fwm891

Thanks Chris - I have a webcam so I think a download of PE recording and try again.

At the moment I don't know if its mechanical (me) or PHD that's causing the spikes. They seem too randomly spaced for a mechanical issue, my polar alignment seems good so when this wind, rain, snow, hail.... dies down I'll give it another go

Thanks

Francis

I've posted up notes from my own belt mod experiences here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-astronomer/166959-eq6pro-belt-mod-notes.html#post2063903

Chris

Nice write-up Chris,

Have you done a recording of your drive yet?

I think I may have to get a second 12T pulley and re-do my RA. Though I may try activating PEC first to see how much error I can remove with that.

I'm getting small regular peaks which PEC will remove quite easily but I get sudden random peaks running right off the PHD graph screen to top or bottom.

Having machined your pulleys I hope your not getting the same results.

Francis

I think the belt tension needs to be fairly high as unlike a bike chain where the load is always in one direction our belts must respond in both directions without taking up any slack - which appears like backlash from the previous gear system.

...i didn't try twisting the flat screwdriver i may give that a go. I was levering it against the lower part of the stepper. It's quite good at the moment but i am finding it difficult to judge between the mesh adjustment and tension in the belt. I still have slight play in the Axis.

Hi Neil,

I found putting a flat bladed screwdriver between the motor and body casting and twisting until it "felt right", keeping it there until the socket head bolts are tight worked. I left mine too slack to start with - may have gone the other way now...

The belts are 'toothed' and the amount of overload to make them slip would have killed the motor....

If they can't hear the gears grinding when they're made the wouldn't no its turning....

Mine's frighteningly quiet!

George, Chris and others,

Many thanks for this thread. I've just completed my belt mod to my NEQ6. It's so quiet I have to look to see if its running..

I've had it running without loading (mount only) going e-w & n-s with meridian flips thrown in:D.

Next step is to realign the polar axis. Be interesting to see what PHD tells me about backlash which took ages before the mod...

Thanks again

Francis:D:D:D

Use jewellers rouge to polish your (gear) teeth! It stains virtually everything so not a job for the kitchen table. Alternately use cerium oxide - cleaner working.

Both are quite slow working on metals - avoid silicon carbides even in fine paste form (aka valve grinding paste) the word grinding there means everything!

Note: if your lapping worm/wheel combos then remember that the softer metal (usually the wheel) will have some of the polishing medium embed itself in, so all the time your using the scope the worm/wheel are suffering accelerated wear!

For those looking at small lathes have a look here: Chester Machine Tools - Machine Tools and Accessories and their small lathes - Conquest series. I have dealt with Chester before but no affiliations etc etc etc...

As nearly all threads you need to cut for filters, adapters etc are metric, make sure your getting a metric version - some companies are offering Imperial versions at reduced prices but you will then need Imperial/metric conversion gearing - probably more expensive than the metric lathe to begin with...

r3i, There's no change to shaft dimensions.

The 12T pulley is re-bored to 5 mm, the 48T pulley to 12 mm. The 48T pulley also has 3 mm removed from its thickness.

You might find if you can run the worm end free with the belt engaged and at tension that the gear will align itself and you then only need to tighten the gear to the worm shaft once its settled in position...

Hi Francis,

That's very kind of you, thank you.... I'll PM you when they turn up...

Chris.

No problem - other than the wait

Hi Neil, I'll collet the small pulley to make sure its running true before boring it out, same with the large pulley even though there's enough metal there to work with...

Oh Dear*** - just ordered the belts and pulleys and they are out of stock on some items...mumble mumble...

Chris if you have your gears and are willing to wait a while I'll be modifying my gears (when they arrive) - happy to do yours at the same time. Or I can practice on your gears first!!

Sounds great - I need to completely re-read this thread and order some parts, polish the lathe and get started. Great contributions all round...

Hi Martin - Great LRGB Primer, many thanks for taking the time to put it together.

One thing regarding application of levels to RGB images is how Adobe sets-up PS initially on installation. To avoid clipping the RGB channel components its best to open the levels dialogue (Ctrl L) click on 'options' and in the next dialogue set as screen shot - save as defaults. Then when you go back to the levels screen and if you look at each of the RGB channels , each has been clipped as set in the options dialogue. It then means you can simply select auto levels to get the same results...

Francis

Heating the gear should allow it to be pulled off. Should expand faster than the shaft if its a friction fit (friction fits sound a bit too over engineered for these mounts!)

Don't know if this link will help with belts and gears etc... I've purchased mini pitch belts from them in the past : Davall Gears > Online Catalogue

See: http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-deep-sky/156378-first-light-images-atik-383l-mono.html

Glen - Re your animation tut,

Instead of dragging each layer into the animation, turn the eye on in all alyers and select all layers.

Then open the animation from 'window'. It will show your first layer as the first frame. At the righthand end of the animation window there is a drop-down arrow which allows you to 'make frames from layers' and it does it for you. Next you can from same drop down select all frames and set the frame duration 0.2, 0.5 or 'other'...

Francis

I've recently bought two items (on different occasions) from AltairAstro. As these items were in their showroom and I'm beyond easy traveling, a few emails and phone calls gave me a full description of the items (an 8-inch f4 Imaging Newtonian and an NEQ3 Synscan mount). Their promised despatch was true to their word and the courier arrived next day for both items. Thumbs up AltairAstro.

Francis

RG5