Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[RayWUK]

🙁 After mounting the dovetail on the AZ-GTI it was apparent how stiff the AZ (RA) axis is and impossible to balance. After searching these pages and a few youtube channels it seems a common problem. Question is, as it doesn't seem to have any problem slewing would Skywatcher consider it faulty? I think a partial strip down beckons.

Any advice before I start appreciated.

Ray.

[Elp]

How much are you mounting onto it? I find the RA is stiff but it holds my setup without moving at all when the clutch is disengaged no matter the position so I would say it balances well due to the stiffness, I am using around 1.5kg counterweight.

It's not like the declination which is fairly loose in comparison whereby my setup is usually one or the other slightly biased back or front heavy. I find I leave it like that as the Dec I find more difficult to get right as even all the attached cables influence it.

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, RayWUK said:

🙁 After mounting the dovetail on the AZ-GTI it was apparent how stiff the AZ (RA) axis is and impossible to balance. After searching these pages and a few youtube channels it seems a common problem. Question is, as it doesn't seem to have any problem slewing would Skywatcher consider it faulty? I think a partial strip down beckons.

Any advice before I start appreciated.

Ray.

I'm my experience the RA (az) axis is a little stiffer than the Dec (alt) axis. With mine I stripped it down regreased it and adjusted the grub screws in the RA threaded locking washer bit or the milk carton washer mod may help you. 

This thread should be of assistance but if you open it up you may or will void your warranty. 

 

[RayWUK]

1 hour ago, Elp said:

How much are you mounting onto it? I find the RA is stiff but it holds my setup without moving at all when the clutch is disengaged no matter the position so I would say it balances well due to the stiffness, I am using around 1.5kg counterweight.

It's not like the declination which is fairly loose in comparison whereby my setup is usually one or the other slightly biased back or front heavy. I find I leave it like that as the Dec I find more difficult to get right as even all the attached cables influence it.

 

52 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

I'm my experience the RA (az) axis is a little stiffer than the Dec (alt) axis. With mine I stripped it down regreased it and adjusted the grub screws in the RA threaded locking washer bit or the milk carton washer mod may help you. 

This thread should be of assistance but if you open it up you may or will void your warranty. 

 

Its quite stiff and has one spot of about 30 degrees rotation where it gets even tighter with the clutch completely unscrewed. I have 2 1kg counterweights and i doubt even that's enough for my optical setup.

[Elp]

Bit difficult to judge because if it doesn't jump/skip as it's moving through that 30 degree region in application when slewing they could argue it's fit for purpose. You could take a video and send it to them (Retailer/Skywatcher) to show the issue for them to review? Don't know if it'll prove anything but you could also run a sidereal test to make sure it rotates the correct amount over a set time period. Just something to consider.

[raadoo]

Milk carton mod worked wonders for my AZ-GTi's RA but recently found the Dec to be really stiff. So much so that it would move North, but regardless of speed it just wouldn't budge South.

Naturally I took it apart (seems to be an AZ-GTi owner's favourite hobby) and found that the grey washer that sits in the Dec wheel was a mangled up.

So, I'm gonna try the old milk carton mod on the Dec - this time aiming to keep the thing as flush to the inset of the wheel as possible, as the original (now mangled) spacer / friction plate(?) is quite loose fitting.

Will report back on findings.

[AstroNebulee]

17 hours ago, RayWUK said:

 

Its quite stiff and has one spot of about 30 degrees rotation where it gets even tighter with the clutch completely unscrewed. I have 2 1kg counterweights and i doubt even that's enough for my optical setup.

Hi Ray 

What is your set up? I have 2 1kg star adventurer counterweights on my 72ed AzGti eq mode zwo asi 294mc pro setup and is plenty. Like I say my RA axis was stiff but the regreasing and adjustment of the RA grub screws sorted mine. 

[AstroNebulee]

20 minutes ago, raadoo said:

Milk carton mod worked wonders for my AZ-GTi's RA but recently found the Dec to be really stiff. So much so that it would move North, but regardless of speed it just wouldn't budge South.

Naturally I took it apart (seems to be an AZ-GTi owner's favourite hobby) and found that the grey washer that sits in the Dec wheel was a mangled up.

So, I'm gonna try the old milk carton mod on the Dec - this time aiming to keep the thing as flush to the inset of the wheel as possible, as the original (now mangled) spacer / friction plate(?) is quite loose fitting.

Will report back on findings.

Hopefully the milk carton washer will help your dec axis too. That washer does look wrll mangled up. Yes I would be interested in the findings of your mod on Dec axis 👍

[RayWUK]

Thanks for all the advice, I feel striping down the AZ-GTI is well within my capabilities and don't really want to get involved in a lot of back and forth with Skywatcher which may or may not resolve anything. I'd rather be out imaging, so i'm going to have a go at sorting the issue. From what i've read it seems a common pastime for AZ-GTI owners pushing the limits with EQ mode that the unit was never intended.

My imaging setup is a WO RedCat51, Canon 600D, ZWO mini guiding package and auto focuser and ASI Air Pro. All up weight 3.5kgs

On another question as a new SGL member, how do you get info at the bottom of your posts?

[AstroNebulee]

47 minutes ago, RayWUK said:

Thanks for all the advice, I feel striping down the AZ-GTI is well within my capabilities and don't really want to get involved in a lot of back and forth with Skywatcher which may or may not resolve anything. I'd rather be out imaging, so i'm going to have a go at sorting the issue. From what i've read it seems a common pastime for AZ-GTI owners pushing the limits with EQ mode that the unit was never intended.

My imaging setup is a WO RedCat51, Canon 600D, ZWO mini guiding package and auto focuser and ASI Air Pro. All up weight 3.5kgs

On another question as a new SGL member, how do you get info at the bottom of your posts?

Yes the strip down isn't that hard if you take your time and take photos along the way too. Most of the issue could be the grub screws on the RA locking  circular nut, (the grub screws on the side only need minuscule adjustments) may not even need the washer mod. Definitely white lithium grease the mount up whilst you're in there too.

We definitely like pushing the boundaries of our eq mounts and proved that they are capable for astrophotography which all our images show. Your set up and counterweights will be fine and should expect some good guiding there. 

I think how you get your info on the bottom is in account, account-settings, settings area - and then signature. Though as I'm mostly on mobile, I can't see mine or anyone's haha 

Edited January 23, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[Elp]

Well talking about pushing the boundaries of this mount, I refuse to heed too much when people say you need a heavier duty mount for AP (guess it depends on the individual's setup so on the occasions it is needed, then it is). It's always good practice to make do with what you have then decide to upgrade when needs must.

I finally got around to a proper imaging session where I wasn't distracted to try different things, different targets etc as I have managed to test what I need to at the moment. So here it is IC434 3 hours of hydrogen alpha, I haven't messed with it much from the stack other than adjusting the exposure and gamma as I was happy with the in camera result (need to figure out how to reduce the noise however as I'm going to be integrating this into RGB at some point):

 

[AstroNebulee]

7 hours ago, Elp said:

Well talking about pushing the boundaries of this mount, I refuse to heed too much when people say you need a heavier duty mount for AP (guess it depends on the individual's setup so on the occasions it is needed, then it is). It's always good practice to make do with what you have then decide to upgrade when needs must.

I finally got around to a proper imaging session where I wasn't distracted to try different things, different targets etc as I have managed to test what I need to at the moment. So here it is IC434 3 hours of hydrogen alpha, I haven't messed with it much from the stack other than adjusting the exposure and gamma as I was happy with the in camera result (need to figure out how to reduce the noise however as I'm going to be integrating this into RGB at some point):

 

Its a beautiful image, well done. As you say you don't really need a big mount for astrophotography and you have proved it here, brilliant 👋

Edited January 24, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[badhex]

Loving all the Skymax 102 chat, the first scope that I bought. Annoyingly it's in storage in the UK but I do love that scope and can see it would pair perfectly with the AZ-GTi. 

I bought a C5 at the end of 2020 for the conjunction and it works pretty well with the AZ-GTi but I have only used it a few times since. Hoping to get some good Mars action this year! 

[badhex]

9 hours ago, Elp said:

Well talking about pushing the boundaries of this mount, I refuse to heed too much when people say you need a heavier duty mount for AP (guess it depends on the individual's setup so on the occasions it is needed, then it is). It's always good practice to make do with what you have then decide to upgrade when needs must.

I finally got around to a proper imaging session where I wasn't distracted to try different things, different targets etc as I have managed to test what I need to at the moment. So here it is IC434 3 hours of hydrogen alpha, I haven't messed with it much from the stack other than adjusting the exposure and gamma as I was happy with the in camera result (need to figure out how to reduce the noise however as I'm going to be integrating this into RGB at some point):

 

Great image! So good to see what can be done with a small setup 💫

[AstroNebulee]

3 hours ago, badhex said:

Loving all the Skymax 102 chat, the first scope that I bought. Annoyingly it's in storage in the UK but I do love that scope and can see it would pair perfectly with the AZ-GTi. 

I bought a C5 at the end of 2020 for the conjunction and it works pretty well with the AZ-GTi but I have only used it a few times since. Hoping to get some good Mars action this year! 

Mars will be looking quite good this year, so will look forward to hearing how you fare 👍

[LaurenceT]

After me declaring that DSO astrophotography is on the back burner for me and selling my Skyguider Pro I weakened and bought a second Az GTi and have adapted it for EQ mode. My next step will be to connect everything to Stellarmate and see what happens. I'd just like some guidance on orientation.  I've set the declination on the WO wedge to 90 minus my latitude and in the photo I've set the camera/lens pointing south and the mount pointing north, does this orientation look correct?

All I'm waiting for now is a levelling base, and like all of us, some clear skies!

[AstroNebulee]

Just now, LaurenceT said:

After me declaring that DSO astrophotography is on the back burner for me and selling my Skyguider Pro I weakened and bought a second Az GTi and have adapted it for EQ mode. My next step will be to connect everything to Stellarmate and see what happens. I'd just like some guidance on orientation.  I've set the declination on the WO wedge to 90 minus my latitude and in the photo I've set the camera/lens pointing south and the mount pointing north, does this orientation look correct?

All I'm waiting for now is a levelling base, and like all of us, some clear skies!

It's looking brilliant Laurence, lovely set up 😍. Yep you've set up correctly camera lens and mount both pointing North in home position. 👍

[Elp]

Looks like you're raring to go!

[LaurenceT]

58 minutes ago, Elp said:

Looks like you're raring to go!

Absolutely, trouble is, every time someone buys a piece of kit the clouds pile up! 🤣

[adyj1]

@LaurenceT, I hope I've not misunderstood, but you've said mount pointing north and camera pointing south - which is the opposite way round. With your rig set up like that in the field you should be taking lovely photos of Polaris and the Ursa Minor region... in other words your camera should be pointing North. Everything else is set up correctly.

Ady

[LaurenceT]

10 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

@LaurenceT, I hope I've not misunderstood, but you've said mount pointing north and camera pointing south - which is the opposite way round. With your rig set up like that in the field you should be taking lovely photos of Polaris and the Ursa Minor region... in other words your camera should be pointing North. Everything else is set up correctly.

Ady

Yes Ady, I think I'm getting my planes confused. What ( I think ) I should have said is that the camera is positioned at right angles to the north/south axis, does that make more sense?

I was looking at this image on the web:

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by LaurenceT

[Elp]

15 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

Yes Ady, I think I'm getting my planes confused. What ( I think ) I should have said is that the camera is positioned at right angles to the north/south axis, does that make more sense?

I was looking at this image on the web:

 

That image is incorrect. The azimuth axis (attached directly to the wedge) is your RA axis, so the line should be pointing in line and through the centre of the azimuth axis mounting hole toward Polaris. That way the camera pointing straight in line with the mount to start off with as per the picture is pointing north and toward Polaris too on the declination (altitude) axis at its home position of 90 degrees (Polaris is usually 89.something degrees).

The photo you took of your setup is correct as a home position for the mount and the counterweight side of the setup is setup to face the north.

[adyj1]

40 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

camera is positioned at right angles to the north/south axis,

No. Set it up exactly as you have, but with the camera pointing to polaris. Don't worry, it will be really obvious when you're looking at a clear sky.

Or your tracking will be shocking 🤣 (me checks whether there is a Camberley in Oz 😁) 

[LaurenceT]

Right, I get it. I've now simply re-imagined the mount as being my old Skyguider Pro so I can see how I've reversed it in my photo. So to put it in language I can understand, if a polar scope were to be fitted then it would have to be pointing in the same direction as the camera.............

So in that misleading second image I posted the correct position for the mount to be facing polaris  would be at right angles to that yellow arrow, ie the direction the camera is facing?

Sorry for the newbie "baby" language, must be infuriating!

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, LaurenceT said:

Right, I get it. I've now simply re-imagined the mount as being my old Skyguider Pro so I can see how I've reversed it in my photo. So to put it in language I can understand, if a polar scope were to be fitted then it would have to be pointing in the same direction as the camera.............

So in that misleading second image I posted the correct position for the mount to be facing polaris  would be at right angles to that yellow arrow, ie the direction the camera is facing?

Sorry for the newbie "baby" language, must be infuriating!

You've got it set up correctly Laurence, see attached image of your set up for polar scope orientation. And an image of my set up pointing north (yep I know I'm indoors haha)