Kon

To be honest I have never seen it through an eyepiece, guilty I know, as my efforts have been on imaging it; my only live view is through the finderscope and you can make the panels. I think @PeterStudzhas seen it through an 8" with manual tracking.

Nice images. The mineral colours subtle and excellent.

Nice one Reggie.

So I swapped the encoder and the problem persists; if it is the correct part (the green chip in this photo). I did not want to mess more with the Alt as it is tracking very well. It seems to be a faulty motor. I will look into sourcing a new one (I have not found anything yet). I might start a new post for a motor 🥲

I am not an electronics expert, so looking online it was described as stepper but I could well be wrong. I thought of swapping the motors around but as my Alt is perfect, do I mess with it? But it will be a good diagnostic. Yes I changed the power supply, not as fancy as the one you suggested but I will invest on very good one. A voltmeter would be good. I assume I should have similar power?

The current diagnostics are that removing the cable from the board to the stepper the motor runs fast; with the cable back on it's running at low speed as expected. I suppose it rules out a faulty stepper. Unless it's not giving enough torque, partly faulty? I tightened the central bolt to the point that it was very firm base but no tracking. What I can't get my head around is, why the wormwheel and brass turn but not the large metal disc. Where else should I be looking? I took the whole clutch system off to check but nothing. Any other suggestions?

Balance is ok. I had no issues tracking for the past 3 months I had it and it just stop tracking at the azimuth.

In these photos, what I am looking for?

Thanks. It seems that I have lost torque to turn the wormwheel and brass when 'tracking' although at higher speed it works; this is with no clutch and large wheel?. Hmmm After shutting down and restarting it turns with and without the wheel?? Most peculiar

2+3 seem to work.

I opened up last night and it all looks ok. One thing I noticed is that there was a lot of grease on the small spacers just under the big nut. Would that be causing it? Do they need the grease? So why at high speed with the controller is it ok to turn?

1. I opened up the azimuth motor compartment and check everything for slipping. I could see wormwheel running fine It didn't solve the problems. 2. I opened the gear box, all ok. It didn't solve the problem. 3. The motor itself seems to function ok but could it be something to do with the encoder? I can see the wormwheel running but the large disc or platform is not turning. It can turn with the hand controller. So if it is not slipping is it likely the stepper does not provide enough torque? Ie is it gone? Thoughts on a replacement for it, assuming it's the culprit?

Rupes Recta looked spectacular last night; Rima Berta was also nicely visible. I did some imaging after observing. 12" Dob Flextube, goto, asi462mm, IR pass 685nm, 2.5x TV powermate.

Perfect, thanks. I was looking for something like this. It gives me confidence to properly open it up now and see what is going on.

Hard to tell if it is movable but I see a black screw at 6 oclcok in my photo that is adjusted to a sping, I wonder if that has to do with tolerance? It will be some investigating job tonight.

Thansk for the suggestions. Michael suggested similar thing, but without the tube I do not see any tracking either, unless the nut is undone more than i thought so it is completely slipping. I will definitely look into getting a a new power supply.

I bought it second hand, and it came with a mains adaptor (12V 0.9A), I assumed from Skywatcher (from manual: 10 to 15 V DC 1Amp), plugged to the mains. But why tracking ok for the past couple of months if it was a power issue?

Yes clutch too, sorry. I am powering from the mains. It's a bit odd as it was tracking ok and I stopped to have a break and when i went back it wouldn't. I could try undo the nut and take the wormwheel off and see if the motor still makes the noise.

Yes correct, the motors seem to be fine. I just opened the housing and yes I did do this test last night but no movement. I can hear the motor trying to track, there is some noise (when it was tracking ok it was quietter, more like a humming noise). It is more of rougher sound now; not loud, i need to be close to the base to hear it..

During my imaging last night, the AZ motor of my 12" Syncan GOTO stopped tracking; I could hear the motor working but not tracking and I could use the hand controller to move the telescope so the motor is operating ok. Is it just slipping? The clutch was tighten and I had no issues until last night with it. I opened the housing but I am lost beyond that. The brass rode is rotating with the controller. I can see another black disk under the whole system. I found some info online that I could tighten the nut at the top. Before I do anything silly, are there any suggestions?

Nice images. Rupes Recta has an almost 3d feeling to it in the last image.

Thanks Neil. I tried not to push to much as seeing wasn't great but also inspired by your excellent processing to avoid edge crater artefacts (there are a few but i would sacrifice details over tidying 1-2 craters). I am really excited what the 12" can do under good seeing; the IR was boiling, but I still managed a few decent frames. These are stacks of 3% of 8000 frames with 1ms exposure; any higher exposure and I was losing the finer features but the light gathering of the 12" is amazing compared to my 8". I have to say that you were spot on to always tell me to get some kind of tracking. It is a game changer! The biggest advantage I have found so far is refocusing constantly without losing my target. Planetary season will be fun but the moon is an excellent target to get all teething out of the way.

I managed some decent images last night despite the jetstream. The craters and mountains are: 1. Ptolemaeus/Alphonsus/Arzachel, 2. Sinus Fidei, 3. Vallis Alpes and Montes Alpes. The shadows casted in the 1st and 3rd image are really intriguing. 12" Flextube goto, asi462mm, IR pass 685nm, 2.5x TV powermate. I also tried a colour image for image 1 using my asi462mc.

Thanks Ian. The seeing was just awful. with the overhead jetstream. I have been imaging tonight and it is a bit better. I will post the images later. Looking forward to your captures.

Thanks Mark. I will never unsee the smilly crater now 😂. Yes I hate when updates decide to happen during imaging. I hope the weather improves so we can get some high resolution images.