Thalestris24

That's a possible. I'll try a hairdryer first though 🙂

Yeah, I'm talking about removing the painted parts from the tube itself. Thanks Louise

Yeah, much too big! I haven't tried again but I'll give the hairdryer a go later. Wish I'd known about the glue before... I'd like to think it must be a solvable problem 🙂 Cheers Louise

Are they? Ohhh... I don't have an actual heat gun, just have a hairdryer. Might give that a go. Thanks Louise

Yeah... Thanks. I managed to get the bottom part of one leg off with the aid of a hammer... So far, no luck with the top part, hard to get a grip even with rubber gloves. I'll try some more later I don't have any wd40 but maybe Ill have to get some. It might just be the paint that's the problem - not sure. Louise

Just wondered whether anyone has ever completely disassembled the legs/tubes from the the heq5 tripod. I'd thought it would just be a matter of undoing the top and bottom grub screws. There doesn't appear to be anything else holding the fixtures to the tubes. However, I can't seem to remove the top and bottom fixtures. Maybe I'm just too weak 😞 . Any ideas/suggestions? I'm a bit loathe to whack them with a hammer though it might be the only way... Cheers for any help Louise

It's a good fit! Just needed a little something under one leg to make it steady 🙂 Louise

It's very solid and rigid, thanks! 🙂 It's a sturdy metal frame bolted together with Allen key bolts. Louise

Well, UPS from Germany 🙂 Bought this easy-assemble Vasagle 'industrial' side table. It was intended as a 3d printer stand as it's solid and rigid and should hopefully make printing more consistent: Louise

Alas, the LP here is so bad even 3nm Ha still gives me unwanted gradients 😞 Louise

Hi I don't have one myself but I think this is a known issue which stems from the asi1600 sensor not having an anti-reflection coating. There have been other ASI1600mm problems reported which manifest as diffraction patterns linked to the microlenses. You might try and see if you can rearrange things a bit by changing the spacing to the filter wheel, and consequently the oag/guide cam also - just an idea. Perhaps someone else has a solution, if anyone is around. Louise

Hi The Synguider II is an option - there are other makes. I've not personally used one but I'm sure others on SGL have. Of course, this time of the year there ate not so many deep sky imagers about 🙂 Louise

Might be ok but has the heavy tripod legs - I suppose it all depends on what you call 'heavy'. As for me, I'm an old lady and not very strong... I imagine that using the EQM35 without DEC would be a bit limiting - might as well just have a Star Adventurer on a Velbon tripod. I've no personal experience of the EQM35 so can't really recommend it - or not. Louise

Not really - I was a beginner and doing things for the first time. It was a good learning experience. Once it was up and running I've never had to touch anything - it's been a great mod! 🙂 Louise

No reason why it shouldn't, Knobby! I fitted my own with a kit from Rowan. Over 5 years ago now. I remember I had to fiddle a bit to get the tension right and the scope balance right :-). I was grateful for the help I got on here: Louise

Hi I agree, the Heq5 Pro is the better mount but is still rather heavy. How about an EQ3 Pro - fairly light with the supplied Al tripod. It can go on an eq5/heq5 tripod but then gets quite heavy (at least, it does for me!). I'd go for an 80mm ED scope just because they are virtually hassle and maintenance free, easy to use and easy to balance. Whatever you get, you will still need to guide. So budget for a guide scope and guide camera, as well as a field flattener. Put the rest towards a cooled astro camera. Louise

You could explain the situation to FLO and also ask them if it's ok to check the belt tensions without affecting the warranty. You could also try and see how it behaves with a lighter scope on the mount - eg your 72ed. Well, that's what I'd do, anyway. Louise

That looks pretty awful, Knobby! Obviously you need to get calibration right in order for guiding to work properly. I assume you've input your scope focal length ok etc. And your PA is good (I always drift align using the PHD tool 🙂 ) Maybe have a word with FLO to check what they adjusted in respect of the belt mod and, what if any, testing they did. Louise

Hi Michael As others have said, any worm backlash is separate from the motors but I think it should be very small if adjusted correctly. Louise

Hi again Knobby You shouldn't have any backlash with a belt mod - unless the belt tension is maladjusted, or you are out of balance, or have cable drag or similar. Double check that the mount still balances ok vertically. In my experience, even with a small scope the belt mod is sensitive to small amounts of imbalance. You mentioned somewhere above that you keep losing the guide star - is that because the mount is drifting away from it rather than, say, poor sky transparency? The Guiding Assistant should show how your mount+scope is behaving independent of guiding and sky conditions. What figures does it return in respect of RA and DEC behaviour? Are you sure your PA is spot on - you need good PA to get a good calibration, and sometimes you need to do several iterations. If everything checks out otherwise then the simplest explanation will be the belt tension being off. I did my own belt mod (a few years ago now) and had to make several adjustments before I got it right. It's been excellent since 🙂 Hope you can sort it - it's so good when it's up and running! Louise

Hi Knobby Remember that with a belt mod you want very good balancing, no East heavy! Louise

Even more annoying, perhaps, is that you have to remember to copy any custom threads. As it happens I've not needed to print any T2 threads in a long time so haven't bothered to add any custom threads. But who knows what the future holds? 😄 Louise

I think you have to reinstall it every time Autocad does an update... Louise

I'm not sure if I'll be able to manage mine. I'll have to dig the original tripod out of the attic. If it's still too heavy for me then my astro days will be numbered and I'll just have to find a new hobby. Maybe just terrestrial photography - I'd like to do some macro photography. Also more photomicrography - I've not done any in ages. I could do with a better microscope, or at least, better objectives. Good ones are very expensive but at least I wouldn't be limited by my location or the weather! 🙂 Louise

But then it wouldn't be ideal... 😄