the earth turns.Though it is good at first to use the factory setting for declination, there is no guarantee that the factory setting is correct or will not yield a weird configuration with the counterweight. With a wide field lense, I locate by site the large object and center it. If the object is not in view, I adjust my instrument until it is, and center it with ascension and declination controls.Then I set the pointer to the correct degree of declination, bending it and/ or resetting the attachment screws. Then there should be no additional need for modification of the gizmo – zero for setup, will be correct relative to the sky, and to the proper declination intended when set, give or take again because the pointer is blunt, the scale coarse and the eyeball can be looking at it wrong. Also, one instrument might seat differently from another, as mine do. Once the pointer is set correctly, it need not be set again, and even my misfit problems only need minor declination adjustment.Viewing problems:NB! Simple error in declination does not affect tracking The object will move parallel to the north- south line.The biggest problem error is drift from misalignment. The fixes are so much art that I have worked out little of the science.It can be discovered on setup by advancing and retreating ascension, advancing and retreating declination. If object moves away from north- south line, or east west line, there is a misalignment. It can be caused by lack of level platform, error in compass rotation, error in latitude. Having already gotten fully set up, go for the last two. If you have done your platform work well, you will have only those adjustments to make on the gizmo.Start with compass rotation that almost always needs to be reset anyway, and do all adjustments in small increments, not waiting for time to take things far out of whack. I have always been able to get the thing tracking accurately before too long. And, again, latitude is permanent.

-I first got this a little while ago & have had it out now about a dozen times, so I feel I can give it a fair rating at this point. I'm directing my review to those out there who- like me- have a "grab & go" table-top mount for a smaller reflector (in my case, an Orion 90 mm Mak-Cass) and are considering taking things to the next level. First, the caveats...-This item does NOT come equipped with a device for actually attaching the telescope to the mount (in my own case, a 1/4 " x 20 Orion Adapter for the EQ-1)- it will have to be ordered separately (for about another $25-30).-It's not exactly "grab & go". That is, you will have to follow the instruction manual (which, however, is clearly written and well-illustrated with photos) and set it up properly (set the latitude gauge for your location and balance your telescope with the counter-weight along the right ascension axis) before it can be used as it's intended. That means setting the latitude to that of your location (which only has to be done once unless you often have big changes in latitude for you're viewing) & setting it up with a polar alignment when you get to your viewing place.-The gearing for the right ascension fine-tuner was a bit rough as delivered. It's a steel worm running along an aluminum gear and was quite stiff & choppy to use. However, after applying a liberal amount of petroleum jelly with a cotton swab and gearing it through a full 360 in both directions 3-4 times, it's running quite smoothly now.-There is at least one angle (SW-SSW about 20-30 degrees above the horizon) where things run into each other. For example, the other evening after having gotten a good polar alignment and checking out Jupiter, I swung over to Saturn but the declination lock thumb screw interfered with the end of the right ascension fine-tuner and blocked movement. I had to abandon the polar alignment to view it, and my feeling is that it's a design flaw- I doubt I'll figure a way around it. As Saturn moves along in the night sky over the coming weeks, I'm sure it'll be OK, but it is a nuisance for the moment. So on to the good stuff...-I said it wasn't "grab & go", but it's really the next best thing once you get it set up. I keep mine set up with my scope mounted not far from my door & when I have the time and conditions are good? I can essentially just grab it (along with my eyepieces, etc.), toss it over my shoulder & go. It's quite light and easy to manage.-It's not a toy & learning proper use (as well as getting a good polar alignment) is a process in the beginning & it takes practice (it is an instrument & takes practical as well as conceptual knowledge), but once you get onto it, it's pretty quick to set up and very rewarding to use. A 90 mm Mak-Cass mightn't sound like much, but it's a pretty potent little scope- especially if you add Barlows, etc.- and it's a real pain trying to hold an image like a planet in the field of view at high magnification and requires constant tinkering. With a good polar alignment using an EQ mount (like I had with Jupiter the other night), it's easy to hold an object- as it drifts left, simply adjust the RA to bring it back. Even if it leaves the field of view, it's easy to find (no more having to constantly change to a lower magnification/wider field eyepiece & back). The EQ mount makes a couple of hours out with the scope a much more fun, relaxing and enjoyable experience.-I've seen some complaints about shaking problems. Sure, it does shake some when you adjust the RA or Dec, or fine-tune the focus, but if you have it on a solid, vibration-free surface it settles down very quickly. I personally haven't found this to be a real issue.-So to sum, I didn't give this guy 5 stars primarily because of the frustration I've experienced recently with trying to use a polar alignment to view that area of the sky I mentioned, but aside from that and the gearing (easily solved with some Q-Tips, Vaseline & a little patience), once you have the attachment to fix your telescope to it and get it set up, you'll find it to be the upgrade to your viewing experience that you were looking for- and for a very reasonable price... Aside from the issues I mentioned? I definitely recommend it.

Buen pruducto en relación a su costo