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HEQ5 owners - how far past meridian can it go?

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Hello,
I recently acquired a HEQ5 (on a standard tripod, no pier).
How far past meridian can this mount go?
I set it to flip 3 degrees past meridian but have a feeling it can go much further...
Right now I am shooting Rosette and about 20 min before the flip - I don't see anything dangerous happening in the next hour or even more.
I am not very experienced with the flips - only did three or four so far.
Any idea?
Thanks!
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
4 years 2 months ago #48424

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The mount can rotate 360 degrees without the need for a meridian flip from the point of view of the mount. It depends on balance and your gear (telescope plus camera mostly) if you want to perform a meridian flip or not. I let my HEQ5-Pro perform a meridian flip 0.5h after culmination and FOR ME that works perfectly OK.

By the way, if I read this correctly in another thread you are using Stellarmate 1.4.3 which has quite an old version of KStars and Ekos. The newer versions have an updated interface for meridian flips and now the offset is expressed in hours and not in degrees anymore.


Wouter
4 years 2 months ago #48437

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Ah... I understand now. Las night I went one full hour past the meridian with no issues.
Yes, I have SM 1.4.3 but that's just the core firmware. I have all latest updates/nightlies. KStars 3.4.0 etc.
Thanks!
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
4 years 2 months ago #48444

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I see, so you unknowingly set it to 3 hours instead of 3 degrees. Yes, that's quite a difference haha
4 years 2 months ago #48447

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ha-ha-ha... I am not THAT dumb. I just set it for long enough to finish my sequence without flipping...
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
4 years 2 months ago #48454

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Didn’t mean to imply you’re dumb!

Why would you want to prevent a flip?
4 years 2 months ago #48465

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Why do it if it's not really needed?
At least I am not as paranoidal about it.
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
4 years 2 months ago #48470

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You have a point there. OTOH take care of the motors of your mount. Maybe they perform better and don’t wear down so quick in certain positions only. I don’t know but it may be something to consider.
4 years 2 months ago #48472

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You also have a good point... I always thought that the flip is needed for the scope parts not hitting the tripod but apparently there are other reasons too.
-- Max S
ZWO AM5. RST-135. AZ-GTI. HEQ5. iOptron SkyTracker.
TPO RC6. FRA400. Rokinon 135 and other lenses.
ZWO ASI2600MC. D5500 modified with UVIR clip-in filter.
ZWO ASI120MM Mini x 2. ZWO 30F4 guider. Orion 50mm guider.
ZWO EAF x 2.
4 years 2 months ago #48525

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