Dropped my NEQ6 on the floor ... yikes!!!

[souls33k3r]

Yesterday i took upon myself to test the new pegasus power hub on the top of my telescope and check the balance etc. Took me a while to get somewhere near the balance in 3 axis (somehow i need to find out why my dec axis behaves like it does but that's a story for another thread). So i finished everything, took the scope off, undid the screw lever on the tripod that holds that base of the mount and was ready to pack it away and suddenly i thought of tightening up the counter shaft screw.

As i did the last of the screws, i tried to tighten the screw with a bit of force and off my mount went and on the floor. 

My heart was in my mouth as you can image. I put the mount head back on the tripod, plugged in the EQDir cable and started to manually slew the mount E - W and then N - S ... all looked and sounded fine. Just a little concerned really. 

Are there any checks i can do indoor to make sure that nothing is wrong without having to wait for a clear night and test this? (Guiding and mount functionality)

Thanks in advance

[vlaiv]

I can't think of anything in particular. Visually inspect the mount casing - look for any cracks. Small dents, chips are OK (nothing is OK about it all, but better to have small chip / dent then other type of damage), cracks are not so good.

Listen to slewing sounds, do they sound like they usually do? To a full slew in each axis just to make sure that it moves all around. Test how it feels when you release clutches and just rotate it freely. Is there additional slack / play?

There might be even some "internal" damage. Like cracked bearing (I had that on my mount when I purchased it - I did not drop it or anything, but it might have come from rough handling in transport and storage, prior to purchase). That is easily fixed by replacing bearings with new ones, but you will have to dismantle mount to do it (I did it when I was tuning / re greasing it).

[souls33k3r]

4 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I can't think of anything in particular. Visually inspect the mount casing - look for any cracks. Small dents, chips are OK (nothing is OK about it all, but better to have small chip / dent then other type of damage), cracks are not so good.

Listen to slewing sounds, do they sound like they usually do? To a full slew in each axis just to make sure that it moves all around. Test how it feels when you release clutches and just rotate it freely. Is there additional slack / play?

There might be even some "internal" damage. Like cracked bearing (I had that on my mount when I purchased it - I did not drop it or anything, but it might have come from rough handling in transport and storage, prior to purchase). That is easily fixed by replacing bearings with new ones, but you will have to dismantle mount to do it (I did it when I was tuning / re greasing it).

Visually it all looked alright because NEQ6 is mostly metal, no dents as well (or at least that i could see). Mount slewed fine without any hiccups and sounded the usual crunchy noise that we get from these brilliant SW mounts so all in all it sounded exactly like how i would expect it to.

If there are cracked bearings (God forbid) without dismantling the mount what am i expecting to notice in the mount behavior?

[xtreemchaos]

remember Sir Issac newton, there could be some science there to discover , hope everythings OK. charl.  

[souls33k3r]

Just now, xtreemchaos said:

remember Sir Issac newton, there could be some science there to discover , hope everythings OK. charl.  

I bloody well don't want to discover my wallet getting any lighter lol Cheers mate, i hope so too

[DAVE AMENDALL]

Nasty one, good job it did not land on your foot. You could do a one star align on a sunny day as follows:

Enter date and time ,click on one star align (eg slews towards Vega) when stopped hit enter no need to look thru the scope. Handset will read successful. Go to object list solar System schroll down to sun hit enter. The sun should appear in the finder. Warning you will need a solar filter on the finder. Main scope can be capped off.

If successful the mount electronics are OK......................Dave

[ollypenrice]

I'd put a tenner on it being fine.

Olly

[vlaiv]

16 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

Visually it all looked alright because NEQ6 is mostly metal, no dents as well (or at least that i could see). Mount slewed fine without any hiccups and sounded the usual crunchy noise that we get from these brilliant SW mounts so all in all it sounded exactly like how i would expect it to.

If there are cracked bearings (God forbid) without dismantling the mount what am i expecting to notice in the mount behavior?

I had following show up in my guide graph - large spike every so often in RA axis, like 3-4" and then settles into "regular" routine, but that regular routine was rough and I was not able to get smooth tracking/guiding.

[Craney]

How's the floor doing ??

[RayD]

Ah mate that's not good 

Fingers firmly crossed here!!

[vlaiv]

Here is thread from back then when I was trying to diagnose cracked bearing:

 

[souls33k3r]

28 minutes ago, DAVE AMENDALL said:

Nasty one, good job it did not land on your foot. You could do a one star align on a sunny day as follows:

Enter date and time ,click on one star align (eg slews towards Vega) when stopped hit enter no need to look thru the scope. Handset will read successful. Go to object list solar System schroll down to sun hit enter. The sun should appear in the finder. Warning you will need a solar filter on the finder. Main scope can be capped off.

If successful the mount electronics are OK......................Dave

Nice one, not a bad shout. I've been thinking of doing some solar any way and a friend of mine has been asking me to take his Quark off him (since he's had a new baby boy born he's been changing diapers) so can test with that. Cheers for that mate.

27 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I'd put a tenner on it being fine.

Olly

Is that a good price? Not sure how to take it

16 minutes ago, Craney said:

How's the floor doing ??

Floor is fine. I really can't even remember which way/face it fell on the floor. I was too in the "Oh no" moment

14 minutes ago, RayD said:

Ah mate that's not good 

Fingers firmly crossed here!!

Tell me about it mate Cheers matey, will let you know how it get on with it.

12 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Here is thread from back then when I was trying to diagnose cracked bearing:

 

Cheers matey, i'll have a read through of this in a minute.

[souls33k3r]

A friend of mine @angryowl suggested this (http://sweiller.free.fr/SGE/SGE-star-guiding-emulator.htm) ... looks good for what it's meant to do so i do have another option to try it out but first thing first, i need to figure out how it works

[DAVE AMENDALL]

Quark even better !  hope you sort it................Dave

[angryowl]

33 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

A friend of mine @angryowl suggested this (http://sweiller.free.fr/SGE/SGE-star-guiding-emulator.htm) ... looks good for what it's meant to do so i do have another option to try it out but first thing first, i need to figure out how it works

Hey Ahmed, it basically allows you to track a "nebula" on your monitor or TV. It provides a star which you can also use to guide on so you could pretty much test how the mount performs in terms of guiding/tracking indoors.

[SilverAstro]

34 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

but first thing first, i need to figure out how it works

Yes me too ! Looks very interesting but it is a heck of a page ( I cant fit most of it on my monitor ), my head hurts !!

Anyone found a summary of, abstract of, or principles of  what is going on !

[Tim]

Whoops!

I dropped my old HEQ5 Pro once, forgot to allow for the weight of the counterweights when lifting it. Thankfully the impact was lessened by my ankle bone which took the full force of the counterweight bar, probably saving the mount. I couldn't walk for a while however and had to drag myself back into the cabin and get help, we were staying at Longleat Center Parcs at the time.

Hope yours is A-OK!

[souls33k3r]

35 minutes ago, angryowl said:

Hey Ahmed, it basically allows you to track a "nebula" on your monitor or TV. It provides a star which you can also use to guide on so you could pretty much test how the mount performs in terms of guiding/tracking indoors.

Expect some random ramblings over the phone very soon mate  I can either play this on my laptop screen or on the TV screen. Am only limited by space available to me for testing. Is there a minimum distance on how far my TV/laptop has to be to perform this test?

33 minutes ago, SilverAstro said:

Yes me too ! Looks very interesting but it is a heck of a page ( I cant fit most of it on my monitor ), my head hurts !!

Anyone found a summary of, abstract of, or principles of  what is going on !

I tried and failed miserably too. Will give it another go now that food is in my tummy.

8 minutes ago, Tim said:

Whoops!

I dropped my old HEQ5 Pro once, forgot to allow for the weight of the counterweights when lifting it. Thankfully the impact was lessened by my ankle bone which took the full force of the counterweight bar, probably saving the mount. I couldn't walk for a while however and had to drag myself back into the cabin and get help, we were staying at Longleat Center Parcs at the time.

Hope yours is A-OK!

Ouch ... that's got to hurt. My 4 year old was playing around the mount so am glad she's safe. Cheers mate, i hope so too. Will only know when i can properly test this

[RayD]

When I got my Mesu 200 it fell over and damaged a motor before it even saw the pier.  I had to put it in the car and drive it to Holland for Lucas to fix (top bloke replaced the motor whilst I was there).  The repair probably cost more than your complete mount, so could always be worse 

[RayD]

56 minutes ago, Tim said:

Thankfully the impact was lessened by my ankle bone which took the full force of the counterweight bar, probably saving the mount.

[souls33k3r]

9 minutes ago, RayD said:

When I got my Mesu 200 it fell over and damaged a motor before it even saw the pier.  I had to put it in the car and drive it to Holland for Lucas to fix (top bloke replaced the motor whilst I was there).  The repair probably cost more than your complete mount, so could always be worse 

If this was somehow a motivational speech, i can assure you it wasn't lol if your Mesu didn't survive the drop, how could my NEQ6?  I'm not sure if there has been any damage but none that i could visually see or hear mate. I'll give the SGE star guiding a go as soon as possible and see if that gives me any indication but i'm sincerely hoping that it is ok. 

Oh did i mention the height from where it fell off? I'd say about 3 feet. Still bad enough i guess 

[RayD]

4 minutes ago, souls33k3r said:

If this was somehow a motivational speech, i can assure you it wasn't lol if your Mesu didn't survive the drop, how could my NEQ6?  I'm not sure if there has been any damage but none that i could visually see or hear mate. I'll give the SGE star guiding a go as soon as possible and see if that gives me any indication but i'm sincerely hoping that it is ok. 

Oh did i mention the height from where it fell off? I'd say about 3 feet. Still bad enough i guess 

Lol no it wasn't meant to be mate.  My Mesu was sitting on the floor and just fell over snapping a motor housing as they are precariously perched on the outside!

Yours will be fine, the mount gods are in alignment (with the clouds)  

[sloz1664]

I've stripped down a few EQ6's over the years and if there is no external damage and it slews fine in both axes it will be fine. The bearings are of a sustantial size, similar to a small car's wheel bearings. look at the hammer they get!

Steve

[souls33k3r]

16 minutes ago, RayD said:

Lol no it wasn't meant to be mate.  My Mesu was sitting on the floor and just fell over snapping a motor housing as they are precariously perched on the outside!

Yours will be fine, the mount gods are in alignment (with the clouds)  

lol @ mount gods ... very true mate. I sincerely do hope it is. 

 

5 minutes ago, sloz1664 said:

I've stripped down a few EQ6's over the years and if there is no external damage and it slews fine in both axes it will be fine. The bearings are of a sustantial size, similar to a small car's wheel bearings. look at the hammer they get!

Steve

Ah steve, that's very kind of you with your input. It has most certainly put my mind at ease. Knowing myself, my heart will still be a little out of place until i can fully test this.

[sloz1664]

Just now, souls33k3r said:

lol @ mount gods ... very true mate. I sincerely do hope it is. 

 

Ah steve, that's very kind of you with your input. It has most certainly put my mind at ease. Knowing myself, my heart will still be a little out of place until i can fully test this.

I can understand your woes. I purchased an Atik 314 and I dropped that. It bounced many times on a stone floor. It looked a right state, dented and scratched. I was gutted. But, it worked and did me proud for a few years.

Steve