Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[Elp]

Its a odd design choice, I think they tried to cheap out assuming all tripods had a rubber base on the bottom end. I recently had to coat a washer with foam to achieve a similar locking mating face.

[happy-kat]

I've used a piece of snapped laytex exercise band to get a steadier purchase.

[PayPal57021912]

a problem I have with my AZ GTi SynScan mount. When I turn it on, the red light flashes very quickly and then slowly disappears. In addition, I don't see anything appearing in wifi from synscan. so i can't connect it either. can someone please help me with this problem.

[powerlord]

check your power supply is putting out 12v or if on battieres, check they are good.

[happy-kat]

Rechargeable batteries don't quite give enough power as they are 1.2 each not 1.5 as none rechargeable batteries

[Elp]

They're using a mains cable I believe. I'd suggest try AA batteries just to test in the immediate term to see if it does the same thing, AA batteries however aren't the best due to the voltage drop. Then try a 12v power pack if available or a different 12v mains cable. The led light should be flashing continuously throughout operation roughly 1-2 second intervals whilst the WiFi is running.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Elp

[PoleArm]

On 21/04/2023 at 09:23, powerlord said:

 

 

Hi stu,

As a newb here, I hope you don't mind me jumping in, but you have a very similar setup to mine yet I find my SvBONY SV503 70mm / field flattener / Canon 100D and 30mm finder with SV camera, are nowhere near in balance with the same counterweight bar and weight as you have. I think I will need to go up to 2kg to get balance. Do you think I will have a problem with so much weight? I notice your bar is longer than mine though (oooh er!), does that cause vibration issues for you?

[Elp]

Just looking at it visually, you need a longer dovetail bar and the focuser of the scope needs to be near or on top of the saddle locking knob, that dslr out back is going to be back heavy especially when focus is racked out. Also on top, having an offset guidescope will bias the weight towards that side in declination, if you have a computer controller you could offset it somewhat by mounting it the opposite side on top of the scope, or devise a way to mount the guidescope in the centre of the scope. Or find a novel counterweight solution. The great (great?) thing about the azgti is that it's axis are quite rough so will apply a kind of light braking force naturally, on a more expensive mount the Ra and Dec are quite smooth so balancing is much more critical.

[PoleArm]

Thanks for the feedback Stu, the camera is quite light at 407gm, and the scope is well balanced on the camera - OTA axis, it is just the setup to the counterweight which is off. I will look at getting a longer counterweight bar 🙂

[Elp]

19 hours ago, PoleArm said:

Stu

A case of mistaken identity?

[jjohnson3803]

I'm considering ordering an AZ-GTi and although I really like the phone app (as least what I can do without an actual mount to connect to), I'm wondering about the hand controller.  I see it listed on multiple dealer sites, but it all of them show it as OOS / More coming / Etc.

Anybody know the story?  Usual supply chain issues or ???  

Thanks!

 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

19 hours ago, jjohnson3803 said:

I'm considering ordering an AZ-GTi and although I really like the phone app (as least what I can do without an actual mount to connect to), I'm wondering about the hand controller.  I see it listed on multiple dealer sites, but it all of them show it as OOS / More coming / Etc.

Anybody know the story?  Usual supply chain issues or ???  

Thanks!

 

Maybe save (imho) unnecessary expense and stick with the phone app? The phone app is more intuitive to use than a handset. Why not set aside an old phone as a dedicated controller? I use an old Samsung S6. If the battery gets low then it's plugged into the power bank powering the mount.

[happy-kat]

The phone app can be used in emulator mode which gives quite a lot to fiddle with while not connected to an actual mount

Start the app go to settings then connection settings and there's emulator listed as a connection option

Edited May 22, 2023 by happy-kat

[jjohnson3803]

Just tried the emulator for a few minutes.  Seems like a very clean, intuitive interface.  👍

[Ags]

Shot last night - 8 second subs, 1.4 hours of them, ALT-AZ (no idea where my polar scope is at 😄 ). My new AZ GTis so much better behaved and more reliable than my old one!

Edited May 27, 2023 by Ags

[AstroNebulee]

7 hours ago, Ags said:

Shot last night - 8 second subs, 1.4 hours of them, ALT-AZ (no idea where my polar scope is at 😄 ). My new AZ GTis so much better behaved and more reliable than my old one!

That's brilliant Ags. I'm really pleased to hear your new AzGti is a sound and well working one. Enjoy it 😊

[FunkyKoval35]

On 05/05/2023 at 20:57, happy-kat said:

Rechargeable batteries don't quite give enough power as they are 1.2 each not 1.5 as none rechargeable batteries

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354237766527

 

[bomberbaz]

Finally bought myself a longer marine grade M12 bar for the counter balance.  I half considered a 16" bar but instead opted for a 12" one.

I think that 16" was a little risky by adding a possibility of wobble caused by wind, even light. I have watched a lot of building/engineering related documentaries where such issues have been highlighted. Not sure if these issues will translate on this level but I felt more comfortable with the 12" version.

[bomberbaz]

hello all.

Well tonight I tried grabbing some data but it was a disaster. The  tracking worked only for a minute or so then went totally haywire, both going off in different directions although I have not changed any settings. I am totally baffled. Tried restarting the system, re-callibrating and changing target objects but no luck.

Noticed a ticking sound coming from the mount, this needs investigating further which I shall tomorrow. Seem to remember reading something about this before, any clues anyone?

Anybody got any other tips/ideas about this up front?

Steve

[Elp]

One of my gtis ticks (more like an internal knocking noise when it tracks) sometimes, but it's never affected the guiding or subs so I've never opened it up.

[AstroNebulee]

6 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

hello all.

Well tonight I tried grabbing some data but it was a disaster. The  tracking worked only for a minute or so then went totally haywire, both going off in different directions although I have not changed any settings. I am totally baffled. Tried restarting the system, re-callibrating and changing target objects but no luck.

Noticed a ticking sound coming from the mount, this needs investigating further which I shall tomorrow. Seem to remember reading something about this before, any clues anyone?

Anybody got any other tips/ideas about this up front?

Steve

Hi Steve 

Any power issues at all or the clutches on the mount a bit tighter than usual? I remember the ticking issue people had and even think I had but the thread is here. 

Could be a bit of binding, maybe a regrease could help the issue? Hopefully your investigation will help sort your issue.

Lee 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by AstroNebulee

[bomberbaz]

11 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Hi Steve 

Any power issues at all or the clutches on the mount a bit tighter than usual? I remember the ticking issue people had and even think I had but the thread is here. 

Could be a bit of binding, maybe a regrease could help the issue? Hopefully your investigation will help sort your issue.

Lee 

 

Cheers Lee, I picked up a link from the thread and followed it, simple enough.

For anyone reading, I did a light regrease with lithium grease between washer and bearing then slacked off the locking nut by a half turn and the whole thing seemed a lot easier.  In addition I removed an earlier mod I did where I had slipped two pieces of plastic inbetween the drive motor and drive to lock it. I was concerned this might be putting too much pressure on the motor/drive connection. Instead I have re-inserted the spring mod between motor and housing to apply more pressure whilst still leaving some flexibility.

So far I have just spun it round on the mount fully loaded but the sounds seem nicely unstrained and even. I will let you know how I get on with full on imaging.

Steve

Edited May 30, 2023 by bomberbaz

[AstroNebulee]

1 minute ago, bomberbaz said:

Cheers Lee, I picked up a link from the thread and followed it, simple enough.

For anyone reading, I did a light regrease with lithium grease between washer and bearing then slacked off the locking nut by a half turn and the whole thing seemed a lot easier.  In addition I removed an earlier mod I did where I had slipped two pieces of plastic inbetween the drive motor and drive cog to lock it. I was concerned this might be putting too much pressure on the motor/drive connection. Instead I have re-inserted the spring mod between motor and housing to apply more pressure whilst still leaving some flexibility.

So far I have just spun it round on the mount fully loaded but the sounds seem nicely unstrained and even. I will let you know how I get on with full on imaging.

Steve

Great to hear Steve. Hopefully that'll sort your issue. 

 

Lee

[bomberbaz]

Just as an heads up. I don't think it was the bearing where the issue was. I tried as above a re-grease/loosening but the error was still there. Then after that resetting the mount firmware which didn't work either, so then i tried re-instaling the app on my tablet, the latter appears to have worked.

Steve

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

Just as an heads up. I don't think it was the bearing where the issue was. I tried as above a re-grease/loosening but the error was still there. Then after that resetting the mount firmware which didn't work either, so then i tried re-instaling the app on my tablet, the latter appears to have worked.

Steve

Thank you for sharing Steve. Hopefully it's all sorted now. 

 

Lee