Stuart1971

I am guessing you sent it to Dark Frame Optics for the overhaul, if so that was your first big big mistake…. The three screws that adjust the worm are a push pull operation, so you have to alter all 3 each iteration of adjustment, the middle one pushes again a block the outer 2 are in threaded blocks, so you loosen the middle one a tad, and then tighten the outer 2 a tad, then retighten the middle one, that is to close the gap, to make the gap bigger, you loosen the outer 2 then tighten the middle one…small amounts about 1/16th of a turn will be enough teach time… ‘As for the screw you can’t get at, that was not an issue on mine as I had the older EQ8, not the newer EQ8-R model, as they are a bit different….but you only need to crack these bolts, not take them out or loosen them right off…

Ok, so I have owned an EQ8 for a few years and have adjusted the worm mesh a few times, the issue with these mounts is that the large worm wheels are not made absolutely perfectly round, the tolerance is too big, and so you get binding in one area and it’s lose in another, so you can only adjust the worm at the tightest point, if you do it at the loosest point it will bind when it hits the tight spot. what I did was to hook the mount up to a power supply that shows the amps reading, then slew the mount at a pretty quick speed and watch, as the mount hits the tight spot the amps it draws will go up quite a bit, mine would slew at around 1.5 amps then when it hits the tight spot it would climb to around 2.2 amps, so then you need to mark this point on the mount, and adjust the worm at this point, to adjust the worm just put a longish dovetail bar in the mount saddle and hold at the end and wiggle it, you will feel the backlash, then you adjust and repeat until you feel no lash at all, then test, but only very smalll adjustments are needed on the 3 adjuster screws for the worm block, also don’t forget to loosen the 4 bolts on the underside of the worm block beofre adjusting, and re tighten after each adjustment… HTH Stuart

I had this same EQ8 mount for a few years, and it performed well, but the DEC backlash was a bit of an issue, I adjusted it myself and it was ok, but not great, BUT please don’t use DFO, I did try them with an EQ6 I had before, and had a nightmare of a time with them, really bad, I won’t go into details here, just to say that they are totally useless with communication and delivering on time, and if you are lucky enough to even get your mount back, there is a good chance it will be worse than when you sent it… There is a place in Ireland that do full refurbs on these mounts, and also very good upgrades, clutches, and bearing and shafts… they were offering full strip down and re builds with premium parts, plus a full spring loaded worm drive option, but it was not cheap, the guy that runs it is on here and his name is @tonyowens_uk On a side not if you have any issues with your clutches, I have two brand new ones that I will be selling…

Not and unusual occurrence from any manufacturer, using pre existing lens cells, and putting in new tube, but I agree the price will be very interesting…🤔 The 61mm version is only £525 at RVO..🤔

Sounds like its a NINA programme issue, if it’s freezing, maybe it needs a reinstall, if it makes the first move and then does not make the second, you will get that error, check all the cables too from the PC to the mount, make sure it’s just not losing communication..

I did not even know they did a 180, just the new 185 that has just been released….🤔

Which is the Askar 180…?? I don’t see a refractor that big in the image…🤔🤔

What mount is it…?

Those corner stars are excellent, especially with using a 0.6x reducer too, very impressed, much better than the Esprit 100 that I have, and I have a good one….supposedly..👍🏻

Thanks for that, can you tell me what the aspect percentage means please..?

Beautiful Image…👍🏻 can I ask if this had been cropped at all, (actually I can see that it has been cropped a bit) and if so can you post the full uncropped image so we can see full corner stars using this reducer…

Ah, ok interesting…🤔

Retractable, I thought it screwed on and off….🤔

Buy one quick…😂

Well I do know that Stellarmate will not yet run on the RPI5.., so maybe there is a reason why Kstars and Ekos won’t…🤔

Well I was comparing to others made and sold by Askar not other manufactures…so do you think they charge way to much for there others in the Askar livery…?

I am totally jealous…☹️

Subjective I guess, and how much you really care and even bother to look into the corners stars like some pixel peepers do…at full size on a 20” monitor they will all look superb..unfortunately I have to look, my OCD insists on it….😂😂

Yes, I have watched that video where the guy compares 4 refractors for imaging, the Askar 103 being one of them, and it looked great until the reducers were added, then even with APS-c size sensors, the stars were not great in the corners…but with just the flattener, looked good…

Can someone explain why these scopes are so reasonably priced, compared to other comparable triplets, especially other triplets in the Askar range such as the PHQ versions, as in my mind you get what you pay for with a scope and these must be a lot cheaper for a reason….or no one would ever buy there higher priced scopes, so where is the compromise here…?? sorry to be a cinic…

Where is is…? EDIT: Ah, ok I see it Above, yea it looks loads better….👍🏻

Thanks, but I guess I went a bit off topic…😂

We had the London Blue cobble pattern…

If that printed concrete is the same as ours then it’s bonded with fibres too, which makes it even stronger, there is no problem at all bolting a pier to that, it’s not going anywhere….

Well, there is absolutely no harm in trying…and yes it does look that way, that is needs more backspace…👍🏻