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EQ6 not working with high latitudes?


Andreas

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Evening stargazers,

 

At the moment, I am located a significantly higher altitude than normal and discovered some problems with the polar alignment for my EQ6.

The most obvious problem is that one of the alignment screws is way too short to compensate for my current latitude of ~ 68.

"Alright then... I'll just order a longer screw", I thought until I noticed the fact that it is not possible to reach further than ~ 65, even when the screws are not attached.

Why is this? The scale on the mount reaches up to 90, which is quite far from 65.

 

Is it possible make the polar axis go further or is it just a limitation of the mount?

 

// Andreas

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greetings

This may sound iffy but I first tried it when I got my NEQ6 a long time back.

after setting up the tripod with the north leg in the correct position and the tripod top level use a spirit level to increase the north leg about half a bubble or more then adjust for alignment, it takes a few tries but it got me working until I replaced the bolt..

Andy

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greetings

This may sound iffy but I first tried it when I got my NEQ6 a long time back.

after setting up the tripod with the north leg in the correct position and the tripod top level use a spirit level to increase the north leg about half a bubble or more then adjust for alignment, it takes a few tries but it got me working until I replaced the bolt..

Andy

But wouldn't that affect the overall inclination of the mount?

At which latitude did you try this by the way? Cause my mount does not seem to go further than 65 degrees even without bolts attached.

I think your best option is to look into the EQ6 Wedge.  Here is Dion's video on it

That looks like a good solution to the problem. However, I won't stay this far up in the country for too long, so it would be a bit overkill to buy the Wedge at the moment.

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Greetings

I'm at only 53deg  but removed the bolts to re manufacture in stainless at our workshop,

after getting the the tripod set up and pointing North the only critical alignment is the axial orientation with NCP my mount was never very level on the tripod but it still worked flawlessly when this single alignment was resolved. 

Now it's in my obsy on a pier that's not perfectly level but I can gat 4 min subs with little or no star trails without guiding.

Andy

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Wedge is the only way, and the slightly expensive one mentioned above is your best bet. If that is too steep, then a slanted pier or tripod works fine. I am at 59° myself and cannot use the NEQ6 reliably as it comes from the factory.

And don't worry about not being level as it has absolutely no bearing on anything.

/per

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Yes, you can tilt the tripod legs but you'd need to fasten the tripod to stop it tipping southwards. You could do this with a cable in tension linking it to something fixed on the ground if you're in a position to do that. Takahashi mount owners run out of adjustment in far more southerly latitudes than yours and have to do this.

Olly

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Lift the N leg and also suspend a weight from the accessory tray to lower the COG if you are worried about it tipping over.

as Olly says Tak owners have to do it at higher latitudes like I did but it was not a lot so I just put 1/2 a brick under the leg.

Steve

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The wedge really solves this problem but also is far better overall than the exisiting stock system, consider it a full mount upgrade and a pier adapter for later use all in one.

Im tempted to get one and a belt drive mod for my EQ6 in the new year.

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