Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[Richard N]

AZ GTi strange problem

 

Last night my AZ GTi started playing up. When I align it will slew perfectly well to the target but then the app buttons don't seem to work properly - the mount does a short movement and stops (if it moves at all).

 

Checked:

Battery - fully charged

App - removed and reinstalled

Control device - same problem on differnt iPhone

Mount - powered down and left off to reset - no change.

 

If I restart the app the onscreen buttons work fine - it's only after the slew for alignment that it goes wrong. Ideas?

[Elp]

2 hours ago, Richard N said:

Battery - fully charged

Are you using an external for telescope use rated 12v battery pack? 

How far away were you from the mount and were you behind a window/wall?

[Pixies]

9 hours ago, Richard N said:

AZ GTi strange problem

 

Last night my AZ GTi started playing up. When I align it will slew perfectly well to the target but then the app buttons don't seem to work properly - the mount does a short movement and stops (if it moves at all).

 

Checked:

Battery - fully charged

App - removed and reinstalled

Control device - same problem on differnt iPhone

Mount - powered down and left off to reset - no change.

 

If I restart the app the onscreen buttons work fine - it's only after the slew for alignment that it goes wrong. Ideas?

I had something similar recently. A firmware upgrade fixed it

[Richard N]

23 hours ago, Elp said:

Are you using an external for telescope use rated 12v battery pack? 

How far away were you from the mount and were you behind a window/wall?

12V battery. The problem is something to do with the mount itself. It's running the latest firmware.

[Elp]

4 minutes ago, Richard N said:

12V battery. The problem is something to do with the mount itself. It's running the latest firmware.

I assume it is a battery designed for telescope use (sustained 12v supply)? The azgti is finicky about power and will seem unresponsive in the absence of this. I used it the other day whilst in a brick shed around 2M away from it looking through the window and it did the same thing you're describing, usually with a 5 second delay from pressing a slew button to it moving, it's WiFi propagation isn't brilliant.

[AstroNebulee]

On 11/12/2022 at 19:13, Oxize said:

Bought an Silicone DC Cable (Lynx Astro) from FLO for my Powerstation. I had a verry thin DC Cable before, which didnt feel right and with moisture problematic. 

The Silicone cable fits perfectly in the GT200.

 

@AstroNebulee 5KG+ with Counterweights?

Yep +5kg with my 2 skywatcher sa counterweights. I can't remember exactly how much is on there but around 6.4kg. 

Lee 

[Oxize]

On 14/12/2022 at 14:46, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Since adding the ADM clamp a while ago I have noticed alt axis droop with heavier eyepieces. Recently after removing the altitude clutch then comparing the mount side by side with another, we noticed a washer and rubber o-ring are missing!!! They haven't fell out so the mount must have been manufactured like that and I only noticed a problem after a tinker... 🙄

I'm essentially an engineering incompetent... So does anyone know what size washer I need? Thanks.

Below is what the mount should look like. With the missing parts being pointed to!

 

 

Ive opened mine. 

There are 3 washers and 1 rubber O-ring. 2 normal washers and 1 bearing washer between it.

 

 

 

 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

17 hours ago, Oxize said:

Ive opened mine. 

There are 3 washers and 1 rubber O-ring. 2 normal washers and 1 bearing washer between it.

 

 

 

 

I looked again, there is just one washer missing, causing the clutch to slip. Very odd. I've not removed the washers and the rubber o-ring is still in place... A manufacturing fault I just hadn't noticed before... 🙄

I've ordered washers from Ebay...

 

 

[Oxize]

Can you do something with the dimension i gave you? 

 

And be sure to remove that o-ring, and place the normal washer on top of the bearing washer. 

So

Washer

Bearing Washer

Washer

O-Ring.

Edited December 21, 2022 by Oxize

[Oxize]

On 16/06/2022 at 09:54, herne said:

One other thought - double check your eq wedge is set to the correct latitude for your location.  My Skywatcher wedge (all Skywatcher wedges?) have their scales inverted for some unknown reason.  So for my 51 degree north location my wedge is set to 39 degrees on the scale ie., 90 - 51 = 39.

(Actually I just checked and it’s currently showing 36 degrees, will have to adjust that next time I’m out.  I guess it dropped a little over time).

Hmmm, thats why i never came unguided (when you need this scale) on my objects. I live in The Netherlands, which is 52 latitude. So you telling me i have to set it instead from 52 to 38?

That i never saw this when i was guiding. In the darkness i just was watching Nina, and made the corrections for PA, and started photographing. Never watched the scale after. When i packed up my stuff, i put the wedge straight to 0 degrees so it fits better in my big tripod bag.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Oxize

[david_taurus83]

2 hours ago, Oxize said:

Hmmm, thats why i never came unguided (when you need this scale) on my objects. I live in The Netherlands, which is 52 latitude. So you telling me i have to set it instead from 52 to 38?

That i never saw this when i was guiding. In the darkness i just was watching Nina, and made the corrections for PA, and started photographing. Never watched the scale after. When i packed up my stuff, i put the wedge straight to 0 degrees so it fits better in my big tripod bag.

The scale isn't inverted. It's because the AZGti mounts into the wedge the opposite side to the Star Adventurer so you invert the latitude. If you were to mount the Star Adventurer into the wedge I bet you would find you need to turn the wedge 180° on the tripod. If you were at latitude 45° it would make no difference!

[Oxize]

my head is making overtime to interpret this scale, lol. I mean the the surrounding compared to the latitide scale. 

 

Now set at 38 degrees, it makes much more sense (feels right).

Edited January 3, 2023 by Oxize

[Elp]

Another one down:

 

[Oxize]

Nice Elp. Only like clouds here. And even when your see it clears a bit up, i put stuff fast up, and then clouds sets in again. Cant wait for spring 2023.

[Elp]

1 hour ago, Oxize said:

Nice Elp. Only like clouds here. And even when your see it clears a bit up, i put stuff fast up, and then clouds sets in again. Cant wait for spring 2023.

It's totally possible to image all year around, you have to look out for clear skies of at least 3 hours minimum, any intermittent cloud between that and you'll know it will cloud up. But yes, I know how you feel.

[TerraC]

Whats the concensus on the secondary encoders? Do people have them switched on or off? 

 

[R26 oldtimer]

Off when imaging and guiding, on for visual use.

[david_taurus83]

4 hours ago, TerraC said:

Whats the concensus on the secondary encoders? Do people have them switched on or off? 

 

 

3 hours ago, R26 oldtimer said:

Off when imaging and guiding, on for visual use.

A couple of years ago I had issues when I turned them off. The coords in EQMod would change after switching off and I had pointing  issues. Was OK when I left them on. Was 3 years ago so later firmware updates may have fixed it.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

On 19/12/2022 at 18:36, Oxize said:

Ive opened mine. 

There are 3 washers and 1 rubber O-ring. 2 normal washers and 1 bearing washer between it.

 

 

 

 

M20 was the nearest washer size, with a slightly larger internal diameter of 21mm. They arrived today and one went in OK with just a hint of play. The washer plus an extra turn of the two ADM saddle retaining bolts seems to have sorted it. The Skymax 127 was solid at lunch today with no play. 👍

 

Thanks again.

[Ratlet]

I have joined the ranks of the azgti owners!  I'm planning using it with my 130PDS in alt-az mode.  It came with a counterweight (which I realise is normally used in equatorial mode) I was wondering give the weight of the scope, should I use it to try and balance it in alt-az mode?  I can see it helping with the gears and for balance/stability, but not sure if it is required or not.

[Elp]

With a 130pds azgti combo you have to make sure you're using a strong tripod, due to the largish scope moving the centre of balance away from centre. I guess the counterweight will help with this. Watch out for wind also. Congrats on the acquisition.

[AstroNebulee]

2 hours ago, Ratlet said:

I have joined the ranks of the azgti owners!  I'm planning using it with my 130PDS in alt-az mode.  It came with a counterweight (which I realise is normally used in equatorial mode) I was wondering give the weight of the scope, should I use it to try and balance it in alt-az mode?  I can see it helping with the gears and for balance/stability, but not sure if it is required or not.

I've not used a 130pds on mine, but sure I've seen others on here that have used a counterweight with it in alt az mode. It would also give some stability too so everything won't topple over. Hopefully someone will be along with better advice shortly. Most of all enjoy your az gti journey. 

Lee 

[LaurenceT]

I have been mounting my Maksutov 127 on my AZ GTi in Alt Az mode for lunar and planetary. This tube weighs only slightly less than the 130pds, I found that when using the Point and Track function it was much better when the mount was balanced with a counterweight, tracking was almost perfect.

When not balanced there was much more drift noticeable. I was just using the single Star Adventurer counterweight with adapter.

 

[Ratlet]

21 hours ago, LaurenceT said:

I have been mounting my Maksutov 127 on my AZ GTi in Alt Az mode for lunar and planetary. This tube weighs only slightly less than the 130pds, I found that when using the Point and Track function it was much better when the mount was balanced with a counterweight, tracking was almost perfect.

When not balanced there was much more drift noticeable. I was just using the single Star Adventurer counterweight with adapter.

 

Cheers @LaurenceT.  Clouds galore up here just now but have had a play around with it.  I'll put the counterweight in and it works okay.  It's pretty handy for manually slewing it about (or it is inside anyway)  Updated the firmware and thought I might not get on with the mount as I had to view on the side the counterweight sticks out off.  After a bit more poking I realised I had installed the Right hand side version of the firmware!  Big fan of the extension pillar. 

The mount is a good bit noisier than the GEM28 that I use for imaging.  Anyone get complaints from the neighbours when slewing?  I'm very excited to try this beast out.  I love a bit of sketching but find the constant tweaking of the position on the AZ5 detracts a bit from the fun.

[LaurenceT]

5 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

Cheers @LaurenceT.  Clouds galore up here just now but have had a play around with it.  I'll put the counterweight in and it works okay.  It's pretty handy for manually slewing it about (or it is inside anyway)  Updated the firmware and thought I might not get on with the mount as I had to view on the side the counterweight sticks out off.  After a bit more poking I realised I had installed the Right hand side version of the firmware!  Big fan of the extension pillar. 

The mount is a good bit noisier than the GEM28 that I use for imaging.  Anyone get complaints from the neighbours when slewing?  I'm very excited to try this beast out.  I love a bit of sketching but find the constant tweaking of the position on the AZ5 detracts a bit from the fun.

Glad you're getting familiar with it. We live within earshot of the M3 so hearing the noise of an AzGti is the last thing neighbours are concerned about 🤣