Noisy Telescope ! What to do?

[matsey]

Oh no!!! .... my next door neighbour popped in to see me this morning to ask if I wouldn't mind not drilling after 11.00pm at night. Except, it wasn't me drilling, it was me using my telescope

I had no idea it was that loud, though I think the problem is being made worse right now for a number of reasons... I've had two weeks off work, so I've been using my telescope a LOT (), it's summer so (a) I'm using the scope very late at night and ( my neighbour's bedroom window is open as it's hot (she's pretty much said she can't really hear it with the window closed).

To be fair my neighbour and her husband are a really lovely couple, and actually when they found out it was my telescope and not a drill they pretty much said not to worry and to carry on, that it was fine. We've agreed I'll warn them in advance if I'm going to be out late so they can close their window on that night. Really understanding of them, and I couldn't be more grateful. Lol in fact, when I offered that they're welcome round to have a go themselves, they were really excited so think I'll be having company next time !!

However.... I am a bit concerned other neighbours have the same problem but just haven't said anything (yet). I definitely don't want to be a noise nuisance, so wondering if anyone has any suggestions to reduce the motor noise ?

The biggest problem seems to be when slewing on the fastest speeds (8 + 9), so I know I can reduce the speed for manual slewing, but there doesn't seem to be a way (that I can find) to reduce the speed below 9 when using the GOTO function..

So bar avoiding using the GOTO function completely, does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe something I could wrap around the motor area somehow to dampen the noise?!

I have also emailed Celestron support, to see if they can make any suggestions particularly with regard to the default goto speed.

Hoping to get some kind of solution before I get an ASBO from another neighbour !

Thanks all for any ideas you have

[malc-c]

Celestron mounts are notorious for being noisy... There are comments that the CG in the CG5 stands for "coffee grinder"

Not a lot you can do really...

Not sure if its because they use servo motors rather than stepper motors, or is the gear-train.

[Capricorn]

Do you know anyone else that has the same scope. Compare the amount of noise, you may have a fault and identifying it early may mean less damage.

One of the standard makes has a silent mode, check if it is Celestron and if present select it. I suspect that it simply slews the scope slower, say 5-6 instead of 8-9. But a couple more secods to get from object-A to object-B isn't a great problem.

You could put a post on Cloudy Nights, they have a section for Celestron Scopes and there is a fair amount of knowledge there.

[tom33pr]

LOL, This is goin' to sound cheeky, but I'd say: switch to a 'push to' system - the same database, and quiet as it gets!!!

Regards

[Starlight 1]

Can you move it away from house like down the garden more or put it in a shed,

or may be some kind of insulated panels on one or two sides.

or may be but some foam round the mount motor part.

[faulksy]

being a engineer i would say the noise is due to no backlash in gearbox.i would imagine you could adjust this as you would have to, to allow for wear.i no on the manual sw and celestron eq mounts you can adjust this between the worm gear and pinion but be care full you dont want any slop(to much backlash) or your mount will wobble

[Backscatter]

My unit is rather loud also (Meade ETX) especially in the alt. motion, even during tracking. It has a “quit slew” option for use during go-to, which is basically is a setting between 7/8 (of 9) and that reduces the noise some during go-to use (worth double checking your menus).

The other thing I do during the summer, when the neighbor’s bedroom window may be open, is wrap the vertical arm containing the gears/drive with an ace bandage to hold a cloth (lint free shop rag) in place on the exterior portion of the arm. It still allows access to controls, reduces the go-to and tracking volume more than enough and does not interfere with any travel motion of the ota. I have never noticed any heat build up.

My neighbors say they have never heard any noise, but I do it anyway.

Though your scope has a different mount layout, you can just Velcro the hand controller to the tripod legs (if needed). Assuming nothing is wrong with your unit, it might be worth a try. Good luck.

[yeti monster]

Turn up the music to drown out the din......

My LXD-75 makes a lot of noise, couple this with the squealing wheels of the observatory dome and Iron Maiden playing on the iPod and I'll be surprised if I don't see the noise abatement society helicopter hovering over the castle grounds one night....

[faulksy]

Turn up the music to drown out the din......

My LXD-75 makes a lot of noise, couple this with the squealing wheels of the observatory dome and Iron Maiden playing on the iPod and I'll be surprised if I don't see the noise abatement society helicopter hovering over the castle grounds one night....

sounds great i mean listening to bruce and your location:)

[Tyr]

I've noticed that my scope is pretty loud when moving at what it calls rate 9, which seems to be the only speed it goes at when using the goto.

With mine 8 seems an order of magnitude quieter but still a bearable speed to get from A to B.

If I do need to use the goto, which I'm trying to use as a last resort now, I slew the scope to what I think is the correct area using the manual controls at a slower speed. That way the goto doesn't have far to go at noisy speed.

Although I think my neighbours are as likely to be woken up by the passing cars with huge exhausts pumping out their tunes which frequently interrupt the quiet of my observing sessions.

Tyr

[petek314]

I have a Meade LXD75 motorised mount which I also think is noisy especially in the dead of night. I have selected the quieter slow slew mode but this still creates some noise. I now manually find a bright star near the object and then synchronise the scope on the star. I then tell the scope to goto the object. As it doesn't have to slew very far then the noise is reduced. I only use this on very faint unfamiliar objects because I can usually find the brighter Messier objects manually. Its a pity that this takes away the convenience of the goto but when you have close neighbours you have to do something to reduce noise. I have also taken note of some of the other suggestions in the posts which I will try out myself.

[russ]

I had this problem with the Celestron CG5 GT mount. Only the neighbour didn't wait until the next morning to tell me. He lent out of the window and told me to shut the ____ up. I'll leave to guess the missing word. After that i never used the CG5 after 11pm.......noisiest mount in the world (and not surprising when you take the covers off to see the rubbish Scaletrix motors).

The LXD75 was much better as it had the Quiet Slew mode which made a huge difference and meant the mount could be used at all times.

I know some folk wrap the motors in towels and all sorts to deaden the sound. Perhaps that may work. Also i was under the impression the Celestron SE was a lot better than the CG5 'Coffee Grinder'?

[Vali x]

matsey, i feel your pain ! i have also a Celestron and it makes a big noise. i hate that, but there's not much i can do about it !

[malc-c]

To be honest, when I was looking for a scope I had two in mind, the Nexstar 5 and C6 SGT. I visited the nearest dealer and they only had the nexstar in stock and when asked to see it in motion was appalled at the noise it made. Behind it was a Skywatcher 200P on an HEQ5 and when that was demonstrated the difference was astounding. For me the noise the mount made played a lot in the decision process

Not saying that SW mounts are quiet, but the high pitched zing that the steppers make is less noticeable than the graunch the celestron mounts make.

[Carbon Brush]

Another CG5 noise polluter here.

The basic problem is that the drive is a DC motor into a cheap gearbox and is therefore noisy. There is no option to limit slew rate on a goto. This is a limitation of Celestron's software.

I have toyed with the idea of limiting the supply voltage to the motors. This would have the effect of limiting top speed, without much impact on the low speed torque.

As I am fortunate enough to not have woken anyone, I haven't put trying out this idea far up the job list.

[Black Knight]

For me the noise the mount made played a lot in the decision process

Same here. The noise of the Celestron was definitely a contributing factor in my deciding to go with Skywatcher instead.

[SiriusB]

I have no motorised mount, but if i did, i doubt anyone would here it above the sound of the boy racers screetching tyres in the nearby car park till silly o'clock

Everything's relative i guess.

Just look forward to the cold dark Winter nights when your neighbours window will be shut tight.

[matsey]

Hi all, apologies for not coming back to the thread sooner, I've not been able to get to my PC for a couple of days. I do though really appreciate all the replies and suggestions.

It doesn't look like the 6SE has a quiet slew mode (at least when using the goto), and although I could move the scope to another area of my garden, by moving it away from one neighbour's window I will instead move it much closer to another's. And hearing Russ's story, I think I'd much rather take my chances with a neighbour who (incredibly lucky for me it seems) is being very understanding

However it looks like there are at least a few things I can try...

- wrapping the motor/gear area in something to deaden the noise a bit. I am a little concerned with heat build up, but I think it's worth pursuing and then just keeping and eye on how hot the unit's getting while in use.

- manually slewing to approximately the right area on a slower speed before using the goto. This is a really good suggestion, I may not be able to reduce the goto speed, but this way I can at least reduce the amount of time the scope is moving at that speed.

- avoid using the goto where possible ! To be honest, when I got this as my first scope a couple of months ago, this wouldn't have even remotely been a possibility for me, as I knew pretty much next to nothing about the different constellations, what different types of DSOs looked like, etc etc. Having the goto has really been invaluable to help me gain some really useful knowledge. And because of that I do feel a lot more confident in what I've picked up in just this short time, and definitely think I could have a very good attempt at finding at least the more familiar DSOs without needing the goto... and actually I'm quite excited about the challenge of "going solo"

- remote control through my laptop. I have no idea yet if this will help, but I already have the right cabling to connect the telescope to my laptop. I'm going to have a play around with NexRemote and also programs like Stellarium, etc to see if I can gain more control over the slewing speed that way.

Also, while not an immediate solution, I have had the following response from Celestron:

Yes, the mounts can be noisy at the fast speeds. We have no ready solution at this time.

Our engineers are working on a custom rate 9 that may apply to your mount - we are checking with them and will let you know.

The last comment at least sounds promising, and I will definitely be following that up, and I do really hope Celestron find a solution themselves. Motor noise wasn't even something that crossed my mind when choosing my first scope, but I have to say when I do eventually upgrade, it will have to be a consideration in my next choice. Which would be a real shame for Celestron, as other than this issue I have been incredibly happy with the 6SE, I wouldn't want to rule them out completely because of this one problem.

[scottydog]

sounds great i mean listening to bruce and your location:)

When you say 'bruce', do you mean 'The Boss'?

[faulksy]

When you say 'bruce', do you mean 'The Boss'?

no mate bruce dickinson lead vocals of iron maiden:)

[Backscatter]

@matsey,

Too bad about the lack of slewing speed choices for the goto.

I tried a new "muffler" last night. Folded up a cotton T-shirt (little more cloth than the shop rag) and held in place with the ace bandage. The wrapping is away from the motor/gear area, but holds the cloth in place over that area and really cut the noise down quite well (more than the previous set-up) without any restrictions and noticed no more heat build-up than without it in place. Takes like 2 minutes to apply, give it a shot.

Good luck

@faulksy,

"no mate bruce dickinson lead vocals of iron maiden:) "

Nothing like "Run to the Hills" at 2 a.m.

[adamsp123]

When I had a CG5 I wrapped the motor housings with towels, which worked quite well but then I decided just to manually slew near the target at a slower speed and then use the goto for the final hop.

[scottydog]

no mate bruce dickinson lead vocals of iron maiden:)

Of course!!

[fatwoul]

I know the HEQ5/NEQ6 are quieter than the Celestrons, but it's all subjective. I was talking to the neighbour two doors up a few days ago. He said he'd woken up in the middle of the night and heard whirring noises. He said it didn't last long and didn't keep him awake, but what he described sounded a lot like my mount slewing. I'm really conscious about noise, now, although I'm more concerned about the rumble of my POD dome moving around!

[astrosphinx]

I think my neighbours now pray for clouds cos they know the motor noise will go away ..... you have nice neighbours by the sounds of it so fair play for trying to come up with a quiet solution. I find the slow slew to the rough area and then final goto adjustments keep the noise to a minimum - not half as cool looking but keeps the neighbours happy!