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Rowan NEQ6 Belt Conversion?

sbooder

By sbooder
in Discussions - Mounts

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perfrej

perfrej

Posted
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I simply used eyball method on my first attempt as it was an obvious thing to check, and I adjusted it before I put the motor in. I think mine is nice and quiet, but the way they step the motors is somewhat noisy.

/per

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sbooder

sbooder

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OK here is the Dec before first after second  Sorry this one took so long I lost a washer and has to take apart the RA axis because I thought it might have gone down between the RA belt slot, but no, found it now...D'oh!

dec_3.5_before.jpg

dec_after1.jpg

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kingboya

kingboya

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I have completed 360 slews on both axes and all is good and the drop in noise is quite noticeable.

Great job!

Glad it is all sorted now for you. I got called to work so my tweaking is on hold now. Will complete it in the morning. It must be a beautiful thing to hear both axes at rate 9 and all you can hear are the whines of the motors! :D

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tich

tich

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Just a quick question with this belt modification will it eliminate play in both axis or is that a totally different thing altogether? I only ask as mine had some play in it when I first brought my mount so I adjusted it out using some online tutorials although the play has since returned again so may have to do some tinkering.

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perfrej

perfrej

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The play comes from lack of worm adjustment or worm shaft bearing lock ring not being tight enough. Nothing else. The belt kit will eliminate backlash in the motor drivr train, but that is very small and you probably cannot feel it with your hands.

/per

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kingboya

kingboya

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Just a quick question with this belt modification will it eliminate play in both axis or is that a totally different thing altogether? I only ask as mine had some play in it when I first brought my mount so I adjusted it out using some online tutorials although the play has since returned again so may have to do some tinkering.

There is still backlash possible between the worm and main shaft so that is probably what you need to fine tune. Quite easy to do but possibly time consuming.

This mod will not solve this, and simply does away with gears to the worm shaft and instead uses belt drive. Zero backlash here as a result and a much quieter mount too!

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sbooder

sbooder

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My Uncle got around the backlash problem from his worm gear by mounting the worm shaft on springs.  This of course is a 16" Newt on his homemade Equatorial fork mount, so he can have the mesh fairly tight and no binding because of the give in the worm shaft.

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billhinge

billhinge

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No, the mod removes the need for the intermediate transfer gear that is in between the stepper motor gear and the worm gear.

Ah, looking at the fitting instructions I see why, your mount originally had 3 spur gears so replacing one of them maintains the rotation in the correct direction when used with a belt.

My mount only uses 2 spur gears so the belt would turn in the wrong direction unless motor polarity was reversed

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sbooder

sbooder

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Ah, looking at the fitting instructions I see why, your mount originally had 3 spur gears so replacing one of them maintains the rotation in the correct direction when used with a belt.

My mount only uses 2 spur gears so the belt would turn in the wrong direction unless motor polarity was reversed

This mod is only for the EQ6 anyway so it would not suit your original gear ratio.

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billhinge

billhinge

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This mod is only for the EQ6 anyway so it would not suit your original gear ratio.

yes, I know but I reckon I could do my own, I know how to do the calculations and I've taken my mount apart several times and done things to it so I know how it ticks

I'm also modding another an old fullerscope mkiii and building the motor drives etc for it

I was just wondering how they got around the gear reversal problem in what looked like a simple mod

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sbooder

sbooder

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yes, I know but I reckon I could do my own, I know how to do the calculations and I've taken my mount apart several times and done things to it so I know how it ticks

I'm also modding another an old fullerscope mkiii and building the motor drives etc for it

I was just wondering how they got around the gear reversal problem in what looked like a simple mod

Ah I see.  Suppose you would have to reverse the wiring on the motor?

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catman161

catman161

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I have the Rowan belt drive mod on my NEQ6 Pro and it is fantastic. Beautifully quiet now (before it was that horrible crunchy sound!) and the tracking is much better. Performs as it should now. Great product in terms of quality and definitely worth doing.

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sbooder

sbooder

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Well I have finally got some clear skies and have been tracking M31 for an hour and it has not budged 1mm in the EP.  Admittedly it is a 2" 28mm EP but still this is only test one.

The GOTOs have been OK but that is more down to my slapdash Polar alignment.

Next is M42 for some photos (weather permitting ) and then Jupiter for some high mag tracking tests.

So far so good, the belt conversion is behaving as desired.

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keithatrochdale

keithatrochdale

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My kit is now fully installed and the mount is lovely and quiet. Yet to test it outdoors, but no binding, and silent running apart from the motors. Really happy. All aligned with eyesight not the 3.5mm. :D

Hi

Could you do a small youtube video of it moving to give an idea of how much noise it now makes please?

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sbooder

sbooder

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I do not have a guiding set up as yet, that is next on the list.  Anyway the clouds have rolled in so for the moment it is just staying with M31 until I can see again.  But it does not look promising!

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