EQ6 making some strange noises?

[Phillyo]

Hey everyone,

So my new EQ6 arrived today from FLO and I've spent the afternoon aligning the polar aligner to make sure it's central and then leveling the tripod etc etc. First problem I noticed is that the leveling bubble on the head has no fluid in it and it looks a bit chipped, I've emailed FLO about that little issue however when I got everything connected and I began slewing to random targets in CdC to make sure EQmod was working, I noticed that it made some crazy almost grinding noises at the start and end of the slew? Is that normal for a brand new mount?

I've taken a video on my phone, sorry the quality isn't amazing but you can hear the rattling/grinding noise at about 8 seconds in, again at 16ish and towards the end of the video at about 37 seconds as it reaches the target.

Thank you.

Phil.

[Thalestris24]

Hi

FWIW my heq5 syntrek makes similar noises though maybe not quite so 'rattly'.

Louise

[sidelight]

EQ6 sounding like a bag of spanners?  mine is the same and its something they are known for, so relax and enjoy your new mount.

Cheers

Ross

[Phillyo]

Phew. Thanks guys, put my mind at rest.

[Paul M]

Ditto the sound.

That's part of the reason the belt modification is so popular.

I've never even looked at the level bubble on mine.

On an Equatorial mount it's as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

One that small wouldn't be much use even if they were necessary on an EQ mount.

[CodnorPaul]

Yes noise is normal - I find my bubble level useful, but do check it is level first! Check out the astronomy shed videos on you tube re complete mount set up - found them invaluable

[szymon]

I've never even looked at the level bubble on mine.

On an Equatorial mount it's as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Really?  Everything I've read so far says that getting the mount level is important.  I actually ordered a decent bubble level just because that's what all the articles say.  So it doesn't really matter whether it's level?  Or do you mean that a bubble level isn't good enough to level it?  Or something else?

[Zakalwe]

Really?  Everything I've read so far says that getting the mount level is important.  I actually ordered a decent bubble level just because that's what all the articles say.  So it doesn't really matter whether it's level?  Or do you mean that a bubble level isn't good enough to level it?  Or something else?

My EQ6 rattled like that too. They all do that.

As for the tripod having to be level? Nope. The process of polar alignment puts the RA axis in the correct orientation. The tripod can point anywhere it likes. in fact, if there was enough adjustment in the Alt and Az adjusters, the centre-line of the tripod could be horizontal!

If you use the Synscan PA routine, then it can help if the tripod is level as it will isolate the required adjustments to Alt and Az. Otherwise you have to use a mixture of both.

[Paul M]

Really?  Everything I've read so far says that getting the mount level is important.  I actually ordered a decent bubble level just because that's what all the articles say.  So it doesn't really matter whether it's level?  Or do you mean that a bubble level isn't good enough to level it?  Or something else?

Zakalwe beat me to it.

A bubble level has a use on an Alt/azimuth GOTO mount as it's basically doing for that what polar alignment does for an Equatorial mount.

I find it takes me about 2 or 3 minutes to polar align my EQ6 via the polar scope to an accuracy that is perfectly adequate for visual and GOTO.

If I was doing long exposures then I'd take much more time over it. 

[ronin]

It may be "normal" but when spending what amounts to £1K it really seems that users are held in poor regard.

When do you know the difference between normal and new mount required?

[Paul M]

It may be "normal" but when spending what amounts to £1K it really seems that users are held in poor regard.

When do you know the difference between normal and new mount required?

That's my view exactly.

One wonders what would be the actual cost to the manufacturers to bin the gears and fit belts as standard.

My guess that if such a mod had been adopted early in the NEQ6's life it would have been between very small and quite affordable.

Economy of numbers and all that. Even though the numbers aren't huge.

[szymon]

As for the tripod having to be level? Nope. The process of polar alignment puts the RA axis in the correct orientation. The tripod can point anywhere it likes. in fact, if there was enough adjustment in the Alt and Az adjusters, the centre-line of the tripod could be horizontal!

A bubble level has a use on an Alt/azimuth GOTO mount as it's basically doing for that what polar alignment does for an Equatorial mount.

Ok, I don't understand why everywhere mentions you should level the mount then.

http://www.astro-baby.com/HEQ5/HEQ5-3.htm

"Before you do that you need to make sure your mount is level ( that's what the bubble level is for )"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_alignment

"Use a spirit level to ensure it is level."

http://starizona.com/acb/basics/using_polar.aspx

"If possible, use a bubble level to level the tripod"

http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/feature/how-guide/how-toalign-telescope-mount

"With the level on the tripod head, check it is horizontal in north-south and east-west directions."

etc etc.

Damn them all!  I wasted ages yesterday working out how to get my mount level without a small spirit level -- ended up using the huge spirit level I have in the shed to level a large flat board, then using that as a calibration platform for my iPhone's spirit level application.  I also ordered a bubble level for next day delivery so that I don't have the same issue on Saturday.

Oh well, I'm sure the level will come in useful for something :-)

-simon

[Thalestris24]

Hi

I would say that although the mount doesn't have to be level, if it is, then the closer the altitude adjustment will be to the previous time it was used. So, in theory, will only need fine adjustment each time. On the other hand, if the front is then raised by several degrees, altitude adjustment will have to compensate so more movement needed. If you don't mind having to make biggish adjustments each time then it doesn't matter. More important for the mount to be on a firm base, isolated from vibration as much as possible. (from my own point of view, firmness and freedom from vibration are a desire!)

Louise

[Paul M]

Having the mount level will do no harm and for certain processes might be of some benefit, as Zakalwe noted.

Ultimately the whole purpose of an equatorial mount is the the right ascension axis is parallel to Earth's axis of rotation.

This is is achieved by tipping what would be the azimuth axis on an alt/azimuth  mount to an angle equaling your latitude.

So no reference to horizontal is relevant to that other than if you are going to actually measure that angle with a protractor/scale.

The quickest way to get the RA axis parallel to Earths axis is to sight Polaris  through it with a polar scope and use an appropriate reticle to achieve the correct off-set.

All that matters is that the RA axis is pointing at the north pole to an accuracy that reflects your intended purpose.

I don't see those bubble levels being any better than a few degree's accuracy anyway. And any latitude scale provided on the mount will only get you in the ball park.

I'd say they are both little more than eye-candy.

[Singlin]

I like to level my mount because it also feels and looks ship shape.

Before I did the belt mod on my EQ6 I managed to silence it by just fine tuning it using Astro Baby's guide.

I keep having to edit as my terrible English punctuation and spelling tends to have Italian structured sentences.

[VigdisVZ]

Man, I love that sound! It's the sounds of good things to come!

[Paul M]

Perhaps with some drive tuning someone could compose the SGL EQ6 symphony?

[AstroAdam]

The old levelling chestnut....

The ONLY thing that levelling does is mean that when you're adjusting the polar alignment, then adjusting (for excample) latitude only adjusts latitude and not AZ at all, and vice versa.   All-in-all, it matters not a jot really...  I'd say the faffing to level is not worth the time and effort....

Basically if it's a bit off-level then when you alter one axis, the other will also move slightly.  Who cares?  Not me....