Sqren

On 31/03/2021 at 11:04, Astro-Dave said:

Did you get rid of your issue in the end? I'm getting quite the same problem here...

Hey, sorry I didn't reply untill now. Finally fixed the problem with my HEQ5-pro, 3 years after making this post! 

Had to take some time off because it was really getting on my nerves, but when I got back to it now - I ordered a new RA wormgear and worm. Installed them a couple of weeks ago and finally got to test it out, and it worked! 


So to anyone having a similiar problem, that might stumble on this thread years later - this was my fix :) 

I have a zwo asi2600mc pro on the way now (stuck in customs 🙄).

I'm coming from a modified Canon 600d, so I'll get back to this thread with my impressions and if I think it was worth it as soon as I get my hands on it!

/Aleksander

Thank you! Very interesting discussion 🙂

Seems like I'll be looking into some IDAS-filters then. The D2 seems like a good option, as I have alot of LED street lights etc. around me. Doesn't seem like the P4 is doing the best job with white LEDs. 

It also seems like I'll have to start packing up my setup and travel to dark sites some more. Is it really that much of a difference? And what do you do at dark sites then? Do you capture data without any filter at all? Or do you use like a UV/IR-filter or something? 

 

Hello! 

I ordered my first dedicated astrocamera a few days back, the ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO. So while I'm waiting to get my hands on it, I figured I'd have to look into which filters to get for this camera. I have already settled on the Optolong L-eXtreme for the narrower stuff as I've seen some pretty amazing work done with this combo. 

But my problem is that I live in a bortle 8-9-location and have to deal with alot of light pollution. So which filter do I get for when I want to image some more broadband targets? Is there some good allround LP-filter I can use for most targets, and combine with some data taken with the L-eXtreme?

I have a lot to learn here, so I appreciate all the help I can get 🙂

/Aleksander

So I am back after doing a stripdown of the RA-axis, changing out the bearings, cleaning and re-greasing. First night out - lo and behold - the problem is still here. The guiding got rediculously better though, if we ignore the bump. 

Any other suggestions? Kinda running out of ideas. ☹️

-Aleksander

On 15/10/2019 at 14:56, teoria_del_big_bang said:

mean to say is maybe if it is 2nd hand somebody did the same and the gears are getting very tight once per rev. If you turn the worm by hand when not under power you can feel it. The graphs tends to indicate this I think in that it hits a tight spot then loses position and PHD2 is sending correction pulses but nothing changing for a while then all of a sudden it goes but then goes too far because of the pulses that were sent and so PHD has to back-track and send opposite direction pulses. But again a broken tooth could show the same effect.

Check the worm and the meshing gear as it has to be in there.

You do not need a full strip down to do that is it quite easy to get to and adjust (although fiddly and time consuming because it only needs a very small adjustment each time. 

Look here if you haven't already done so to see how to adjust.

heq5-rebuild

It's basically this section:

Steve

 

So I'm just done fiddling with this for a couple of hours. I kinda got it better, but it didn't get rid of the problem. After alot of adjusting and playing with the worm gear, I'm 90% sure it's a damaged bearing or some dirt. When passing a certain point, it almost feels like it's "grinding" and uneven for a small part. 

I have decided to just go for the stripdown, and also switch out all the bearings for something higher quality (SKF/FAG etc.). 

Do you know what kind of grease is best to use here? The store I get the bearings from also sells SKF LGMT 2, mineral oil based, lithium soap thickened grease. Should be good enough? 

3 hours ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Have you had this mount from new or bought 2nd hand?

Having stripped one of these down and replaced the gears myself when I also did the Rowan belt mod I would agree with the comments above it has to be connected with the worm or the gear that meshes with the worm.

It could be a damaged tooth as suggested, It could be dirt but I would expect this to move around a bit and maybe be more intermittent rather than absolutely once per rev.

It  could also just be binding. When I put mine back together I was determined to get rid of any backlash and my first attempt looked fine to begin with absolutely could see no backlash in the worm. But when I mounted the scope and CB weights even when balanced it would bind once per rev of the worm and occasionally would miss a step of the stepper at the tight spot.

I had to slacken everything off just ever so slightly. So for sure on mine I cannot totally eliminate backlash as I have to set it with zero backlash when it was tending to bind which means some slight backlash when the worm is at 180 degrees from this.

Anyway what I mean to say is maybe if it is 2nd hand somebody did the same and the gears are getting very tight once per rev. If you turn the worm by hand when not under power you can feel it. The graphs tends to indicate this I think in that it hits a tight spot then loses position and PHD2 is sending correction pulses but nothing changing for a while then all of a sudden it goes but then goes too far because of the pulses that were sent and so PHD has to back-track and send opposite direction pulses. But again a broken tooth could show the same effect.

Check the worm and the meshing gear as it has to be in there.

You do not need a full strip down to do that is it quite easy to get to and adjust (although fiddly and time consuming because it only needs a very small adjustment each time. 

Look here if you haven't already done so to see how to adjust.

heq5-rebuild

It's basically this section:

Steve

 

This is a 2nd hand mount. And yes, it also seems to be moving a little. The spikes seems to be almost non-existent when it's around time for a meridian flip. Though the timing varies from 10min 20 sec, to 40 sec-ish. 

Thanks alot for the advice, Steve!

I will try this in the next couple of days and get back to this thread with the results 😃

1 hour ago, Kev M said:

I believe think the original worm gear ratio is 135:1 which would equate to about 10 minutes 40 seconds .

So I would have said possibly broken/faulty tooth....

However I dont know if this applies the same ratio applies to the belt drive ?

 

 

I timed it to be almost exactly 10 minutes and 40 seconds... 😒

Is this something that one can get parts for? If so, do you know where?

Is it normal for these gears to get damaged over time, or would it be more likely for it to be dirt/grit, as Mark suggests? 

Hi! 

I recently did the belt mod and fitted a guide camera on to my HEQ5 pro. After getting the mount up and running, I have noticed that about every 10 min, I get this "bump" on the RA-axis. I am fairly sure this was here before I did the belt mod, it's just that I got the guiding at the same time as the belt, and then actually started paying attention to it. 😅

I have checked both the balance of the scope, and the power supply. Both seems alright. 

Have any of you had the same problem? Will switching out the bearings and doing a re-grease fix this? 

Thanks in advance