Celestron AVX Edge HD 8 questions.

[Nsomnia911]

Hello all! 

     Well I finally did it!   took me a while to save up but yesterday My first telescope arrive!   and of course, here in northern Michigan....Rain, rain, rain,  oh and more rain for the week!    It really makes a wonderful corner decoration though!  

OK a few questions if anyone can help.. 

1:  After I assembled everything I noticed that the mount moves on the tripod by the latitude adjustment knobs.. like I can wobble it up and down.. I assume that its loose because the scope goes up and down.. I just thought it would all be solid with no wiggle room....  Can someone confirm it is supposed to be loose that way,  or did I mess up the assembly in some way?

2:  You think if you spend 2k on the scope the good people of celestron would include a wall outlet power source along with the cigarette lighter source...  :\    but they didn't... It says to ONLY use celestron power source..   Can I go to radio shack or walmart and get a regular 12v AC plug or will it seriously mess up my mount.. unless celestron merged with apple.. I don't think it would make a difference?

Thanks for answering the questions!   

[knobby]

1 it shouldn't wobble... Define wobble :-) which bit wobbles?

2 as far as I know so long as it has the correct voltage, is regulated and at least 2 to 3 amps you should be OK

Expect more answers, its a popular mount

[oldpink]

yes you can buy a generic power supply
look at the manual for the voltage and Amp rating and get one that matches the suggested ratings

[Nsomnia911]

Wobble definition:   the scope is facing up and the latitude knob can no longer move...  I can still slightly lift up and there will be a gap between the mount and the tripod....  the mounting knob will not tighten any more.. I don't understand why I can just lift it up like that....   that's what I mean by I can make it wobble...

and I figured in regards to the power you could use any 12v AC cord... instead of the $30 celestron one.  

[oldpink]

just make sure it has the right Amp range (normally 2A)

sounds as if there is something not right with the way you have put your mount together
don't mount the scope or try anything till the problem is fixed

[knobby]

Definitely shouldn't move like that... Also check that the power supply is the correct polarity and you need DC not AC...

Post a picture of the mount for us

[Nsomnia911]

Here is what I am talking about... As you can see the gap is like almost half the user manual ( about 15 or so pages) 

I can push down on the lat knob and it will rock.. let go, and it rocks back.. push and it rocks down..  and so on..

the mount was flush with the tripod and the alignment peg..  the mount knob threaded smoothly and there are no signs of stripped threading or metal shavings..  So I have no idea what Is going on here..     

[Nsomnia911]

sorry..lol here we go

[oldpink]

thats not right
that should solid with no movement

[Nsomnia911]

Any thoughts?    before I secured and tightened evything down I made sure everything was level...  and the alignment peg was flush and tight.. like I said the mounting knob threaded smoothly and was tight.. I didn't want to wrench on the knob to tighten further cause I didn't wasn't to risk damage.. but I don't understand why its loose like this. 

[Nsomnia911]

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9xbpn2Oq0    here this guy is having the problem only his goes right to left... I have the same issue only mine is up/down.    

[knobby]

The tripod spreader plate might improve things... But it doesn't look right to me :-(

Think I saw something on cloudy nights similar

[knobby]

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/lxd55/Number/6315454/page/25/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/2

[Nsomnia911]

Thanks for that  thread link knobby,  I went an added a very thin washer and remounted.. now it is completely solid.. 0 movement whatsoever... thank god.  I so did not want to pack it all up and have to send back.     Problem solved!  

So now if anyone has the same problem in the future.. add another super thin washer and it should do the trick...

[knobby]

Glad its sorted... Just checked mine and it does have a washer fitted, its like they forgot on a few mounts :-)

[Nsomnia911]

I going to ask for a partial refund of 1000  due to receiving an incomplete setup and had to go out of my own pocket to make it work     lol      cool I just finished balancing it out,  aligning the finder scope with main tube..  now just need to go buy a power source and polar align and wait for a week till the rain clears out of the area and the skies clear up.    

[coopman827]

Lots of luck with that refund request.  I don't give you much of a chance with that.  Anyways, congrats, that should be a great set-up.  Use the cloudy days to learn how to operate the mount.