Okay that's two votes for the EQ6-R. I think I can take the AZ-EQ5 off the list though that dual saddle head does seem pretty nifty. Easy enough to use a saddle plate on the larger mount though if I really need to go tandem. I think I'm done with Celest-Ori-meade after so many negatives in the fb groups. Also skeptical of Ioptron and well most things really. A strong clean foundation for Onstep would be terrific.
DANGER! RAMBLING THOUGHTS AHEAD:
I'm not sure if I'm "lucky" or just getting pissed enough to squeeze the wallet. I've been "that guy" who did all the DIY stuff for decades, including about 28 years as a pro electronics tech. Opensource and diy seem to go well together. For me, this a serious cop out, resignation, a breaking of the sword... or maybe I'm just tired. It's been 3 1/2 years of this little mount and I've really outgrown it. Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way. I cobbled together old bicycles from stuff I found around for years before finally biting the bullet and buying something decent, and what became of that was a garage full of bike parts and the occasional local race medal, and a pack of memories to become dirt one day. So maybe buying the biggest mount I can handle moving to the yard is the way to go, or maybe I should give up gems altogether and buy a monster goto dob...or maybe I should STFU and go fix the stupid thing. Arg...
Also, I'm never impressed by throwing money at a project, that's for normal people.
Then there's pages like this one on diy mounts:
astro.neutral.org/homemade-diy-gem-telescope-mount.shtml
I think I would miss that a little. Of course, a really good commercial build would give me a better platform for further diy experiments...but then so would a flat mill.