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Pitch Black Skies

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Everything posted by Pitch Black Skies

  1. Pitch Black Skies
    Stunning image
  2. Pitch Black Skies
    I can't find any potential external interferences. I'm going try a separate power supply if my adjustments to the idler have made no difference.
  3. Pitch Black Skies
    I've started the installation again from the start. It seems I have followed all of the instructions correctly. I can't see any defects in any of the parts. I've decided to let about 4mm lateral play in the idler by adjusting the collar. I had it set so as that there was no lateral play. Maybe this will make a difference.
  4. Pitch Black Skies
    I swapped the both the gear and motor. Could it have anything to do with powering the mount from an ASIAair? Could having the belt adjusted too tight cause problems? I have it fairly tight and it looks to be more responsive when turning it by hand.
  5. Pitch Black Skies
    @vlaiv I think it's pretty much the same. Would this be periodic error then? It's less than my imaging scale so it isn't really making any difference.
  6. Pitch Black Skies
    Do you have a link to that dovetail bar?
  7. Pitch Black Skies
    Just wondering what I should do about this. The mount is only a few months old. Is a problem like this to be expected from a mount at this price range? To be fair, I don't think it's impacting my images but it just doesn't sit right with me. I was expecting it to be more accurate. Am I being a bit too fussy?
  8. Pitch Black Skies
    Unfortunately not, that has to go from the mount to a computer. If you had the ASIair you could route the EQDIR from the mount to that. It's a really tidy set up.
  9. Pitch Black Skies
    Hi, I mean instead of the usb going from the guide cam to the laptop, you can just route a usb from the guide cam to the main cam.
  10. Pitch Black Skies
    You can power your guide cam with a very short cable running from your main cam. One less cable to worry about snagging.
  11. Pitch Black Skies
    Can they be bought or is something we need to do ourselves?
  12. Pitch Black Skies
    Hi, I'm having the exact same problem as you. Were you able to get to the bottom of it?
  13. Pitch Black Skies
    Good news and bad news. The good news is that I think the guiding graph is more steady since loosening the tight worm mesh. The bad news is that the spike in the RA graph remains and is now more distinct. Interesting, the spike is consistent at approximately 2 minute intervals. See the spike every couple of minutes ⬇️ See the spike up close ⬇️ The spike is consistent with a full rotation of the stepper motor (122 seconds) or the gear attached to it's shaft ⬇️ I think the next action will be to swap the motors around? 😟
  14. Pitch Black Skies
    Whatever your decision, it will be good to have an extra member to the 130pds army. Best of luck
  15. Pitch Black Skies
    Storage wise, there isn't a huge difference. The tripod is the exact same. The head is heavier. From my experience, if you can at all get a HEQ5 if you can afford it. I think I have read that it's tracking is the same as an EQ6, but with the benefit/disadvantage of being lighter. One striking difference between the EQ5 Pro and HEQ5 pro is the amount of bearings used. On the EQ5 Pro there isn't ANY bearings on the DEC axis, and only 2 in the RA. On the HEQ5 there are 4 bearings in the DEC and 4 bearings in the RA. As you already know, in astrophotography the mount is considered the most important part and should be where the bulk of your funds are spent. That said, I know it's not an easy amount to cough up but it's money well spent. HTH
  16. Pitch Black Skies
    What mount is that? Looks solid as a 🪨
  17. Pitch Black Skies
    If I have pulses on either side of the RA graph does that not mean one side is accelerating tracking and the opposite side is reversing it? My understanding is that if there is backlash, the pulse is reversing the tracking rate into the backlash.
  18. Pitch Black Skies
    Oh right. I'm feeling positive that it was the super tight mesh I found in the RA worm gear and crown. It can move much more freely now that I've loosened it. As soon as I have a clear night I can test it and record the results. Would you recommend longer exposures in general Michael? Would the seeing not affect the DEC axis as well?
  19. Pitch Black Skies
    Strange, I can't do that. Maybe the new style mount has a shorter bar? One weight would be handier for me, literally. I always move it fully assembled.
  20. Pitch Black Skies
    For DEC only though, is that correct? I'm thinking as long as RA is balanced, the load on the motor is the same. Post a pic of your setup 😃
  21. Pitch Black Skies
    You can balance yours with just 1 counterweight? I haven't even got an EAF and the scope side is still too heavy to do that.
  22. Pitch Black Skies
    @alacant Nice rig! Wish I lived somewhere like Spain ☀️
  23. Pitch Black Skies
    Hi Richard, https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p8075_TS-Optics-flexible-Taukappe-fuer-Teleskope-mit-einem-Au-en--Tubusdurchmesser-von-140-bis-180-mm.html
  24. Pitch Black Skies
    Thanks, that makes sense. I think I misunderstood Alacants statement also. I was thinking if the balance was off, then any backlash might be noticeable as the RA would be bobbing over and back when sending pulses.
  25. Pitch Black Skies
    With the belt removed, the RA is still loaded. As I've mentioned in an earlier post there, listening to the harmonics proved misleading. Despite having no binding noise, when I turned the gear by hand it was still far too tight and sticking. See the previously attached video clip.
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