Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro Telescope Mount

[@AstroBackyard]

Here's my PHD2 Guiding Graph with the EQ8-R Pro: astrobackyard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/phd2-graph.jpg

[@dankahraman354]

This is misleading bold faced touting of a product. It depends greatly on atmospheric conditions. Stop pimping Trevor!

[@scottyszoo.8093]

Has anyone tried having the pillar installed with rechargeable batteries? You can get lithium ion in all sorts of sizes. I just think it's a good idea

[@cryptojihadi265]

@@dankahraman354 Wow, you're parents must have really done a number on you!

[@narayapapilaya1108]

That mount's a beast! Also very proud you got special access for this, seeing your channel grow like this is wonderful

[@AstroBackyard]

Thank you very much, Naraya!

[@dazza1639]

I’ve had the standard EQ8 for the last 2 years and love it. The upgrades look great. Time for you to build an observatory to hold it. You won’t regret it.

[@wesleydonnelly2141]

Hey Trevor! My friend, that mount looks AWESOME!! My goodness you're a lucky guy to be able to sample such a beautiful, well engineered piece of kit! You have come so far with your KZbin Channel and i'm sincerely happy for you sir! Well Done Trevor!

[@AstroBackyard]

Thank you Wesley!

[@nelsonrivera6575]

sheesh thats a laser, glad you had the chance to play with it, thats a mount we (mortals) can only dream of ,

[@kevincarpenter3428]

You are a lucky guy,what a beast.mind you,you deserve it with all the good work you do.keep it up mate

[@gregorywilkins1001]

Great Commercial for Sky-Watcher

[@tjh44961]

Your enthusiasm is always infectious! Thanks.

[@TheAngel]

every time I see an upload notification I get happy !

[@mikeries8549]

I go oof. It started with a video of the $400 skywatcher mount kit. He thought it was the bomb. Remember? Almost bought one but kept watching videos and he never uses that mount. Then the next bigger one and... 8 or 9 telescopes later here I am going what's next year? It's gotten a wee bit out of my price range and I'm so glad I got here before spending any loot.

[@spookydonkey2195]

The insta pictures are amazing, thank you for sharing. Also, I cant wait to see your observatory!

[@SamaraLovesU2]

Trevor, you really need to get yourself a JMI Wheeley Bar if you already don't have one. Before I built my observatory it's what saved me and allowed me to image every clear night without wasting too much time setting up and without hurting myself. Cool video by the way, looks like an awesome mount.

[@AstroBackyard]

Thanks Samara - I will look into the JMI wheeley bar :)

[@RaysAstrophotography]

Big black EQ6-R that can hold lot of weight! Observatory class upgrade! A bit pricey than expected but worth it looks like! I will definitely get this at some point.

[@klausdonath7321]

regarding your image @8:40 , there is a trick to get rid of purple stars. invert the picture colors. put green saturation down and invert it back. in pixinsight there is even a special tool to remove the green: SCNR

[@triangulumpubg6295]

There is a much faster way. Use PixelMath :)

[@Lessgetbrootal]

My jaw dropped at the sight of the tadpoles nebula :O Havn't seen an amateur astronomer capture that one so beautifully. Nice job Trevor

[@xsauce3858]

Those 3 green screws to lock the scope in place is my favourite part of the mount. Looks so cool.

[@AndreiGusan]

I hope Sky-Watcher will add the cable management options on smaller mounts, such as EQ6 and HEQ5. I'm looking to upgrade my mount in the next 6-12 months from HEQ5 to something like AZ-EQ6 or EQ6-R. Those USB and power ports would be a nice to have!

[@jayballauer8353]

As a tester of Sky-Watcher gear myself, I haven't gotten to use the EQ-8 R Pro mount yet. It's $5000 as Trevor tested...and $8000 (with tripod) if you purchase the EQ-8 Rh Pro variant, which adds the precision encoders. Sky-Watcher has had this mount for years, selling it only to the Euro market...I remember the Sky-Watcher USA guys (Jeff and Kevin) having it set-up at NEAIC back in 2014...and at that time they didn't have plans to bring it to N. America. Glad they finally did.

[@mangoldm]

Love the color palette on the Tadpoles.

[@Paul_85-]

I'm a bit bemused by this video. Yes it's a new mount with a huge payload capacity. But that's pretty much all you said. A bit of cable management and a home button. Great but how accurate is it ? The guide scope is what makes mounts accurate. I personally use a HEQ5 but I have to say Meads lx 850 with its built in automatic guide scope is still the best. No need for separate software for guiding etc just point the scope and it automatically starts the guiding. Similar payload capacity too. That the one I'd get if I had the funds. This eq8 r doesn't even have a polar scope built in.

[@triangulumpubg6295]

50kg payload, pretty affordable (who can afford an observatory will be able to afford this mount), BELT DRIVEN so no backslash, extremly fast when it comes to pointing (for its size), I am sure with good PA and balance, 5min subs are easily doable at 1000mm unguided. Its like 5 times more accurate than a takahashi 200 is. ;)

[@jayballauer8353]

The Meade mount is a full $2000 more for less payload ability, though I hate saying that since I believe we overrate payload capacity anyway. But I think that the Sky-Watcher makes a lot of sense, especially since you can use that extra money to customize your guiding solution...as cool as the Starlock is, it's not everybody's cup of tea. And as for polar scopes, these are designed for a permanent observatory setup...you don't need a polar scope when you probably have software to do that for you.

[@NikonJax]

Wow Trevor! Great pics:) Nice video as usual, hey Dylan! That is on the list when I look at building an observatory :)

[@Wolfie6020]

Hi Trevor, Long time viewer of your channel. Thanks for the review. I was lucky enough to be at the Bintel release tonight and met Dylan. He is a great guy and the mount is fabulous. Your work is inspirational.

[@thesammyjenkinsexperience4996]

Did Bintel say when the mount would be available and for what price? I'm also in Australia.

[@Wolfie6020]

@@thesammyjenkinsexperience4996 I did not get a price directly from them but they have at least one in stock already.

[@thesammyjenkinsexperience4996]

@@Wolfie6020 I just found it on the SW site... $6999 for the R model, $10499 for the Rh model. Mount only prices, no tripod.

[@thesammyjenkinsexperience4996]

@@Wolfie6020 $7999/$11499 with tripod.

[@flemdogmillionaire239]

amazing video Trevor!!!. I got my eq6rpro because you had gotten great results from it.

[@AstroBackyard]

Thanks Jimmy! The EQ6-R is fantastic ;)

[@timmbottoni3135]

Another competitor in the midrange high precision encoder market is a good thing. So many cool options for astrophotographers these days! Thanks for a great video. I would love to see a shootout some day between the real time encoder based mounts and it would be awesome to see you lead that effort.

[@laserguide]

Looks to be a very capable mount indeed. I now know what I want for Christmas :-) The images at the end of the video were simply stunning. Nicely done Trevor!!

[@AaronDalton1]

Awesome video Trevor! Such an impressive piece of hardware. Really fun following your journey in AP and seeing the production value your videos getting better over time.

[@JimmyLocoSlots]

Very nice Trevor! Your skills and your great KZbin channel are always giving you perks. Well deserved.

[@yobb89]

Nice, i thought this was going to be a prototype flop like the ?eq7? ,i've owned the eq8 for about 3-4 years and having to work around it's flaws ,i hope this is a big improvement ,i see they didn't fix the exposed dec and ra encoders,They have a foam debri guard but foreign objects still manage to get into the encoders, the large 435 teeth gear disc are usually eccentric to the bore,this causes binding when slewing with the clutch off,a nuisance if you have hyper tuned the mount and need to realign quickly without redoing a star alignment,i hope spring loaded worms are in the eq8r. The offset weight from the motors was a big problem,it looks like they have fixed this. The worm gears need taper bearings, i have replaced mine a few times,the stock bearing tolerance are not that great,the float play adds a lot to the p.e. moisture gets into the motor housing from dew .. it looks like they fix the tiny clutches which was such a pain if you have big hands.35kg was about the max for 0.6'' rms and under on my eq8, that being said since you mentioned the eq8r can do 50 kg astro that must mean it has bigger motors on it and or possibly has spring loaded worms. is that the maxi starlight fw wheel ?. i have one it's awesome!, holds 9x 2'' filters,green looks alot better! btw it looks like you didn't use the pass through i/o on the dec! just a heads up,getting replacements parts for premium mounts like a eq8 or more then likely the eq8r is almost non existent,i tried for months and no luck , if you can get extended warranty on such a premium mount then i recommend you do,replacement parts will not be coming unless it's inside a new mount that's shipping to your door...if skywatcher can keep the price down to $5-6 k then this mount sure will be the go to for big scopes,other then that if you want a real performer for a lot of weight then i would go see what 10 micron/paramount or mesu optics have...

[@toddnoseworthy1447]

Nice. Be interesting to see how accurate the tracking is vs earlier and cheaper versions of SW mounts. Better tracking could mean less reliance upon guiding or longer exposures without issues. Please do some kind of test to come to a conclusion re guiding improvements.

[@hansanarandeepastrophotogr9876]

Oh sir, your telescope is a monster. I cant wait for see your next video. I enjoyed all your videos.....i developed my astromy knowladge. Thank you very much sir😉😉

[@ZZstaff]

I purchased a Sky-Watcher EQ [can't remember exact model, however it is heavy] years ago and I got to use it about six times before it broke - forever.

[@Emleung55]

So thaaats why you weren't saying what scope you were using in your posts! Awesome stuff

[@ДмитрийОверин-ф7р]

Обзоры американцев самые лучшие. Даже просто обстановка - чистые дворы, тихо, спокойно. И всегда хорошая погода, солнечная! При такой обстановке, хорошей зарплате, спокойствии только и можно заниматься любимым хобби. Смотрю в окно в России - грустно...

[@stevenharper6394]

Awesome videa as always Trevor! That mount is a snazzy beast 👌

[@AstroBackyard]

Thanks Steven!

[@jannaconda1983]

Nice mount. had an Esprit 150 too , siting on an Skywatcher Az-EQ6-GT , till my ex start making big troubles. Have fun on you rig any way. very nice stuff you are vloggin about.

[@peeb2896]

Man...what a rig! Just look at the smile on your face! I would be smiling too....

[@thinktonka]

Lucky you! I admire your passion. Glad stumbled onto your channel while doing research into buying my first real telescope!

[@jimm5593]

Wow! After using that incredible mount it will be hard to go back. What incredible images. Your next project will have to be installing an observatory with a solid pier. I think we will need to pass the hat around to buy Dylan a decent tripod for his Star Adventurer - he still has it mounted on that flimsy camcorder thing!

[@FarmLapse]

Great video, Trevor! That mount looks incredible, and incredibly heavy as well

[@HorfieldAstronomy]

Hi Trevor, Now all you need is to build the Observatory to put it in, absolutely fantastic :-)

[@JohnICGomes]

Thank you for all your videos. You channel got me excited about astrophotography and got me familiar with (a) process and (b) tools and brands. However, I have 3 questions and wanted to seek your expert opinion: 1. I’m interested in both viewing and photographing both planets and DSOs (BTW, didn’t know all these jargons before I bumped into your page :)). Is William Optics GT81 a good / versatile scope for that? 2. What accessories / specifications should I buy to cover both viewing and photography? I want to use my Nikon DSLR as a camera. 3. Is iOptron CEM25p a good scope for the above? Thanks a lot in advance, and look forward to many more hours of your video! 🙏🏻

[@hdagent8080]

HAHA Rudy rockin a deuce at 4:20 wow those astrophotos at the end :0

[@ms542]

That's a great looking scope for sure. Maybe it's just me but its pretty annoying that spending that much money and they can't include some type of polar alignment option. Even if most people use their own they could still include the aluminum bracket geez.

[@Lasastard]

Congrats on the new toy. A bit bummed out that they decided to split the Eq8 into a deluxe and a base version, with the new base version costing basically what the old one cost - but without encoders :( A question for you - I am thinking of upgrading from my NEQ6 - it's getting old and I am looking for something to securely hold my new 8" Newtonian. I was thinking iOptron CEM60... your test of the mount sounded really good, but seems you skipped it in favor or the EQ6-R and now the EQ8?

[@eliaskinnunen3162]

For heavy-duty mount like that you'd need wheels under the tirpod legs so you can just push it to the backyard without having to assemble it every time

[@seansmith908]

Elias Kinnunen Forget the wheels, put it in an observatory. Unless its got airbags too I would be afraid to roll that beastly top heavy thing anywhere.

[@scottadams5858]

Two words for this mount, bad ass

[@markattardo]

That's a monster! Congrats on getting to test it out.

[@galacticus9845]

This mount is also compatible with the Starsense if you get the correct one. Or you could use ASIAIR which makes it superfluous. There is also an upgraded version with RA absolute encoder which makes additional autoguiding unnecessary.

[@rckuhmann]

Indeed, StarSense for the: "Orion Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G" (or its "Sky-watcher" counter-part) works also with: Celestron AVX (CGX, CGX-L, etc.).

[@PCPointerDE]

Nice review. Btw: there are home position sensors but they only work with the hand controller so you have to connect this first before you start using ASCOM. You said there is no polar scope but also with the scope I think it will be neccessar to drive it in a exakt homeong position. I don't understand why skywatcher didn't mount sales like on the AZ EQ 6 Pro. Best regards

[@MetalZlig]

Great video and the photos are amazing! :D

[@2badger2]

Beautiful mount ... WOW

[@bakerc]

This looks an absolute beast

[@innercityastro7742]

Great video trevor, as per usual, but is there any chance we can have a better look at that monster scope atop that mount?

[@SadSpaceDuck]

Haha Dylan good to see you here. I was a helper and brought my setup for the nights at star stuff 2... no star stuff 3??

[@DylanODonnell]

Amos Voltz Star Stuff 3 is coming my friend :)

[@SadSpaceDuck]

Dylan O'Donnell can’t wait!!!

[@asaamv]

I don't know why I don't get notifications for this channel when new video upload

[@The_OEK]

Damn this thing is huge. Awesome shots, very beautiful.

[@andrewabbott-tarrant548]

What a great video and mount, look forward to more images.

[@firebearva]

It's a monster!

[@paulruemmele]

Holy Dollar signs Batman! Very cool to see something from the top end. The question is if you could afford one of the items from the setup (mount, camera, or scope) which would you choose to spend your money on first?

[@richardl1743]

A good telescope can’t make up for a bad mount

[@Jacob-rt3ch]

45 minutes to set up? For me thats every night even with beginer setup. Because my house is on a steep hill, i have to literally climb those stairs i have in backyard :D

[@kindjalkazad]

This is also the time it take me to setup my astrotrac with the Pier ^^

[@starastronomer]

Takes me an hour or so if I use my larger refractors.

[@randydonnelly5897]

That's no moon. It's a space station. Must be like a kid in a candy store with that thing

[@fraggerfragsolot9285]

oh wow, once again I'm jealous of your gear :D

[@spacewe6718]

Wow! What a beast Trevor! Keep up the good work!! "-"

[@stelaw6]

Awesome videos trev

[@N4GW]

I wish you would have shown a guiding graph so we could see how well it guides

[@StardustAstronomy]

Superb review 👍🏻

[@MrKingamaziah]

If you upgrade you could sell it to the military to launch anti aircraft missles ;) Seriously it’s beautiful! I’m asking Santa for an EQR-R pro for Christmas!

[@dasimcoes]

Trevor , i think you need to tell the guys at skywatcher that you lost that set up . I was looking at the esprit 100 with the same camera and wheel. As always nice images.

[@meadmaker4525]

Looking on the OPT website, the Sky Watcher Esprit 150ED is $6500 (USD), and the EQ8-R is $5000, compared to a Celestron 11" RASA or SCT for $3500 and a CGX-L mount for $3600. So, why spend significantly more money on a refractor with a 6" aperture, when you could get a RASA or SCT with almost twice the aperture and without chromatic aberration, etc., and spend significantly more on a mount that does about the same thing as the CGX-L, albeit with a heavier weight capacity (110 pounds vs 75 pounds)? I'm asking honestly, not trolling. Is there a significant quality difference between the two mounts and/or telescopes? I know you have an 11" SCT on a CGX-L there with you now, so I'm interested in hearing your opinion regarding which of these setups you prefer and why. I understand preference is as real a thing as quality and performance, so I don't discount that, but I'm just surprised by the price difference in these pieces of equipment. Most would view a higher price and take it to mean it's better quality, but experience has taught me that's not always the case. Anyway, if you have the time, and inclination, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about this. Thanks! :-)

[@joryodom4923]

I’m trying to put together a beginner astrophotography setup and was sold on the Williams Optics Zenithstar 73 doublet you featured in one of your videos but was recently told that my money would be better spent on a triplet due to “chromatic aberration.” I’m a beginner to astrophotography and have so much to learn from polar alignment, equipment setup, imaging, processing data etc. I guess I feel my time and money would better spent learning the process on a modest setup before investing further. You’re thoughts would be appreciated.

[@stadtchronistjennersdorf6351]

Great mount...running smoothly since 2015 (of course EQ8, not the new EQ8R-Pro), but for sure not recommended for mobile use! ;-)

[@stargazer4574]

What a monster! I would kill to get one of those!

[@shrekshrek]

Kill a human?😟🧐

[@angryBOT]

Could you please create a Trevor Jones Video Playlist? Your video music choices are kickass!

[@ftlaud911]

Looks like the Orion HDX110. They had some teething issues. Wonder if they worked it out with this model. Sweet setup with the 150.

[@clintkennedy8374]

It’s so beautiful 🤩 what a beast

[@scottiusnevious5143]

Recording the taurid meteor stream? It would be a super power to document something like a meteor stream.

[@cryptojihadi265]

Kind of new to the channel, but when did you upgrade to the 150? Seems like this is the first video with it. It would have been hard focusing on the new Mount instead of going off on the new 150. I think 6" is the Holy Grail of a Quality APO

[@will2see]

Another beast in the town :-)

[@armandotartaglia1485]

Wow amazing upgrade!!!!!

[@mickmoonstudycansell1889]

Your images are absolutely stunning, awesome mount & scope. One question, did you not get any problems setting up on your lawn bearing in mind the combined weight of your're setup?

[@davidbrown2806]

So now that you have used both this mount and the Celestron CGX-L, is there a comparison video coming ???? Or did I miss it ????

[@duggus777]

Amazing shots Trevor, especially the tadpoles. What's the song featured during the photo showing?

[@swapsaraf3]

That OTA is impressive. Can you share some more of the images captured by it

[@jwbullardxxiii]

OK, it's been several years after this video came out. Would you still recommend this mount? Any revision on the things you like/dislike, areas for improvement?

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

Those base pads looked like they'd introduce a lot of wobble on a dirt surface. Maybe the weight of the system is enough to keep things stable.

[@alejandrix0377]

I just fell in love

[@astromansid]

Great video mate, great review.

[@nadirteymurov1]

Great ! Thanks for early review

[@Amir-qh4qe]

Good for you

[@VRzichtbaar]

Hi Trevor, I really enjoy your video's and reviews. Although this mount is completely out of my league it keeps me motivated to keep on struggling with my rig. Looking at your images at the end of the video I notice a lot of Chromatic aberration around the stars. (might be you tube). Lately I have been using Topaz Denoise AI providing me really astonishing results with regard to noise reduction and removal of chromatic aberration. It might be a bad advice for your level of astro-photography but I thought let's mention it anyway.

[@x00m41]

Hi Trevor! awesome video and review! have you heard about the EQ8-Rh pro Mount with Renishaw RA Encoder? if so.. will you PLEASE make a video on that as well?? :]

[@konrak81]

great video like always

[@danielu.5043]

Are you planning to do another live stream? Love your channel.

[@phardiman84]

Canada, eh? Say no more. Subscribed.

[@dekemp1986]

This will fit perfectly in an obsevary ;)

[@kevinhanley3023]

Hey! That's a Esprit 150 too!

[@jimgarasich7328]

I want one !

[@Mel-127]

On the top of the tube rings on the new esprite150ed are the threaded holes metric or are they still unc threads. Because some people redrilled and rethreaded the earlier model because they couldn't match up accessories. Great review. Wish you clear sky's.

[@aapanchev]

That is amazing rig!

[@johnadastra1754]

Nice review Trevor. Just wondering how far the payload can be pushed for imaging purposes.

[@paperweight57]

Love the music! Where do you get it?