Better detail with ra drive turned off??

[yelsac]

Hi First ever post! Please be gentle

I'm fairly new to looking at the heavens, so learning all the time

I have an EQ3-2 mount with a new dual axis drive on it.

I was looking at Jupiter last night & the view was superb, saw the great red spot & two other spots on the other band, but I've found that whilst using the drive is good for keeping it in the middle, when the drive is switched off & the planet starts to move again I can see more detail on it. Also noticed that occasionally the image seemed to be pulsing with the drive on.

This doesn't seem right especially if I was going to mount an SLR camera! Am I doing something wrong? or is it easier to view with the naked eye when the planet is moving?

Many thanks for your time & help

Yelsac

[Jannis]

Hmm, i'm guessing it's the motor/gear causing small vibrations and therefore giving slightly less details. With the high magnifications needed for planetary observations, it's possible the motor and gears will cause this effekt.

For normal astrophotagraphy with a DSLR you probably won't have this problem as the magnification isn't nerly as high.

So if the tracking is good, it shuold be all fine. But for planetary capturing you'll probably get the same effekt as with your eye i asume.

Have you checked that the gears and everything is lubricated well and also not overtighten so it struggles to drive the scope?

[Mr Q]

Many observers do say that they can see more details when the object they are looking at slowly moves across the field of view. I believe it has to do with the slight eye movement across the image keeping the brain more focused on what the eye is seeing. Tapping the scope to set up a slight jiggling of the image can sometimes bring out an otherwise non-detected faint object.

But at high powers, when the object moves seemingly faster, the effect seems to lessen. True or not, I like looking at an object that drifts across the field of view verses one that stays stationary.

As for the 'pulses' caused by the drive, I would think that the longer the exposure, the less this would be a problem, as long as the drive is accurately following the object. As I'm not into imaging, I'll let others offer their comments on the 'pulsing' issue.

[JimStan]

I have noticed the effect with my ETX-90. I have on rather rare occasions, put a 5mm eyepiece into the scope, and been "blown away" by the large and crisp detail on Jupiter. But when the RA motor is running, the miniscule vibration causes the image to "jitter" in the view. I have found a compromise by pushing the "reverse" button and letting go just before the scope starts running in the "back-up" mode. This gives me several seconds of ultra-clear viewing before the planet starts moving off the screen again.

I have heard that those Celestron vibration pads do minimise these problems, but I have yet to try a set out. BTW, I usually have my telescope set up on the sidewalk, and I can feel the vibration all the way down into the steel legs. I would LOVE to hear of anyone's experiences with the vibration reductin pads. Are they worth the money?

Jim S

[yelsac]

Many thanks for your comments, wiil try that out