Help Please, Skywatcher SkyMax 127 MAK

[JPS]

Hi. Firstly, a thank you to those who've offered me a warm welcome since I joined this morning. I hope some/several of you may be able to advise me on our telescope.

So, I took a lot of advice before buying my wife her first scope about 5.5 years ago. I was pointed toward the Skywatcher 127MAK- so I bought her one with the SupaTrack mount. I invested in all the books- Astronomy encyclopedia, Turn Left at Orion etc- and she was made up initially using the scope.

Then, it went away for around the past 3 years, as we were busy with other things. I recently got it out,reassembled it, tried to set it up, as she wanted to restart astronomy. However, the tracking motors don't seem to drive the alt/az axes. There is power, there is a whirring noise from within the mount, but the scope does not move.

So, I took the side off the mount. There are two motors, the upper for alt, the lower for az. Each has a black knurled wheel attached- these spin under power, but the motors don't drive. It's not a power issue- brand new 12volts makes no difference.

I attach several pics of our scope,including the ( I now think) stupid electronic mount, including a view inside.

Has anyone any such experience of this problem- it would appear that this is a pretty common scope on this site? If so, can I fix it, or must I junk the mount- and , by extension, the tripod.

I'm rather wishing now / thinking that I should have bought a scope with a manual mount. However, I'm rather baffled by all the mount jargon- EQs 1-6 or whatever, alt/az4 etc etc etc.

Our scope is attached to the mount via a dovetail (?) joint. Will this attach simply to any mount?- I've seen that many scopes are attached via rings around their body.

It SEEMS that the mount base (like a knurled toothed cup) SHOULD remove from the tripod- BUT, can I then buy a manual mount to refit to the tripod, and if i do so- what should i buy ( reasonably priced options only please, I'm on a pension!). Or should i just junk the mount, the tripod and mount base, and get all new ?

Bear with me!- a LAST option - seems to be to get a MORE complicated SynTrak mount like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Sky-Watcher-Synscan-AZ-Mount-skyhawk-explorer-mercury-startravel-/301278091231?pt=UK_Telescope_Mounts&hash=item462592d7df

and then a cable like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-10m-PC-serial-cable-SynScan-Mount-/191274762617?pt=UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item2c88dd4179

to control the scope with our laptop- rather than buying a SynTrak controller too. BUT, will that mount prove unreliable too?

Any advice- in as plain speak as poss for a novice like me- would be most gratefully received. Many thanks in advance.................

[Cornelius Varley]

If the black knurled wheels (encoders) are moving the motors must be working, the encoders are driven by the motors. Have you set the slew rate on the handset to it's maximum setting ? At the slowest tracking rate you will not see the mount move. Switch the mount on and press button 3 to set the mount to its fastest slew rate.

The Supatrak mount (yours) and the AZ-GOTO mount (in the link) are essentially the same thing but you would either have to use your existing Supatrak handset or purchase a Synscan handset to use it. The cable shown in your link won't work by itself, you need to use either of the handsets or connect the mount to a laptop through the cable and a Synscan handset or by using a special bluetooth adapter http://www.365astronomy.com/bluetooth-interface-for-skywatcher-autotracking-merlin-p-2390.html .

[AstroJOE]

Before you look at purchasing a new mount can I suggest you check that the grease that is used to lubricate the motor hasn't become too sticky over time? I say this because that is exactly what happened to my Synscan mount after I'd left it in the shed unused for a few months. The 'whiring' sound you describe was exactly the same problem I experienced.... Like the motor was trying to turn but something was stopping it. I did a bit of searching on the internet at the time and 'sticky grease' can apparently be a common problem with these. I gave mine a good clean and removed a big blob of gunk that was stuck in the mechanism and it worked fine after that.

Worth a try before you part with any cash....

James

[NGC 1502]

Hi JPS.  You have some good advice above.

But I can answer one of your questions.  The dovetail that attaches the tube assembly to the mount is a standard one.  It's often called either a Vixen or Synta dovetail, so the optical tube assembly would fit any mount with such an attachment.

Hope you sort the problem, Ed.

[JPS]

Hello again. A rather belated reply, but after I posted this enquiry, I got ill, so the last thing on my mind was sorting out the scope!

Anyway, I'd like to thank those who took the time to reply and advise me. I'm not (as it may have seemed on the face of it ) an ignorant, boorish clod who can't be bothered to respond, I just was ill..... so please accept an apology to anyone who might have felt aggrieved by my previous lack of esponse

Yesterday ( I don't rush into things!) I screwed up the courage to take all the gubbins out of the (quite expensive) mount-  13mm & 10mm sockets, an allen key and a philips screwdriver were all I needed- then disassembled all the gearing, cleaned it up, and reassembled.

HEY-HO, it all now works-- so I guess it was clogged up due to lack of use, as suggested by AstroJOE.

So, my thanks , once again.......................

[AstroJOE]

Hello again. A rather belated reply, but after I posted this enquiry, I got ill, so the last thing on my mind was sorting out the scope!

Anyway, I'd like to thank those who took the time to reply and advise me. I'm not (as it may have seemed on the face of it ) an ignorant, boorish clod who can't be bothered to respond, I just was ill..... so please accept an apology to anyone who might have felt aggrieved by my previous lack of esponse

Yesterday ( I don't rush into things!) I screwed up the courage to take all the gubbins out of the (quite expensive) mount- 13mm & 10mm sockets, an allen key and a philips screwdriver were all I needed- then disassembled all the gearing, cleaned it up, and reassembled.

HEY-HO, it all now works-- so I guess it was clogged up due to lack of use, as suggested by AstroJOE.

So, my thanks , once again.......................

Glad I was able to help. Hope you get some nice weather now so you can enjoy it!

James