Obi Wan Ken00bi

On 19/08/2018 at 22:23, Kev M said:

So I managed to source a used EQ5 goto ( at what I thought was a good price  ) with an F8 150mm refractor.

Going by his description it was in good condition ( no photos ), just before I popped round to inspect and collect he called back and said it was actually an HEQ5.... did I still want it.

Did I ……. think he is now in hospital getting his hand stitched back on where I bit it off.....

 

A happy bunny..... ?

 

Haha lucky you!! Congrats ??

On 20/07/2018 at 11:48, ste7e said:

Hi Obi

I had the same problem with mine - a little bit of play in the RA axis.

This was my second EQ6-R, my first one having been replaced because of the clutch slip problem I posted about above.  I knew that it was possible to have no play in the RA axis because the first mount didn't have any. 

And, I had experienced the same problem with my HEQ5 and adjusted the worm drive on that to remove the play.  But as this was a different mount I didn't know how to adjust the EQ6-R.

So, I got in touch with the supplier - the ever-helpful Adam @ Rother Valley Optics - who managed to get a document from his suppliers with the necessary instructions for adjusting the worm drive to tune out the play.  

Now I have virtually zero play and I'm a happy bunny.  Instructions for adjustment are attached for anyone else with the same problems.

Steve

SW_EQ6-R_backlash_adjustment.pdf

Hi Steve. Just tried this pdf and it works like a charm! No backlash anymore. Thanks a lot. I've emailed the document to my supplier as well.

Obi

Thanks for the reply! I know what you mean by weather and laziness.... when you do get a good night a lot time other things have come up right? 

It feels like it’s a bit of a pain in the ass the whole process.... Like said I was planning on getting the WO61 with my QHY8L on either this mount or the SkyGuider Pro and a 50mm guide scope, mainly for traveling purposes or when the big setup is making long exposures. But if it is that hard to get any good shots, it might not be worth the trouble.... 

keep us us posted if you make some more pics. The m42 looks cool!!

On 20/07/2018 at 11:48, ste7e said:

Hi Obi

I had the same problem with mine - a little bit of play in the RA axis.

This was my second EQ6-R, my first one having been replaced because of the clutch slip problem I posted about above.  I knew that it was possible to have no play in the RA axis because the first mount didn't have any. 

And, I had experienced the same problem with my HEQ5 and adjusted the worm drive on that to remove the play.  But as this was a different mount I didn't know how to adjust the EQ6-R.

So, I got in touch with the supplier - the ever-helpful Adam @ Rother Valley Optics - who managed to get a document from his suppliers with the necessary instructions for adjusting the worm drive to tune out the play.  

Now I have virtually zero play and I'm a happy bunny.  Instructions for adjustment are attached for anyone else with the same problems.

Steve

SW_EQ6-R_backlash_adjustment.pdf

That seems very doable. Thank you so much for replying. I’m doing that tomorrow  will let you know how it goes.

On 18/07/2018 at 23:53, mikey2000 said:

Once again, happy to help!  If I may be so bold as to offer some more advice....   Go out and get the cable now.  You can end up spending rather longer than you want getting it all to work and all of that preparation can be done way before winter, even in broad daylight if you like.   Getting it all operating is non-trivial...  I had all sorts of USB issues just getting things to connect properly.  Then after that, getting PHD2, APT and EQMOD all working together nicely was a bit of a job too.  PHD2 will happily guide under less-than-perfect skies.   In fact, you can still get decent pics even under summer skies.

 

I'm smack in between Milton Keynes and Luton (UK) and it doesn't get astronomically dark here at all in July.  But from 11:30pm to 2:30am or so, it's nautically dark and if aim high in the sky, I can still grab things like this:

I can't find the name of this one but its at 19h59m RA, +15deg 18' Declination. In the constellation Cygnus, not far from the Crescent Nebula (this mystery nebula shows quite clearly in Stellarium..

 

That’s beautiful!! Well done. I’m amazed by that pic, in south UK skies. Do you use light pollution /narrowband filters? Off-topic a bit I realize  atm it doesn’t even get nautical dark in north Denmark. Crazy.

I will order the cable next month, when my astronomy budget is replenished.... this month I got a QHY8L and baader coma corrector on top of the new EQ6 last month so I’m holding off on purchases until the new salary comes in. Can I reach out to you with possible questions when the time comes?

Hi GuLinux! Any new experiences and photos with the 60mm and sky adventurer setup? Are you guiding as well? And how are your experiences regarding alignment, finding targets and sub-lengths? 

I’m leaning towards the WO61 with SA Mount......

Cheers!

Thanks!! Awesome comment, I'll save this one and order a EQ mod cable after summer is over (and I can image again)...

Thanks for that great explanation Mikey. So, you do alignment via eqmod? What do you mean with plate solving software?

On 14/07/2018 at 11:11, Dentalal said:

Well.... after months of waiting & planning I've just got my EQ6R-Pro this week & it's a massive upgrade of my EQ3. I added a Tracer battery pack which I hang on the counterweight bar so there are fewer wires to trip over in the dark, which seems to be one of my top skills!

This maybe a very silly question, but when I'm running PHD to guide, should I have the mount tracking too or turn that off & let PHD do it all?

 

Haha yeah wires suck! I know the feeling.

Im not sure what you mean by turn of the tracking of the mount? The mount does the basic tracking, by polar aligning it and running the 2 or 3 Star alignment program you set that up. After aligment you can take subs of 30 seconds or there abouts, depending on how good a job you did. If you want longer subs, you start guiding ON TOP of that. PHD gives small adjustment to improve the mount’s basic tracking.

On 27/06/2018 at 02:56, Luna-tic said:

Can I join the club? My EQ6-R Pro arrived today, along with a Stellarvue FG50 guide scope which I'll install on my GT81. 

I have an AVX that I really like and unlike some, get good service from. I'll keep it for mainly visual, and grab-n-go service. I may even image with the GT81 on it, but the EQ will definitely get the Edge 8 for AP. Plans are also to use a tandem dovetail saddle and use the GT81 as a guide scope for the Edge.

All I've done so far is unbox the Skywatcher and put it together, stand back and admire it. I've looked through the Synscan manual, looks like there's quite a few differences (none too serious, though) between it and the Nexstar/Starsense HC's and operations. Hope I get a few decent nights this week and weekend, I'm headed to the Green Bank Star Party mid-July, and want to be familiar enough with it so I don't waste half the night setting it up. One of my clubmates bought one of these mounts a couple of months ago and has been doing some fantastic AP with it and a f/7 102 APO. I fell in love with it immediately; he's going to tutor me in its finer points.

Great stuff and welcome to the club!! It’s just an awesome mount isn’t it? Hope you have a nice telescope and mobile power supply to go with it? Enjoy the Star party! 

Hi all!

my brand new EQ6 R Pro arrived today. 

When assembled, I’ve noticed a little bit of play / free movement in the RA axis. Clamps are offcourse fully tightened. Is this normal? How did you experience this? The dec seems ok. 

My old cg5 also has this, but I thought this mount didn’t have this backlash....

See the video, but its hard to see

https://youtu.be/8eiAK6FnBkU

Obi

edit 2: it's normal, I am no longer worried and a proud member of the club! What a stable mount. LOVE IT!

edit: I haven’t started up the mount yet.... out of precaution. But this may actually tighten up the belt when I do? 

At least it looks much better in the living room then my computerized setup with wires and ugly bits of metal sticking out...

good luck with it!