True-Tech Motorised Filterwheel - Do you own one ?

[ribuck]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a new True-Tech motorised filterwheel and so far i've been really disappointed by the build quality of it, especially seeing how much true-tech charge.

It's a new unit, and i've had to get true-tech to send replacement parts and i'm still having issues with it jamming due to lots of slop on the internal wheel.

True-Tech have asked me to make adjustments to the hinges and motor unit via email.

Personally i think it's shocking that i should have to do all this, and that the build quality is so bad seeing they charge so much.

I just want to know if their are any other true-tech owners out there who faced similar issues or if i have just been unlucky again, which seems to be a reoccuring theme forme inthis hobby.

Rich.

[steve51450]

Hi Rich

i have just sold mine as i have a internal filter wheel on my ccd but i have to say i had no problems with mine at all, the build quality was superb and i never had any sticking or jamming etc

I can see why you would be unhappy as they are not a cheap item, why not ask them to swap it as you are not happy to repair a brand spanking new item. From my dealings in the astro community i have never had anything but good service if/when i have had a problem so it must be worth asking

steve

[Eddie]

Hi Rich,

I had some problems with mine initially (the electronics died) Parts were sent out and I replaced them. Has worked fine since. Build quality on mine is very good and does support a Art11002 camera.

I can understand how you feel, as I felt the same when it happened. Once it is up and running its a joy to use!

Eddie

[barkis]

I bought one second hand from AB&Sell a good while ago now. The seller claimed it was quite new, and worked fine.

I paid quite a sum for it. What a disappointment it turned out to be. The hinge was a floppy grotty setup, a piece of leather I think it was. The bearings were small top hat bushings that had some wear in them, and one had actually been filed, but not very well, and added to the malfunction of the rotation. I also had problems with the software communicating with Maxim.

I gave up trying, and contacted the seller, who asked me to return it, and he would refund my money. A couple of days later, he phoned me, as I had given him my number in a email earlier. He said he had sorted the problems, and would he like me to take it back. I refused, as I had lost all confidence in the thing. He did return my money, and I give the guy his due, he acted very fairly throughout. I bought an Atik USB one later on, and that works fine.

There is no way I could say that the quality of the build was good on that Tru Tech wheel, in fact the price asked for a new one is way over the top, based on what I have seen. Unless they have improved the build quality, I would never buy another one.

Ron.

[ribuck]

Ron,

I am having the exact same exprience. I had to ask them to send a new Bushel / Bearing, as the one that it came with wash unevenly filed down, the main body of the wheel is floppy and horrible, the internal wheel has tons of slop in it, and the hinge on the otherside is a rough cut piece of plastic.

I'm soo disappointed. i'll give true-tech a chance to put it right, but if they dont i'll be sending it back and getting an Atik EFW in it's place.

It sounds like i;ve almost got your old unilt.....lol.

Where did you buy yours from ?

[barkis]

Ron,

I am having the exact same exprience. I had to ask them to send a new Bushel / Bearing, as the one that it came with wash unevenly filed down, the main body of the wheel is floppy and horrible, the internal wheel has tons of slop in it, and the hinge on the otherside is a rough cut piece of plastic.

I'm soo disappointed. i'll give true-tech a chance to put it right, but if they dont i'll be sending it back and getting an Atik EFW in it's place.

It sounds like i;ve almost got your old unilt.....lol.

Where did you buy yours from ?

Hi Rich;

I bought it fro Astro Buy & Sell I won't disclose the chaps name, because he did reimburse my money,

and was very fair throughout.

It does deflate you when something like that comes your way. I was lucky it ended amicably, and I hope you get yours

resolved too. Theres too much money to just let it go as bad luck.

Ron.

[ribuck]

Hi Ron,

I've already been reassured that if i want to send it back for a full refund it isn't an issues. I'm just really disappointed. I've tried the suggested fixes to no avail, so i've lost all confidence the product.

The really disappointing thing is that i really need a 7 or 8 position wheel as i need to use 1 of the slots for darks, and the others for Ha & OIII, but as it stands i dont not know of any other manufactuers that are doing 7/8 position filter wheels.

I know sbig do 8 position filter wheels, but i need a slimline solution as i have a Newtonian with limited back focus.

I think i'm therefore limited to the atik efw, but then i'm down to 5 slots, which means no Ha /OIII as i'll need to use the 5th slot for darks.

I know QHY are going to be doing a 7 position wheel soon, just not heard anthing on release dates.

Does anyone know od any other 7/8 postion slimline, motorised filter wheels ?

Can anyone tell me how deep the Sbig filterwheel is ?

[FLO]

I've already been reassured that if i want to send it back for a full refund it isn't an issue.

And to be fair Nik at TruTek has offered to sort it out by next day return if you choose to return it for adjustment.

[ribuck]

Hi Steve,

I've looked at the adjustments he's suggested and they make no difference at all. I guess i'm put off by the fact that when i pay a lot of money, i expect it to work.

I guess i wasn't expecting to find badly grinded washers/nuts and lots of slop in the internal mechanism, not to mention flimsy catches on one side, and rough cut plastic hinges on the other side.

When you think about it, these things are more expensive, than the Exquisitly made 80mm skywatcher Enquinoxes, so there's no excuses for sloppy craftmanship on True-tek part, for what seems to like a far less complicated piece of equiptment at a greater price.

I guess i'm just venting my frustration on wasting the only 2 decent nights i had in the last 6 weeks on somthing that should have just worked, and True-Tek can't give me those clean nights back.

Rich.

[FLO]

I think it best that you return it for a refund Rich'

[RichieJarvis]

Hi Rich,

I used to have an Atik EFW, and have just changed to a True-Tech, because changing the filters in the Atik is a pain, to say the least.

Since I've had it (Christmas), its been back once to replace the electronics, as after 2 days it completely died. As far as the slop, there is a bit - I've not found it a problem yet though, although I do wonder whether the filters are going to move (not rotate in the wheel - drop closer or further away from the camera) whilst the scope tracks...

Saying that, apart from the initial teething troubles, it does seem ok, and having the ability to load LRGB and Ha/OIII (and eventually SII and Hb) into the same wheel makes the difference to me.

I think I am just going to have to see how it goes..... Its definitely better than the Atik wheel, which required the removal of 5 tiny tiny little screws to change the filters - best avoided that bit!

Cheers,

Richie

[ribuck]

Hi Richie,

That's the reason i went for the True-Tek, so I could have 8 filters. But I've just found the true-tek to be horribly made. I know baader filter are slightly larger than most, so i think the slop is causing it them to hit the wheel housing and jam.

I also noticed that the metal clasp isn't very strong, so the 2 halves of the housing also have a bit of slop, and move apart slightly when imaging targets that are high in the sky.

Ron had the exact same issues as me, and you are the second person in this thread to say that their electronics failed very quickly.

This kind of suggests that true-Tek have some quality control issues.

Needless to say, i've lost faith in the product and steve at Flo is being great and offering a refund. Superb service as per normal from Steve.

Perhaps it's just becuase the baader filters are larger, that i'm seeing these issues. Perhaps the wheel may work perfectly with other filters, without catching on the housing.

So for now i'll just have to go back to my atik manual wheel, until i can find a more robust 7/8 filter solution.

[steve51450]

Rich

the truetech wheel does not work with baader filters i am afraid due to the depth of the filter on the side which you grip to screw it it. My own baader filters were milled down by 1.5mm to stop the exact same problem you were having. It is a slimline wheel so a compromise on depth does have to be made i am afraid. My astronomik filters worked fine from the start but i had a terrible clunking and sticking with the baader filters until i adjusted them. it was only after i had read several posts on sgl as well as other forums that i realized my mistake which i sorted out by having the filter height reduced. Mind you this does not explain the electrical problems people have been having.

i hope this helps

[ribuck]

Hi Steve,

This would explain the problem. I asked Steve at FLO if they would work with the wheel before I bought it and he said they should be fine, so I guess steve at FLO doesn't realize that Baader filters are an issue with this filter wheel.

One thing to point out, is that the Atik manual and motorised wheel is the same thickness as the true-tek, 18.5mm and they are both fine with baader filters.

I wouldn't even like to begin to start to grind down my filters.

Rich.

[RichieJarvis]

I must admit, I use Astronomiks - I had a set of Baader LRGB, but when I went for an Astronomik Ha filter, I switched them all - they are definitely better engineered in my opinion.

Cheers,

Richie

[ribuck]

Hi Richie,

Yeah i agree, i would love a set of those filters, but it's all about the cost. This hobby has cost me a small fortune already in the last year.

Performance wise, baaders are a good choice for newbies like me with a limited budget, it;s only when you hit problems like have with the filter wheel that i wish i had invested more in the astronmiks.

I'll just have to slowly build up.

[FLO]

... so I guess steve at FLO doesn't realize that Baader filters are an issue with this filter wheel.

I guess not, though we did fit a couple of Baaders (from the premium range) before dispatch to check that everything moved smoothly. I have no idea why you are having problems but I think it is a shame that you didn't give Nik at TruTek an opportunity to check the wheel over and make the necessary adjustments (he did offer) before damming his product so spectacularly on a public forum.

Richie, when you compared Baader filters to Astronomik was it the cheaper absorptive filters or the new premium range?

[ribuck]

Steve,

I dont want to start to get into any arguments. But this is a forum for people to voice their opinions, and that's what i did. I have no regrets, I have my own views - they are neither right nor wrong - only my own personal ovservations, but it would appear that i am not the only one with same view.

However to have a pop at me, for having an opinion whether it be one bourne out of frustration or not, well so be it, as everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I also asked other peoples views as well, not to mention that i said it might all just be due to the fact of the Baader filters. I have said nothing wrong, whether you like it or not, So you'll have to excuse me for not agreeing with you on this one.

[FLO]

We don't need to agree Rich

Nobody is having a pop at you and nobody has prevented you from expressing your opinions. I trust you will forgive me if I express mine.

Nick at True Technology has put a great deal of time, thought and effort into bringing a number of well-respected products to the market. Products that have earned a good reputation both here and abroad. He is also well-known in the industry for his fairness and integrity.

If you had given him an opportunity to put things right I feel sure you would have been pleased with the outcome.

[ribuck]

Steve,

I'm not an unreasonable person, I simply want a product that works when i spend a lot of my hard earned cash.

If Nick can make it work with baader filters then great, I am happy for him to try and fix the issue, as this filter wheel is the best all-round solution for me as i have aspiration of moving to a large fomat ccd next year requiring 2" filters, so this fits my current usage and upgrade plans perfectly.

I'm just not sure how he will achieve this, when others have said baader filters are simply too big to fit.

I will arrange to send it back to nick, but I dont want to spend the next few week sending the unit back and forth. So can we agree that i'll send it to nick this time and if he is unable to make it work with baader filters, then i return the unit to you for a refund.

Rich.

[FLO]

I'll let Nick know

You have always had the option of a full refund, and you still do.

[RichieJarvis]

Steve,

Those were the cheaper Baader LRGB filters - not that that matters really - they are all still in the same housing though.

Cheers,

Richie

[Merlin66]

Don't know if it's of any help, but I had similar fit problems with the Baader filters in an AE filter wheel. Had to use some small brass washers to act as spacers and move the body halves apart before it would work. After that, not a problem.

[roundycat]

seems this debate has been raging for ages but I have only just seen it. I have been using a TT wheel for about one year and it has caused me no problems whatsoever. I hope I'm not being premature!

I did choose to adjust the sprung ball indent which serves to center each filter and this was a bit fiddly. Much like any other fine adjustment really. I use Astronomik filters, I'm aware of the free play in the wheel and it does not cause a problem. I have cycled the wheel through all positions whilst looking down the end of the scope as I was having flat problems which I thought might be due to filters not coming to rest in the same position each time. That turned out not to be the problem.

The serial to USB thing that I have in the connection is a permanent pain as the message 'could not initialise the filter wheel' comes up every time I switch on. I 'ok' it and it works every time.

In my case a separate wheel was essential as I use it with a camera that has no filters but I can also use it with my ST10 and do narrowband with that camera.

By the way, I believe it is 21.5mm thick.

To sum up, I have had no problems with it since day one.

Dennis

[ribuck]

Well i'm sending it back to True-Tek, and they are going to replace the unit, so i'll see how the next one works.

It's funny you mentioned the washers, i looked at the gold bushell and came to the conclusion that if i had maybe added 1 or 2 plastic washers to the gold bush on the inside of the filter wheel, then this would remove some of the slop, and push the internal wheel back.

Hopefully it wont come to this, and the new one will work, if not i'll have to try adding some washers.

But lets see what True-Tek comes up with first.