matt_baker

I have a feeling its a gear or a cam When I turn the socket it turns the mount in azimuth in slow motion. It won't budge at all when the limit's reached

The threads are on the inner orange plate

I'm honestly fairly certain the mount was set in the wrong place to begin with when they placed it. I have removed both adjustment knobs and it still hits the limit, so it's something inside too that limits it. The socket head screw is for fine adjustment for the azimuth turned by an allen key. It's located next to the locking screw on one side I'm really not sure how to do this without taking the whole lot apart but hey, I'll figure something out

One way I may have found how to do it, is that in the center of the pier plate at the bottom, is there's a screw which must thread through to the mount itself, so by loosening that, you're able to turn the mount and tighten it back up again?

Okay, here's pics from all angles

Also, there are various reasons why the observatory never gets used, although now I have a key, I intend to use it whenever I can.

I'm going to go over tomorrow since the weather is awful at the moment and pictures from all angles. This is clearly getting confusing, both for everyone here trying to help and myself included. To answer some of your questions: I will have a look tomorrow if there's another hole further round for the azimuth bolt to sit in It is easily rotatable in azimuth however, it can't rotate any further since it has reached its limit and needs rotating more. I think there are designated holes for the three nuts to be in place with for the mount, and I'm not sure if there are others further around The pier is bolted down with 4 levelling screws onto a steel/concrete pier Yes, it is possible to observe and image with it but I always have to keep adjusting because it constantly drifts.

Really not sure and I think I agree with rusted, I don't really want to find out incase the whole thing topples

Would some images of underneath where the bolts are help in anyway?

That's kind of the problem, I'm trying to see if there's a way without having to take apart the entire rig and redrilling holes

Yes, you're correct. I know I'm about 1 1/2 degrees out from doing a polar alignment with sharpcap

Yes, that's just an odd bit unfortunately. The gap at the base of the mount are just for the levelling screws

Sorry about that, here's the original and to be honest, I'm really not sure

I've been given a key to go to my local observatory whenever I like, since it never gets used in the 2 years it's been built. It houses a C14 and an original CGE which are mounted on a pier and a big long piece of steel. My issue is that I can't turn the azimuth bolt far enough to the right for polar alignment, since it reaches it's limit, and since it's a pier there's probably no way I could rotate one of the plates so it moves? It's a hard thing to explain fully but I've attached a few pictures Hopefully someone could help me Matt

What did you do with the viakal to clean it and dry it?

I presume this is why my view is hindered?

Update, I looked at the blocking filter and found it was foggy. Is this bad?

Yes, it is a tilt tuned scope. I'm pretty sure it was working, since the disk was getting brighter and dimmer as I kept turning

I think I've misunderstood the premise of observing through a solar scope aha

I guess if I hook up a mono camera and stack, that'll give out filaments when tuned properly?

Surely you can see filaments? Or is that not the case?

I've been given access to a Lunt LS60THa/B600 and since it was very clear today, I decided to try it out. I aligned and found the sun easily and focused the scope with a 12mm EP but found no details at all. I rotated the tuner all the way to the left and to the right. The Sun just appeared as a red blob. Can anyone help?

I think it also depends what kind of monitor you're viewing it from. I have a crappy TN panel on one of my monitors that's bad at reproducing especially blacks, however on my IPS, it looks flawless so I'm not sure What did you use to reduce the noise? Edit: I think I've fixed it by lowering the background with curves

Went back for another reprocess at M13. Deconvoluted the stars this time, changed colours and cropped it down slightly Some of the noise still bothers me but that's what you get when you image with a DSLR uncooled. Might aim for some more time on it when I can. What does everyone think? Matt More upclose look at the core:

Yes, I'm using a Badder corrector and yes, I was guiding but this was a 5 second sub, and I doubt guiding would affect the stars at this time frame surely. I'll go see how to amend this I remember I did adjust my spider vanes my quite a bit the first time I collimated with a cheshire and never checked to see if they were centered properly or not. Maybe this could be a cause? Edit: Also, what kind of tap would I need for a third thumbscrew and how would I go about doing it, if you don't mind me asking?