Celestrons az3. Interesting problem

[garethmob]

Having just acquired a az3 I tried it tonight but had a major problem. It wouldn't go very high:(

I was tryin to look at Venus and it just hit the end of the Alt screw. Any suggestions?

I eventually lowered 2 back legs. But that defeats the object for me as its main use will be for the astrotrac and I'm worried now it might not be enough for PE

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[John]

You need to reset the alt and az slow motions quite frequently on those mounts (the Skywatcher AZ-3 is the same) as they only have a limited travel.

[garethmob]

What do you mean reset John? I noticed the az I had to rewind the slomo but nothing on alt as I just ran out of travel is there a bolt for adjusting somewhere?

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[coulthamst]

The Alt axis bolt of the AZ3 has friction washers, allowing the user to push the telescope to a new elevation. One then uses the hand control as before.

[John]

The Alt axis bolt of the AZ3 has friction washers, allowing the user to push the telescope to a new elevation. One then uses the hand control as before.

Yes thats it - you wind back the alt slow motion so that the tangent arm has plenty of travel again and you then tilt the scope to point it where you want and the friction washers described above hold it in place.

It sounds more complex than it is

[garethmob]

Lol that sounds overly complicated lol ill give it ago when I get home. Thanks guys

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[garethmob]

Just tried it and it works. I would never have thought of that as its so stiff lol thanks guys

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[coulthamst]

Hi Gaz glad you managed to decipher the messages! Its not an easy concept to describe without leaving room for misunderstanding.

Looking forward, you may find that after a fair amount of use the Alt adjustment works loose. This can occur even though the axis nut is a Nyloc (self locking) type. It can of course be readjusted, but it will be a nuisance when it keeps happening. My preferred solution is to obtain a thin 12mm nut to use as a locknut. Placed inside the Nyloc nut, and with careful repeated adjustment, it will "stay put" for a very much longer period. I cut a full size 12mm nut in two, but one needs to make sure that the result is reasonably parallel sided if trying this.

I have a Skywatcher 6" f5 refractor fitted with a 10-1 Crayford focuser mounted on my AZ3, and it works fine - provided it isn't too windy!

[garethmob]

That's not bad:) thanks for the help

The main reason is a mount for the astrotrac. It seems perfect and heaped and lighter than the tripod heads ect but it works perfectly with the megrez and the astral (wouldn't want to go any bigger than the astral tho) as vibrations are awful at times. Any ideas if the 2"legs fit?

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[coulthamst]

I find that the best tripod vibration reducers available are:-

1) Carefully tighten all structural bolts and screws, and washer-up anything that is just plain loose.

2) Apply a hefty weight to the spreader plate/tray. I use a spare 5Kg counterweight, others use bags of sand.

Vibration will still occur, but will die completely within two seconds or less.