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[Gary Roberts]

Hi everyone!

Have ordered the chips in readiness of making the excellent looking ASTROEQ MCU. Along with this I intend to modify my very old non GOTO HEQ5 Pro mount to GOTO. To do this I will need to change the motors and replace gears with a belt system, but was wondering if anyone one the forum has already done this and if so could they can recommend where to buy motors and pulley and belts from and what types. I am aware that the motors may need to be mounted externally and brackets will need to be made.  Any help much appreciated. Gary

[doramason]

As far as I know old or new HEQ5 has steppers so you don't need to change motors, and this is the belt kit http://rowanastronomy.com/productsa1.htm.
If you have access to a lathe and drill you can buy the pulleys and belts from aliexpress or ebay(from china basically) for a fraction of the price of that kit and adjust them to your need. If you have that option you can use different pulley ratios as well.

Just open the mount and look if it has stepper motors, if they are present and working you don't need to change motors. If not you can also buy motors from china but I have no idea how you can put them on a HEQ5 mount.

[Gary Roberts]

Thanks for the reply.
I have opened it up and it has the old steppers (7.5deg/step and 100:1 gearboxes and 2 large gears attached) which is why the goto is very limited if you leave as is. I guess i was asking if anyone has done the mod for NEMA 14 1.8 deg/step and belts themselves and what the pitfalls to avoid.

[TCWORLD]

Not sure if anyone has upgraded the HEQ5 Pro to new motors yet, so it would be great if you could post some pictures as you go along as a reference for anyone else that comes along later.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'll see if I can offer any advice.

Tom.