banjaxed

Hi and welcome to SGL.

54 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

If you make this mod, be very careful to keep the tube objective lens upwards when you remove the focus knob as I understand that without the knob there is nothing to stop the whole mirror and focus mechanism from disappearing inside the tube! When I was planning a similar mod, my plan was to leave the focus knob in place as the ribs around it are exactly 6mm apart and so will mesh with a 3mm pitch belt drive.

Which is exactly what I did, fortunately standing the OTA the opposite way up everything slid back in to place and I was relieved to find it hadn’t done any damage. I had to buy 2 drive pulleys which fit perfectly on the focuser shaft so I have a spare one if anyone wants it at cost.

51 minutes ago, Louis D said:

What exactly do you use for a controller since it isn't shown?  I'm presuming a home-brew box with buttons or a switch and batteries?

Sorry I missed it.

I fitted a diy focuser motor to my 127mak and it is the best mod I have done because you don’t have to touch the focuser which negates any vibration. Here are some pics.

Hi and welcome to SGL.

Why not use reusable cable ties ?

I have both scopes you mention and I like them both but the one I use the most is the 127 Mak as it does not need as heavy a mount as the ST120. The Mak is manageable to carry in one piece whereas the ST has to be carried in 2 pieces ie, Mount and scope. However I cannot see me selling either. Another thing to take in to account is the eyepieces are not as critical in the Mak as the ST.

Hi and welcome to SGL.

Hi and welcome to SGL.

Hi Emlyn, welcome to SGL.

Hi and welcome to SGL.

1 hour ago, markse68 said:

I have some good news. It's a commercial site so not much I could do except ask nicely but I spoke to the site manager and he has given me permission to put my scope up on the roof! A lot more hassle in terms of setting up/taking down being as its 3 floors up with no lift, but it should be worth it as I'll be above all the local LP sources and I'll have a 360 horizon rather than the thin sliver of western sky I have now so I'll have more targets too. There's a mains outlet in a lockable room up there where I can also store the mount etc so I'll only be carrying the scope, cameras and laptop up and down. Could work out to be a great improvement on what I had  

Mark

 

Glad things have worked out well for you 👍

The best piece of equipment I bought for my 200P was a RACI finder scope, which imo is much more useful than a reticle eyepiece.

Hi Dave, welcome to SGL. It would be better if you posted this in the welcome section at the top of the page, you will soon get used to how the forum works, some of us are still learning 😀

20 hours ago, AstroKeith said:

If the two controllers connect to the motor via the same connector, then check that connector and the wiring to the motor, ie the common parts.

It could also be a burnt out coil in the stepper motor. Can you test the coil resistances?

Is there a part number on the motor?

As you will notice from my reply to Nigella it was the connections as you rightly pointed out. Thank you very much for your help, it is much appreciated.

17 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Hi, my skywatcher stopped working and I took it apart and the cog from the motor to the drive cog's had slipped. Replaced in the same position and working perfectly again. I've had this go on both my skywatcher focus motor's. Might be worth taking a look. Easy enough to tack apart and refit. 

I did as you suggested but everything seemed to me fine to me so I checked out the connections on the RJ11 plug an sockets and noticed 2 out of the four connections were a lot lower in both sockets and after lining them all up, hey presto the motor is working again.

Hi and welcome to SGL, looks like you are playing my favourite type of guitar.

38 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Hi, my skywatcher stopped working and I took it apart and the cog from the motor to the drive cog's had slipped. Replaced in the same position and working perfectly again. I've had this go on both my skywatcher focus motor's. Might be worth taking a look. Easy enough to tack apart and refit. 

Thank you for your suggestion, I will certainly give that a try tomorrow, looks like it could be a good possibility 👍.

It is the same connecting cable so I will test that it is ok. The motor has the following numbers. TJ-F00-1 and 190122 0397. I have a multi tester but I am not familiar with stepper motors wiring.

1 hour ago, AstroKeith said:

If the two controllers connect to the motor via the same connector, then check that connector and the wiring to the motor, ie the common parts.

It could also be a burnt out coil in the stepper motor. Can you test the coil resistances?

Is there a part number on the motor?

Thank you for your input, I will check the wiring but it is the same with the original controller as it is with the 4Tronix remote controller.

Hi and welcome to SGL, you are in the best company to learn all you need.

24 minutes ago, AstroKeith said:

That's weird. I can't imagine the motor has lost power. Is it the 4 wire or 2 wire motor that has lost power? If 4 wire it may have a lost one wire?

Is it struggling with the cold weather?

It is the original 4 wire Skywatcher motor which has suddenly lost its power and it has been indoors all the time I have been using it. It is a few years old now so maybe it has just worn out.

1 hour ago, AstroKeith said:

4 wires will almost certainly be a bipolar stepper motor. 2 wires is a simple dc servo motor. Completely incompatible.

Your previous stopped working, but are you sure it was the motor and not the drive?

Thank you for your reply. When I said the motor stopped working it still turns but it is not strong enough to turn  the focuser. When I first tried it a few weeks ago it was working fine but for some reason it has lost its power.

I just tried to connect another motor to the Skywatcher controller using the same format, yellow/green to positive and red/black to negative and it does not work, has anyone got any suggestions?

That should be considered a criminal offence 🤬