Adam J

So this link shows the board in question. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/808906-star-adventurer-gti/page-29 User Steve6291 on CN having opened the RA for exactly the same reason I did (mesh adjustment screw coming loose), several others in the same thread. He also notes the short cables. But the two he points out are not the motor drive as he claims they are for the Snap port and the USB connection. My solution to the short cables was different though, as I know those type of surface mount connectors are delicate (hence my broader concern about damaging the board) I decided against tugging the cables out and instead removed the worm drive assembly to enable sufficient clearance for the screw driver to reach the main board mounting screws. A more fiddly but safer option. Adam

If it's moving ok then it's probably user error or possibly a good idea to try flashing the motor controller (found on SWs web page) before jumping to conclusions and sending it back. Also make sure you are using the most recent version of the app. Blinking red light is normal during operation from memory.

Got to be honest I don't think a precedent has been set, it's up to the retailer in question. Also on reflection I think it was a mistake for me to bring it up. As above my experience in servicing it means I would recommend that they don't give permission in future, for this procedure or anything that required work on the RA, the Dec is a different matter that's very easy to access. As pictured above four screws and you are in. It's about being sensible no one gains anything from having to arrange return of an item and lose use of it for a period for the sake of removing a cover and plugging something back in or tightening a screw. But if that process carries additional risk sending it back under warranty is the way to go. When I asked permission to do this the mount was totally new on the market so doubt even FLO knew what was involved in accessing the RA drive and no tutorials existed online. On the other hand if SW have made those cables longer in the later batches, it's less of a problem, but I would not bank on it. Adam

All as above, no issues with FLO I could have sent it back if I had wanted under warranty at any time, I am just a hands on person and so like to get dug in myself. If your reading irritation into my post it was off the back of a tricky and annoying job (once you have dropped a screw into the body of the mount a few times at 1am you can get a little grumpy about it) and nothing to do with anything else. Steve I have never had an issue with your service at FLO. Yes, I decided back in September that I would live with tweaking it from time to time but it got annoying that the mesh was not holding so I decided to try the fix at this time now that i am not using it due to loss of astro-darkness. I thank you for the original permission, it was a while back but I did not perceive it as being a time limited permission. It is done now and working better than ever in any case, so no harm done, time will tell if the thread lock will hold the screw. I only mentioned I had discussed it with FLO as I did not want people to think that I was advocating this procedure at the expense of invalidating a valued warranty. This level of flexibility, it is one of the things i like about you as a supplier. Having said that though with my acquired knowledge of the mount I don't suggest you allow anyone to do the same. As I say no real issues just fiddly, but at the risk of sounding arrogant it is not something I think anyone should try, so my main goal here is to warn other owners. Most will still be inside warranty but not forever and I know that there is a large community that will want to tune the mount to improve performance irrespective, so better forewarned with knowledge if they are going to do it anyway. It is a harder nut to crack than the AZ GTI and some danger exists if your not careful (irrespective of experience) due to the configuration and short cables. That is the message I want people to leave this thread with, all in all I would still recommend the mount. Cheers, Adam

It was not my intention from the outset to inform other of an issue as when I started taking it apart I did not know it would be so difficult and once I had it apart I was fully focused on getting it back together again. Adam

Ah got it. Adam

You can access it externally but on mine it kept coming loose requiring frequent adjustment and so i needed to remove the RA cover to add lock tight to the thread. The Dec is easy to access as seen in the picture. Also several seasons? It only came out in August last year? and announced some time early 2022. Adam

Just reading this again, I am not talking about the clutch, I am talking about the worm gear setting screw that is hidden under a label and would not normally need adjustment. Adam

Noticed over time, I kept having to re-adjust it as it kept coming loose. You can access the screw it's under the label. But once set it should not move and yet it does, very annoying. Mine was one of the first in the UK so might be teething problems on the first batch. There is a thread about it on cloudy nights with some others reporting the issues.

Oh they do sometimes make a good one, I had a HEQ5 Pro that was the best tracking mount i have ever used. <0.5 RMS on a regular basis.

Yes but 'how' would they (SW not FLO) 'fix it' if I had chosen to send it back under warranty?? Would they just re-adjust the screw only for it to keep working its way out again and again?? There is also the fact that if it had been done properly (using purple lock-tight or equivalent) in the first place I would not need to be doing it at all. Honestly in many ways I have more confidence in myself when it comes to a lasting fix, but this one did stretch the skill set for sure. Adam

Two years I think for most things. Adam

As above, as it was under warranty I had asked permission to attempt the maintenance myself before proceeding. In the end, I managed to avoid the potential pit falls and it was a success. Adam

Well not by the average user, clearly for an advanced user there are user serviceable parts as I just serviced it lol. No Label but did have the option to return it under warranty, FLO gave me the option to have a go at fixing it myself (which I now have), but only as I asked their permission before proceeding, it was some time ago but I only got around to doing it recently as the problem got progressively worse. I suspect that the real issue is that light users may not encounter this problem until after the warranty has expired and inexperienced users may not notice until it progresses and gets much worse such that tracking is more strongly effected. You can dither the mount without issue if you choose your dither settings with care, never got that to work with the AZ GTI. Its also much more solid than the AZ GTI and tracking is better with the same load so suspect it could handle a bigger load. That is despite me turning my old AZ GTI. The RA drive (once you get to the thing) is visibly more robust that that of the AZ GTI. That is not to say that there is not still a relatively large amount of dec backlash though., in the end it still uses planetary gear boxes ans those are the biggest source (once the worm is adjusted correctly). Its not all bad but I doubt ill be the last person to service it and so my experience is likely to help someone. Adam

The first thing that annoyed me with this mount was that its not possible to put the polar scope cover in place if you actually have batteries in the holders, anyone else noticed that? But having just had to remove the cover to tune my RA worm mesh I can tell you that its one of the worst things I have ever had to deal with, and I am well versed in activities such as astro modifying DSLRs, tuning the AZ GTI and other mounts. Its a mine field of epic proportions and makes me wonder what they were thinking. The mount looks well made and well designed from the outside but once you scratch the surface you realise the number of corners cut to make it to a cost. SA actually mounted the Main Board on the back of the cover that you need to remove to access the worm gear assembly. This is bad because its not possible to see that the main board is located in such a way until you start trying to pull it off! WARNING: DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE THE COVER WITHOUT FIRST REMOVING THE MAIN BOARD FROM THE INSIDE FACE! If you do then you will likely pull connectors out all over the place and potentially damage the board as in their rush to save every penny SW have not made the cables just 3cm longer to allow you to fully remove the cover before having to unscrew the board. As such getting it off is almost impossible, but that is nothing in comparison to putting it back on again ill warn you. Even worse you cant perform common maintenance such as refreshing the lubrication to the RA worm without having to go through this. The second thing that annoys me is that they have designed the set screw that determines the amount of pressure placed on the spring mounted RA worm in such a way that is is almost inevitable that its going to loosen off over time (the reason for having to open it in the first place). The ring that it threads into is able to rotate relative to the spur and there is sufficient friction between the two such that it will wiggle the screw from side to side every time the direction of movement of the mount is changed and it comes loose as a result. I have now added purple lock tight to mine to prevent it from doing this again others have used PTFE tape I may yet have to go back and do that if its not sufficient. The next thing is the use of specialist nuts...who has heard of a pig nose nut? Well you will need a specialist tool to undo it so best find out, if you find yourself having to do this. If you have heard of one you will know you need a circlip spanner to undo one. Not a big deal right....well it is a big deal as this one has 1.5mm holes in it and you just try finding a tool with 1.5mm prongs. In short this thing makes working on the AZ GTI look easy by comparison and I do not recommend that the average user attempts to tune the mount themselves as things are likely to go down hill very fast. All was ok and its back together and working fine now, but if I had known I would have thought twice about it. Some general advice to Skywatcher, don't attach things to covers.....people might actually want to take them off. Even if you do then allow for a little slack in the cables. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Adam J

Well it makes it easier to position your eye, but mainly the image will be brighter due to lower magnification. On a 32mm the eye relief will be fine for glasses. Adam

I would think the 32mm 52 degree astro essential would give a similar fov as the 25mm 60 degree BSG. Also with a larger exit pupil in the 32mm.

Just finished putting together a observing rig from bits I had laying about unused with a few new bits. I got a Skymax 102 from the classifieds. I got a new SV191 7.2-21.6mm zoom. A TS 2 inch visual back from RVO because the 1.25 inch diagonal looked rubbish and I have a 2 inch dielectric that came with my Esprit that I have used exclusively for imaging so the diagonal has never seen use. I got a adapter from FLO to allow me to fit the AZ GTI to the tripod from my AZEQ6 Pro. probably going to switch the finder for the Esprit 50mm finder too. Hoping for some fun with my 5yo looking at the moon and planets. I could have gotten this new for the same money spent: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-pronto/sky-watcher-skymax-102s-az-pronto.html But I think this was a better option as the AZ GTI and 2inch tripod is ultra stable, the packaged version of the 102 can't be collimated and finally the two packaged eyepieces are plastic rubbish. Adam

Not sure if that was a full on recommendation but I got one for the Skymax 102 grab and go scope I intend to use with my son for lunar mainly. It was either that or a couple of Plossls so high field of view fixed eyepieces were not really a contender. Adam

I own one but have never used the polar scope lol. I align with Sharpcap or NINA via the guide scope. The most important thing is that if you center on Polaris and then rotate the RA 90 degrees is the cross still on Polaris? If so great, if not you will want to adjust it. If it's good just use a mobile ap to find the hour angle of Polaris and rotate the polar scope such that 0 is now to the top. adjust polar alignment and then return the RA axis to the home position. This assumes that I correctly remember that the polar scope rotates with the RA on the GTI.... Adam

So this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Svbony-Telescope-7-2-21-6mm-Astronomical-Accessories/dp/B097SDPWJ6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=7.2-21.6+1.25&qid=1683733683&sr=8-1 is the one you like.

By newer 7,2-21.6 do you mean there are two versions of th 7.2-21.6 or that the 7.2-21.6 is newer than the 9-27. If the former how do you tell new from old. Adam

That was my guess too. Hence only attached at one end.

It depends, it would be hard for another member to test. But you could imagine that a safety feature would be to not allow the tec to power up unless the fan sensor indicated rotation. So if it's a three or four pin fan there is a good chance this is the case. If it's a two pin fan then something else may be going on. It's also possible that the tec has been damaged by the fan failure or that it's a power supply issue and nothing to do with the fan. If it's not in warrenty then I would investigate by removing the back plate.

Its more specific to any fan ever made lol Big PC fans spin slow these days due to the lard diameter, the smaller fans need to spin faster to move any significant amount of air so still tend to fail more often. Adam