Sky & Telescope - October 2020 - 70

S&T Test Report

The Pandemic Factor
How the coronavirus pandemic affected
this test report would be an article in
itself. But here's the short version. For
this review we borrowed one of the ﬁrst
production models of the EQ8-R Pro
from Sky-Watcher with the provision
that it be returned for display at the
Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF)
in early April. With a relatively short
schedule for testing, I set the mount on
an existing pier in my backyard observatory, where I could quickly respond
to New England's ﬁckle winter weather.
All went well, and the testing was
ﬁnished by the beginning of April. But
by then NEAF was cancelled because of
the pandemic. There was no immediate
way to return the mount given that the
shipping boxes were locked up in Sky &
Telescope's shuttered ofﬁces.
With Massachusetts in a virtual
shutdown, I suddenly had free time
on my hands, which I used to dust off
some back-burner astronomy projects,
including modifying and testing several
imaging setups. The EQ8-R Pro was the
perfect platform for these projects, with
its heavy-duty capacity, accurate pointing, and smooth tracking. I was only

S The author's 6-inch refractor (made with
parts cannibalized from other scopes) and the
EQ8-R Pro helped launch an observing project
that was more than 40 years in the waiting.

interested in image quality, so short,
unguided exposures sufﬁced, and the
mount handled them nicely.
But it was another project (one that
had languished in the recesses of my

thoughts for more than 40 years) that
gave me the best appreciation for how
well the EQ8-R Pro performs for visual
observing. I spent many late spring and
early summer nights using a homemade 6-inch refractor to follow in the
footsteps of England's Admiral W. H.
Smyth, observing the objects he viewed
with a 6-inch refractor and described so
poetically in his 1844 Bedford Catalogue.
Many were double stars that required
high magniﬁcations, and having a solid
mount that didn't jiggle when focusing was a real joy, and the accurate Go
To pointing was a plus for identifying
many of my targets.
I have little doubt that the EQ8-R
Pro will satisfy the needs of astrophotographers and visual observers alike.
And with the anticipation of updated
software for control of the mount via
third-party planetarium software, the
EQ8-R Pro is sure to be a contender in
the realm of mid-heavyweight mounts
suitable for remote operation.
■ Senior Contributing Editor DENNIS DI
CICCO often spends clear nights testing
equipment from his backyard observatory in Boston's western suburbs.

W Far left: The optional
tripod/pier for the EQ8-R
Pro is a substantial piece
of hardware, weighing 65
pounds. It can vary the
height of the EQ8-R Pro's
base between approximately 30 and 40 inches
above the ground.
W Left, top: Adjustable
footpads that assist with
leveling the tripod/pier
have a non-slip rubber
ring on the base and
a locking collar on the
elevation jack screw.
W Left, bottom: Plastic
pads and a center bolt
(turned by the green
hand knob at left) make
for smooth operation of
the EQ8-R Pro's azimuth
motion when polar aligning the mount on the
tripod/pier.

70

OCTOBER 2 02 0 * SK Y & TELESCOPE
Sky & Telescope - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - October 2020
