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Absolute Nightmmare

wookie1965

By wookie1965
in Observing - Discussion

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wookie1965

wookie1965

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After calibrating the gears on the EQ5, backlash was awful Dec axis I could turn the cog nearly 60° before the axis moved the RA wasnt as bad 20° or so. 

I had already tried it in the house and everything seemed fine, set up 3 star alignment sent it to Jupiter first off was only a tad out pulled it into the middle noticed a bit of drift to the right even when I had took my finger off the button.

Sent it to Saturn mount moved 2" to the right stopped and power went off checked all connections power came on once I had entered the details into the handset and done another three star alignment sent it to Jupiter once again a tad out again centred it nice views of 3 moons one on one side two on the other very close to each other. Sent the mount to Saturn same thing again off went the power looked down at power pack that was still on (Blue Light) checked all connections power came on.

Stated all over again this happened a further 3 times when I got fed up and started packing away, took the weight off then went to take dew strips off it was then I found one of the cables was tight it had caught on the locking lever of the tripod and the penny dropped that was what was stopping the mount and pulling on the power cable.

I had packed up nearly everything anyway and want to check that the gears are not slipping so brought everything in.

I have now sent for a portable power supply just a bit bigger than a smartphone with usb`s in and sent for some usb connectors going to replace the 5.5mm x 2.1mm connectors with the usb ones then I can wrap the cable around the OTA plug in and have it in the middle held on with a bungee cord that will stop anything catching again.

Paul

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Franklin

Franklin

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When I use a dew strip, which isn't very often, I use one of the cheapy 5v DC ones and I power it with a seperate usb powerbank. The whole thing gets strapped to the tube to avoid any snagging.

As regards the play in the worms. After hours of playing around I think I found the best way to set them up. As you know there are two bolts which fix the worm assembly to the mount and a central grub screw that controls the amount of mesh the worm and gear have. Unfortunately it's not that simple because there are two other bolts at the sides which also fix the worm assembly to the mount. I found that loosening all four bolts whilst pressing my thumb centrally on the worm casing and holding it firm and square and then tightening the four bolts up evenly was the best way to get rid of any slop in the worms. If you loosen the grub screw, very slightly, and then tighten the two front bolts this will mesh the worm and gear closer but you also need to loosen the side bolts when doing this to allow the whole casing to move closer to the gear. It took me ages to get it right but in the end I got there. Being able to turn the axis with fingertips is about right. Any remaining play can be be adjusted out by tightening the lateral tension bolt on the side of the worm axis. Good luck.

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wookie1965

wookie1965

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On 31/10/2021 at 12:59, Franklin said:

When I use a dew strip, which isn't very often, I use one of the cheapy 5v DC ones and I power it with a seperate usb powerbank. The whole thing gets strapped to the tube to avoid any snagging.

As regards the play in the worms. After hours of playing around I think I found the best way to set them up. As you know there are two bolts which fix the worm assembly to the mount and a central grub screw that controls the amount of mesh the worm and gear have. Unfortunately it's not that simple because there are two other bolts at the sides which also fix the worm assembly to the mount. I found that loosening all four bolts whilst pressing my thumb centrally on the worm casing and holding it firm and square and then tightening the four bolts up evenly was the best way to get rid of any slop in the worms. If you loosen the grub screw, very slightly, and then tighten the two front bolts this will mesh the worm and gear closer but you also need to loosen the side bolts when doing this to allow the whole casing to move closer to the gear. It took me ages to get it right but in the end I got there. Being able to turn the axis with fingertips is about right. Any remaining play can be be adjusted out by tightening the lateral tension bolt on the side of the worm axis. Good luck.

Have you got a link to the cheapy 5v DC dew strips please.

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wookie1965

wookie1965

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Posted (edited)

Having a nightmare adjusting the RA get it so fingers can just turn the cog put the motor back on load it up with scope and weight then in one place just grinds, Dec axis is perfect annoying taking the motor off adjusting then starting again.

After an hour of faffing about finally sorted it I hope just have to see if there is any drift when I get it out.

Edited by wookie1965
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