Sky-Watcher EQM-35 - making it work properly (BELOW 1" RMS GUIDING) in 3 simple steps!

[@jameseaton7075]

Kamil - THANK YOU! I hoped my EQM-35 wouldn't be so bad when I got it yesterday but it was so tight I was worried I'd have to send it back. Your quick, clear video has fixed this with no effort or stress (apart from finding the right size allen keys!!!) and now I'm feeling much more confident about getting going with the mount.

[@virtualfpv3568]

Don't forget to check the motor mounting screws!! When I took mine apart, the motor's were mounted hilariously poorly resulting in TONS of backlash due to bad pinion mesh. Additionally, on my RA axis, the drive gears weren't orthogonal - this caused periodic binding.

[@yatishs3107]

Thank you so much Kamil! Even a mount novice like me could understand and grasp so much!!!

[@lukomatico]

Awesome video Kamil! - I'm so glad you were able to work through the problems with the mount and make such huge improvements to it's performance! Really well done mate, and a great step-by-step presentation too!

[@kamilkp]

Thanks Luke, I appreciate the comment!

[@karldahlinger1219]

Awesome, fixed my dec backlash just as you instructed

[@videinfra1352]

just followed the fixing the stiffness part, worked perfectly thanks, my backlash doesnt seem too bad so didnt bother with that. cant wait to try it out on the next clear night which will probably be a month haha

[@rch]

Perfect timing on this video! I'm looking at mounts today and the EQM-35 is very attractive at its price point, my other choice being the HEQ5. It's good to know if I decide on the EQM-35 I can resolve the issues that I have been seeing lots of talk about. Thanks for the deep dive on the fixes, Kamil!

[@kamilkp]

Awesome, I’m glad to hear that!

[@videinfra1352]

ive had an eqm 35 pro for almost year and a half now and i havent touched anything with it and am regularly getting an error of .5 to .8 on guiding. this mount is very good for the price aslong as you arent planning on using a huge scope

[@rch]

@@videinfra1352 Awesome! The issue he pointed out and that I was referring to was the pointing accuracy on the Go-To functions, not the tracking accuracy. I ended up finding a used HEQ5 for a great price, but thanks for the input!

[@AndyinMokum]

An awesome video Kamil. I've been trying to figure out what to do with the bushings on my EQM-35 PRO. I know the bloody awful grease, or dinosaur snot Sky-Watcher uses is a BIG problem. It really is terrible stuff. I think Sky-Watcher were delivered a bulk order of glue instead of grease. I'm waiting for my guarantee to expire. I'll then tear the mount down and regrease it with some decent lithium or PTFE grease. In the meantime, I'm going to employ your excellent and simple workarounds. The EQM-35 PRO mount is a great bit of kit, that's hampered by a silly bushing/bearing issue.

[@AndyinMokum]

Greetings from The Netherlands. Just an update. I applied your very easy tweeks. My *Sky-Watcher EQM-35 SynScan Pro.* mount is now working the way it was designed to do, maybe even better. The backlash wasn't really significant; it just needed a little fine tuning. The main problem I was having, was with the RA and Declination. The retaining bolts and I guess the thrust bearings on both axises, were cranked down far too much, The bushings felt like they were binding. I followed your procedure and both the RA and Declination axises, now spin like tops. It's like I have a brand new mount. Why Sky-Watcher neglects to do this at the factory, is anyone's guess? 🤔 I still plan to do a full stripdown and regrease after the warranty on the mount expires. I have to get rid of the muck Sky-Watcher call grease. Thanks for the awesome advice. It's made a huge difference to the usability of my *Sky-Watcher EQM-35 SynScan Pro.* In fact it's now a pleasure, knowing that it's working the way it's supposed to do 🔭😀 Just an afterthought. 🤔 Instead of using a plumber's crescent wrench/spanner to remove the polarscope. I used a small plumber's rubber strap wrench that I had in my box of tricks. They're really cheap to buy. They're much gentler on the polarscope's outer surface than a plumber's crescent wrench/spanner, even with cushioning. They're also good for easily removing the corrector plate cells and primary mirror cells on SCT and Maks.

[@ghostpepper1716]

Thanks for making this video. I tried this method and it made a significant improvement.

[@scotford8164]

Hey Kamil - wanna first say keep doing what you are doing! The astro community needs great teachers like you who aren’t afraid to tackle difficult problems and and teach others how to solve them! Second, I bought and EQM-35R Pro mount over a year ago and have used it in both configurations (super tracker and equatorial) and found it to be quite adequate. I did find that it works best for me with an AsiAir Plus. Dec has always been more sensitive to any balance error or PA error than RA and it will show it immediately in the guiding. Only problem/glitch I had initially that Skywatcher couldn’t seem to sort out, was that the handset never functioned well during star alignment. Skywatcher even sent me a new replacement handset and it still didn’t correct the issue. Problem went away using an EQMOD cable and ditching the handset.

[@bojanmajic]

Hi Scot, I read a comment under Nico Carvers EQM35-Review that you have to factory reset your hand controller for whatever reason, then it wil work just fine.

[@MADHIKER777]

Fantastic video. I am shopping for a mount and I'm steered away from so many because of negative reviews about these kinds of issues. Now I feel confident in this Mount that whatever issues are there are, can be alleviated thanks to your video.

[@yervantparnagian5999]

Just picked up this mount. Surprisingly it was in stock. Just as you said, RA and Dec were tight. Followed this tutorial and they are no longer tight. Upon doing the RA, when I retightened the 3 grub screws, the RA would again be stiffer even though I unscrewed the main center a bit. I decided to leave the 3 grub screws a bit loose and the RA moves freely. NO play in both axis either. Thanks for the vid.

[@RaviPatel-je5op]

Thanks man....was not sure whether to tighten or leave the screws loose....now it has been solved....

[@gabrielperano]

Thank you Kamil, been looking for a tutorial like this on KZbin, really well described.

[@scotthoch8833]

Kamil, thanks to this video I had the best guiding I've ever had on this mount in 3+ years. RA was usually ok, so long as I balanced correctly (tough to do), but DEC was always sticking and the graph was a roller coaster. I'd keep maybe 75% of my subs and didn't dare attempt to go over 2-2.5 minutes. This time out after the adjustments, the DEC graph was nearly flat and i was grabbing 3-4 minute subs no problem. RA bounced around a bit but a weight adjustment fixed that and I was under 1". I didn't even redo PHD2 calibration but that's next. Fantastic! Thanks! is anyone using a RC6 on this mount? I'm wondering if it handles it ok or if it's just too heavy?

[@RayPaganJr]

I’m so new to this hobby, I don’t even own a telescope yet, but I did purchase this mount without the hand controller for 750. After putting the Mount on tripod, it did feel stiff. I was hesitant to do what you’re instructing here for fear of screwing up, but I did it and it wasn’t difficult at all. Now it feels and moves without the stiffness it had. QC people must be on strike to let this leave their warehouse for shipping. Anyway, thanks for the video. I should be getting a telescope by the end of May or first week of June, which is the first week of hurricane season here in Florida.

[@eduardfrades6972]

Thanks, I Will try it with my eqm35, i believe we suffer the same with it. Only once I had a ver y good PA, shots with 10 minutes with perfect stars, now i have star trails.

[@damienhogan5211]

Thank you so much for making this. Been after this explanation for a few years now. Hoping to do these fixes asap.

[@woody5109]

Your basically setting the back-lash, they obviously over tighten these things at the factory. Great video, thanks.

[@woody5109]

Also keep in mind colder weather will amplify your poor grease problems. It really needs to be changed out with white lithium low temp grease.

[@drwaynebuck]

Worked like a charm! Thanks a bunch. Great channel.

[@mrbutchee1]

Thank you for the video. I just bought this mount.

[@danm3844]

Awesome video, Kamil!

[@kamilkp]

Thanks Dan!

[@strandbj]

Great tips did the RA and it works fantastic.. Just to clarify your comment on the grub screws - they are a 1.5mm Allen screw. Also, you will notice the two small hole in the face of the "donut." These are for a spanner wrench. Your method of loosing the donut will work, but you risk damaging the threads in the grub screw holes.

[@kamilkp]

Correct. I didn’t have such a spanner and wanted to avoid buying one

[@glenoverend1972]

Nice video. Your explanations are reasonable and well thought out. As for your comments on the EQM-35 it would seem that Skywatchers design is good but the quality control of their assembly staff needs improvement. What you have done is basically attention to detail. Keep up the good work.

[@kamilkp]

Thanks for the comment Glen!

[@Matt_10203]

With some adjustment my mount is guiding down at 0.5-0.6 arc seconds in an average night. I’ve seen it as low at 0.4 for short periods. I do think my area has good seeing so this may be lowering the numbers somewhat but generally I’ve had good experiences with the EQM35 pro.

[@neilstreeter9328]

Hi, I have been using the EQM-35 Pro for over a year, I was getting an RMS of about 1.5, until I changed cameras to the GPCAM3 178C and guidescope to the Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED, just changing these now gives me an RMS of around 0.4 to 0.6 in good viewing conditions. It is tempting to blame the mount, but there is nothing wrong with the EQM-35 as I have 7.5Kg payload and it handles 10 minute exposures with perfectly round stars.

[@TeamGamingSWE]

I have this mount and it's quite good for a small refractor without guiding. I have been able to take almost 4 min exposures with very small star trails. Only thing I've done is to try to calibrate the polarscope but only at a very short distance. This video was great for the time when I'm upgrading to guiding! :D

[@kamilkp]

Yeah and don’t bother with the polar scope. Plate-solving assisted PA is much better (in SharpCap or NINA e.g.)

[@kamilkp]

I don’t even have sight at Polaris from my observatory

[@DLMVegas]

Thanks for this video. I've been looking for a larger tracker and setup. I like the small foot print of the Adventurer Pro. With a Nikon D810 and a 160-600mm I'm stressing it out with the weight. Skywatcher even said I'm pushing the weight limits.

[@hikingphotog]

I was getting passable results with my SA, but just felt like at the longer focal lengths it just wasn't stable enough and I was getting quite a lot of star bounce at 400mm. Here's a video from my first year into this hobby and at 3.5 minutes was where I upgraded to EQM-35 with autoguiding and it was night and day difference. Now I'm using a newer DSLR with higher pixel count and dynamic range so its just getting crazier from there. The SA is ok for wider angle stuff, and I was bagging 6 min subs at 100mm when I was in the Badlands with it by some miracle. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3eVm6Guqsh0sNk

[@DLMVegas]

@@hikingphotog Thanks for the comment. I've only been doing this a little over a year. I've been using my 150-600 the past couple of months and no problems on the Adventurer 2i. I make sure when I go out that there is NO WIND or clouds. Even a slight breeze can cause problems. I'll check out your video as well.

[@hikingphotog]

@@DLMVegas The only time I ever used it in wind I had it backed out to 100mm. Otherwise even with the tripod as low and stable as it could be, I would noticed star bounce if I zoomed all the way in on live view and breathed too heavy near it. I had to make it a point to not walk within 5-10ft while I was imaging because it would have an effect on how much the stars bounced. You might just be getting lucky and getting an even bounce so it still looks round maybe. At first I was fairly happy but then after I was noticing the star sharpness/bouncing/streaking wasn't improving I started realizing it was a limitation of the SA.

[@WayneLittle-qz3fm]

Hey, Kamil. Love your videos. Keep up the good work. My issue here is I think you are wrong on the Dec backlash adjustment, and someone may have already mentioned it in the comments. I didn't read them all. Anyway, I just went through step by step and hopefully fixed my phd2. issues, but when I got to the Dec backlash adjustment, I was a little confused. I did have the back and forth movement like you said. I'll get back to that. The little hex bolt didn't do a thing, and I couldn't for the life of me see how it could. Back to the saddle movement, with it locked down, I had about 2mm of back and forth movement. I thought hey maybe I have to loosen those 2 larger hex bolts, but you didn't mention anything about them. I went to loosen them, and they were already loose. Tightened them back up, and movement was gone. Ok, now we are getting somewhere. Then, I put my head to figuring out how to adjust the backlash. I noticed on the mounting bracket for the motor that the hole for the hex bolt to go through was actually a slot. Hmmm, let me look at this. And I figured out that's how you adjust the backlash. By sliding the motor back and forth. I think you just got lucky when you put it back together. I'm not writing this to embarrass you or anything like that, and I hope you take it for what it is. Me trying to help the next guy with PHD2 guiding issues. Just like you. Only I'm not photogenic and don't want to scare people off. Anyway, I thought I would mention it, so maybe you can edit and put a note about it in your video. You do a bang-up job with your videos and help more than you know. Very insightful. Thanks for your knowledge and hard work. Wayne

[@kernalrom]

This looks like a great mount. I've not been able to locate one in stock to purchase. Most distributors say November 2022 at the earliest.

[@palmereldrich]

Hi Kamil! Just found your channel and as I have the EQM-35 too which arrived perfect out of the box. It was therefore apropo for the first video of yours I saw and I am hooked (subscribed🤩) I am using it for visual with a 4" F/9 apo and am trememdously impressed with its ease of use as a G&G unit due to its lighweight and stability, with vibes under a second at high power. Really happy with it and along with another channel that is using the same EQ mount will devour these great sites content in more depth if I ever decide to do AP. Adding: Very good video techniquely but might I suggest just a bit more light on your face. Loking forward to the promised video!

[@hikingphotog]

So the main issue I have with my EQM-35 is that it rotates on the RA axis just a smallest smidge too quickly. I use an MGEN3 with a 30mm guidescope (roughly 120mm focal length) and I regularly get guiding values at or under .5, though it still manages to drift in the RA axis ever so slightly (I think the drift is just enough that its somehow within margin of the MGEN3 and therefore its not correctly adjusting for it. Without guiding it gets crazy obvious as you scroll through the photos and watch the whole star field just shift forward on the RA axis. My axis aren't tight, and do spin enough for balancing, but the consistent just a bit to fast on the RA as if it doesn't have an accurate RA rotation speed setting. Polar alignment is also not the issue, as its bang on and usually exactly where it needs to be even at the end of a session.

[@mariofonseca4449]

Thanks for the video. It helped a lot.

[@socialwebwiki]

Awesome!

[@grantboxer3443]

Thanks for a great video. I have adjusted the friction on my RA and Dec axis and we will see how we go. I could not seem to find the grub screws on the RA axis disc. I am wondering if they may be missing or just very small?

[@wazigeralph]

Thanks i own a SW EQM-35 pro to. I had some problems to. But this tips clear out allot i believe. But overall i don't think it's a bad mount. It just need some adjustments. Thanks for sharing.

[@kamilkp]

Yeah I agree!

[@paolobottari6672]

Grazie!!!

[@Philobr]

Great video, I have the same scope, I think Id be petrified to do these things in case I broke it.

[@embeathome1]

Pozdrawiam Kamil :) I have the same mount and also, as many people struggling with it. But step by step, including a bit of procrastination, getting used to it. But I am really afraid of dismantling it. Both, your method or complete strip down. I am not that far like you are, I am just a beginner so no giuding etc. But I can feel very very minor wobbling when moving with the DEC, there is no difference - it is the same amount at any point of turning the DEC axis. Same is in RA axis. Maybe it should be like that, I don't know. Will see later on if I am able to fix it or if it is even necessary. Plan to visit Poloniny national park this year again where the darkest sky in CEE is (Bortle 2) so lets see... Greetings from other side of High Tatras!

[@tomivancsics6098]

Thanks!

[@tankivulture148]

This is the same mount I have. I struggled at the beginning since it's my fist experience with it, but now that I understood a few things I can go up to more than 4 minutes of exposure with a 85mm lens (APS-C), which is the longest I have. That say good things about its tracking capabilities even with long focal lengths, for it's price range, so I think it's more than good but I'm a little afraid of how it will work with the 200/1000 reflector on it since with cameras and all it almost reaches 95% of the weight it can handle

[@kamilkp]

Yeah I’m pretty sure that kind of Newt is bit too much for this mount. But I’d be curious how would it perform if you tried it!

[@andreasnyh5740]

Can you help me. If i cant loose the rear altitude screw. It is almost all the way in.

[@mwales2112]

I'm trying to update my motor firmware and the current firmware is 3.39, but keep getting this error "Not a valid motor controller firmware file". Any ideas? I contacted Sky-Watcher about this and was told I have the older motor control box without the USB plug and had to use the 2.07 firmware. It updated the firmware and will try and test it out tonight. Thanks for the info. Years ago I tore the mount don't and replaced the lube and adjusted the gearing, but still got mostly bad guiding. After watching this video I backed the dec. nut off a wee bit and updated the motor firmware. I'm capturing images of the Elephant Trunk Nebula tonight and now getting better much better guiding. Thank you

[@mrpoopybutthole666]

I've heard the default cheap & sticky grease becomes rigid at low temperatures, one of the reasons to get rid of it

[@franksemi_modular]

Mine was not stiff at all and it was performing great from first try. Perhaps they improved them ore there is difference from bash to bash.

[@Phunkydiabetic]

Hello Kamil, your videos so far have been fantastic when I owned a Star Adventurer, tons of info. I moved on to an EQM-35 Pro and....looks like you have as well! My mount works pretty good as it is but the axis are definitely stiff and it makes it very difficult to balance so I was going to follow along the video. I have a question if you don't mind.. After getting things loosened up have you noticed any differences in tracking/guiding? Have they gotten better or worse? I'm concerned I will make things worse by messing around!

[@MateuszLibner]

Hej Kamil mam pytanie, u ciebie na filmie os Ra tak dziwnie skacze znaczy na wykresie tak to wyglądało, u mnie też tak mocno smaczne non stop wiesz jak to rozwiązać? Eq5 pro

[@kevinashley478]

Hey Kamil, I have heard that tracking is good with this mount, but the pointing (go-to) function is not good. Is there a way to fix that?

[@kamilkp]

Pointing doesn’t matter. Just use plate solving to always have perfect pointing

[@capsilver85]

Kamil, do you know of any good tripod pier extension that will work with the EQM-35?

[@lionki3]

Did you find which one works?

[@leili621]

Thank you for this great video. I have same amount, although I could achieve 5min sub, I also struggled with stiff RA and DEC, which is hard for accurate balance. I will try your method. Another question, if I am using ASIair to control mount, do I still need to upgrade firmware of mount？

[@kamilkp]

Yes

[@Dave-ct1jk]

Great video, thanks so much for letting me know I will never buy this mount 😄 sky watcher goto it is lol

[@jor269]

This video is 2 years old now, do you know if this has been fixed from Star Watcher?

[@kamilkp]

Probably not. This is an old mount whcih I doubt it’s being actively developed

[@peterwilles7227]

I did nothing to it, and i am shooting at total rms between 0.3 to 0.7 and 1.2 at bad days. With a fully loaded setup

[@jaberalkuwari2770]

Hey Kamil I bought a sky-watcher eq3-2 mount, and I'm really having trouble giting the RA axix move , its doesn't get elavate either Right or Left ? So it might be the same problem you having ?

[@stelaras1]

one more question, at 06:10 do you have to loose first the grubs screws that the polar scope has?

[@johnng7107]

thanks for the video. Have you tried guiding with RA only but not Dec, given the backlash in Dec?

[@kamilkp]

No. In fact Dec usually guides even better than Ra so the backlash is not causing me any issues

[@stelaras1]

Great video thanks 😊👍 one quick question on 8:08 you mention a 2mm placed in the 1.5mm grub screw! How this is possible? What do I miss here?

[@gazza9839]

It's poked in the hole that the grub screw fits in, It isn't actually in the grub screw, just the threaded hole, this will then make the disk turn with the mount head to undo / loosen it.

[@kamilkp]

Correct

[@stelaras1]

@@gazza9839 OK Got it 😊 thanks 👌

[@medifreeman2998]

Thanks for doing astrophoto with vintage lens because I have only vintage lens, i think in the back you have a mirror lens. Can you do astrophoto with this type of lenses. Thanks

[@kamilkp]

I do yeah. The catadioptric Samyang 800mm f/8. I am planning to do some lunar stuff with it 😉

[@medifreeman2998]

@@kamilkp i can't wait to see the video thanks

[@gregdevries1752]

Does the EQM-35 Pro only have one grub screw in RA to adjust the worm gear. I’ve seen the EQ6 has two opposing ones.

[@vicamaral]

it has 3 mate and a very cheap bearing behind the nut you could up grade to better bearing just 2 thin washers instead of hard bearing race with no grove for the ball to align,and remove the grease with super lube with teflong.

[@kbarth001]

Thanks for the tips and explanations. I have done as you first but than decided to go for the full cleaning / grasing and tuning as described in kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXy9hWiqnquLldU When I have done only your recommended adjustments I could not find any position of the adjustment screws in DEC and RA where I could turn thge axe 360 Deg and had neither a point where felt backlash or stickiness. This changed after I had taken appart the two axes cleaned/regreased them as well replacing the red washers with needle bearings. It adds a lot of regularity in a 360 Deg turn. Thanks again for the nice and very well explaining video. Clear Skies!

[@PafMedic]

Can You Explain All That In English…Like Someone Thats Never Had An Eq Mount Before,Because This Damn Thing Is Getting Ready To Be Trashed,And Its Never Been Used.Im Perfectly Happy With My 6se

[@marcusransom9334]

Wow, even for just under a $1,000 you shouldn't have to be ripping apart your gear to make it work

[@stevensandoval7088]

Good! Luv it!!! You should look into using a service such as Promo'SM!!!

[@jtepsr]

customers should not have to do this. buy cheap get cheap. i will pass on this mount!!!

[@PetterAstrom]

Well, thank you. I got my EQ3 PRO guidning at 0.5-0.7 Total RMS. This is how to fix the mount for real: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXy9hWiqnquLldU

[@vicamaral]

That just a little fix's, decessenble,polish all metal parts worm gear and cylinder ,nice and smooth ,replace the plastic washers with Teflon, replace the cheap bearing on the RA shaft, nut just ball bearing with an thin washer with no groves for the balls to follow ,remember MADE IN CHINA.the DEC shaft has no bearing and i don't believe it can hold 22BLbs,so small scopes only,HYPERTUNE MANY VIDEOS ON YTUBE.THE GREASE ON THESE UNITS ARE VERY STICKY GLUES TOUGH ON WINTER MONTHS.

[@kamilkp]

I currently use it with payload of around 6kg and works very well