Zajimave srovnani trid montazi z CN:
"A comprehensive list here. This is a section of the survey (in Chinese)
http://www.mitbbs.com/article_t/Astronomy/31167323.html
Chinese manufactures including OEM and branches:
EQ series: Synta Sky-Watcher, Zhitong, Habo, and many other Chinese brands
CG series: CELESTRON, bought by Synta
EM series: BOSMA, not to be confused with TAKAHASHI EM series
JE series: JOC (or Jinghua) maxvision
LXD series: MEADE, European branch bought by BRESSER which is a branch of JOC
TQ series: TIANLANG
HY series: Haoyue
EKsplorer, Milestone: Kson EKlipse
SmartStar-PR, iEQ45: iOptron
AstroView, SkyView, Sirius, Atlas: ORION, Synta OEM
Some Vixen tripods are made in China, but all Vixen GEM mounts are made in Japan.
Nomenclature equivalence:
EQ1 - CG1 - JE40
EQ2 - CG2 - EM9
EQ3 - CG4 - EM8 - JE100 - EKsplorer - AstroView
EQ4 - JE60
EQ5 - CG5 - EM10, EM11 - JE160 - LXD55, LXD75 - Milestone - SmartStar-PR - SkyView, Sirius
EQ6 - CGEM - iEQ45 - Atlas
EQ7 - CG3 - EM45 - JE80
EQ8 - JE140
EQ9 (no such a model)
And EM (below 8), TQ, HY series nomenclature is the same as EQ series.
Specification:
EQ1: Only one worm-gear in RA, tangent arm in Dec, wedge not micro-adjustable, no motor.
EQ2: EQ1 reinforced, RA motor.
EQ3: Two worm-gear in both RA and Dec, no polar scope, wedge micro-adjustable in Alt, motor in RA.
EQ4: EQ3 reinforced, polar scope, wedge micro-adjustable in both Alt and Az.
EQ5: EQ4 reinforced, motor in both RA and Dec.
EQ6: EQ5 reinforced.
EQ7: EQ2 reinforced.
EQ8: EQ3 reinforced, similar to EQ5.
EQ9 (no such a model)
Notice this is the specification of "original" models. There are basically two classes of mounts: EQ1/2/7 with cheap design, and EQ3/4/5/6/8 with design mostly came from Vixen GP2/GPD2 and MIZAR AR-1 in old days. Nowadays, the EQ1/2/7 design didn't change much, but for EQ3/4/5/6/8 all manufactures make their own improvements. For example, Synta EQ3Pro adds polar scope, wedge micro-adjustable in both direction, motor in both RA and Dec and GOTO, much better than the "original" EQ5. As other people said, you have to look at the individual model specification. "