Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[Zermelo]

21 minutes ago, Coco said:

Hows the vibration during focusing?  Would the AZ-GTiX be ok with something like my Vixen 90M be ok for visual?  Thinking about buying one for visual

It damps down in 2-3 seconds with my Skymax 127, if I've tightened everything up. I'm not sure about the Vixen, perhaps someone else will have used one with an AZ-GTi.

[happy-kat]

retested method as had had problems, tested with ascom driver 140 and up to date synscan pro app  and sharpcap pro etc. I  put the drivers I used for each app in brackets on each step

order connected using synscan dongle

1- telescope right sided mounted was facing north level and horizontal, turn on az-gti

2- connect mobile wifi

3- start mobile synscan pro app and connect altaz mode and turned on auxillary encoder

I did a one star alignment twice (I just accepted where the telescope went as ok)

4- connect PC wifi to az-gti

5- start ascom device hub, I didn't actually connect the device but it was configured (Ascom App Driver)

6- start sharpcap and connect camera/mount (Ascom App Driver)

7- start phd2 and connect mount/camera etc. (Ascom App Driver)

8- start stellarium and connect (Ascom)

every thing is connecting and staying connected

Whilst I can't actually get a connection in Ascom device hub just starting the hub was enough for the rest to work I found for me

Loving sharpcap pro and sharpsolve with effective platesolve and sync, I've got a setup  that only needs manual moving for step 1 the rest is mobile and pc controlled, with a 10 metre USB cable the camera is  also controlled

Edited February 1 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

I've been fine tuning how I use sharpcap and synscan and sharpsolve, I'm hoping to test it again tomorrow it looks likely to be clear. I do a one star alignment on two different targets and just accept where the mount is pointing, I do step 4, 5 and 6 then select the first target again and do a sharpcap platesolve and sync if the target isn't actually in view and repeat select target in synscan hopefully now it's in view and fine tune so it's in centre of view and accept. Do similar on the second target and repeat, keep repeating until the targets are in the centre hopefully now tracking will be ok. I do this because I have very limited sky visible so can't work with  stars a 70-90 degrees apart mine have to be a lot closer. I'm also going to turn the camera into portrait mode.

[happy-kat]

Loving the very hot off the press new Sharpcap function for dealing with chromatic aberration just tested on some random data and it made a improvement on my data and I hadn't used any filters. I use the Pro version it's enhanced and made easier what I can do.

[myk68]

Hi all,

Glad to see there is a thread for this portable wonder. Though I must say the last 3 trips abroad it nearly ended up off the balcony. So hope someone knows how to help.

So the travel setup is:-

ZWO Asiair Plus, ZWO 533MC main camera. ZWO 120MC guide cam, Askar ACL200 scope, AZ gti mount, wedge, wires.

I have followed Cuiv the lazy geeks video to sort out backlash and thought all was good, I didn't give it much of a test run before we went off to Egypt.  Once we got there and it was all setup, the goto was working fine, even if it was a little long to finally center, it seemed to overshoot as it centered.

When imaging with tracking on, no guiding, with 30s shots I was getting a star streak in the declination as if the star was slipping. Polar alignment was done through the Asiair and was said to be good at 1 min or less for each axis.

when calibrating the guiding east-west was fine but before starting the north-south, it would do a few clearing backlash moves that took it away from the center start point then the north movement seemed to work fine but the south didn't move so much and didn't return anywhere near the start point and as such guiding was 'bouncy' shall we say.

Now while there I thought it was slipping so tried more counterweight but this did nothing.

Once back I have stripped the unit down and have found that the motors themselves have movement on the pinion before the motor actually moves.  I thought it was the gear slipping on the motor but I've had the motor out totally and it moves before you can feel the motor tension.

I hope this is clear enough to understand what I mean, and hope someone knows of a fix.  I've had the mount a while now and it's out of any warranty.

 

Thank you for looking

Mike

 

[AstroNebulee]

16 hours ago, myk68 said:

Hi all,

Glad to see there is a thread for this portable wonder. Though I must say the last 3 trips abroad it nearly ended up off the balcony. So hope someone knows how to help.

So the travel setup is:-

ZWO Asiair Plus, ZWO 533MC main camera. ZWO 120MC guide cam, Askar ACL200 scope, AZ gti mount, wedge, wires.

I have followed Cuiv the lazy geeks video to sort out backlash and thought all was good, I didn't give it much of a test run before we went off to Egypt.  Once we got there and it was all setup, the goto was working fine, even if it was a little long to finally center, it seemed to overshoot as it centered.

When imaging with tracking on, no guiding, with 30s shots I was getting a star streak in the declination as if the star was slipping. Polar alignment was done through the Asiair and was said to be good at 1 min or less for each axis.

when calibrating the guiding east-west was fine but before starting the north-south, it would do a few clearing backlash moves that took it away from the center start point then the north movement seemed to work fine but the south didn't move so much and didn't return anywhere near the start point and as such guiding was 'bouncy' shall we say.

Now while there I thought it was slipping so tried more counterweight but this did nothing.

Once back I have stripped the unit down and have found that the motors themselves have movement on the pinion before the motor actually moves.  I thought it was the gear slipping on the motor but I've had the motor out totally and it moves before you can feel the motor tension.

I hope this is clear enough to understand what I mean, and hope someone knows of a fix.  I've had the mount a while now and it's out of any warranty.

 

Thank you for looking

Mike

 

Hi

Sorry to hear of your trouble with this great little mount. 

Do you mean you have mechanical backlash in the motor as my video shows? I had this issue. 

I used this thread on the other site to remove it from my mount. 

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/668785-adjusting-backlash-on-skywatcher-az-gti-mount/

 

Lee 

Edited February 3 by AstroNebulee

[AstroNebulee]

I realised I had my Adm dovetail clamp still on my disassembled and unused AzGti eq imaging that's being stored away. Thought it was a waste, so I've put it on my second AzGti mount for my observing work. 

I will have to make the DIY food lid cover to go over the workings still showing but never having one on my other AzGti mount it's never rusted or affected it. So a job got another day. 

Lee 

Edited February 3 by AstroNebulee

[myk68]

13 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Hi

Sorry to hear of your trouble with this great little mount. 

Do you mean you have mechanical backlash in the motor as my video shows? I had this issue. 

I used this thread on the other site to remove it from my mount. 

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/668785-adjusting-backlash-on-skywatcher-az-gti-mount/

 

Lee 

 

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the reply.

Sadly not this movement that I mean, I'll try to get a video tomorrow.  It used to have a little bit of that the Cuiv video showed me how to remove that, so I thought it was all sorted.  My gears are meshed nice and tight and slewing manually is smooth.

Mine is more when I take the gears off the motor and the motor shaft is, for a better word, loose.  I can turn it a fair but before I can feel it connect with the motor itself then I can tell I'm turning the motor.  Then turning it the other way by the same amount until it connects with the motor once again.

Mike

[AstroNebulee]

6 minutes ago, myk68 said:

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the reply.

Sadly not this movement that I mean, I'll try to get a video tomorrow.  It used to have a little bit of that the Cuiv video showed me how to remove that, so I thought it was all sorted.  My gears are meshed nice and tight and slewing manually is smooth.

Mine is more when I take the gears off the motor and the motor shaft is, for a better word, loose.  I can turn it a fair but before I can feel it connect with the motor itself then I can tell I'm turning the motor.  Then turning it the other way by the same amount until it connects with the motor once again.

Mike

Hi Mike 

No problems. I look forward to your video. 

Do you mean the worm gear isn't connecting with the round gear very well. 

Sometimes you can adjust the tension on the spring loading. I have in the past 'disengaged' the use of the spring by undoing then pushing the worm and gear to mesh the worm and gear together with no movement on the spring. 

Just throwing some ideas out there 😊. 

Lee 

[myk68]

Well, I got fed up with waiting for a clear night to try the mount again (lol) so have taken things apart to show what I mean.

I think in the first video you can see that the gears are well-meshed with no separate movement, they move together and this is the issue.  To me, there shouldn't be this movement if the motor is tight to the shaft.

The second clip shows me holding the motor shaft still and you can see the motion before it catches the motor the movement.

 

I may be wrong but I can't tighten anything more to remove this.

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, myk68 said:

Well, I got fed up with waiting for a clear night to try the mount again (lol) so have taken things apart to show what I mean.

I think in the first video you can see that the gears are well-meshed with no separate movement, they move together and this is the issue.  To me, there shouldn't be this movement if the motor is tight to the shaft.

The second clip shows me holding the motor shaft still and you can see the motion before it catches the motor the movement.

 

I may be wrong but I can't tighten anything more to remove 

Hmm, this is strange. Where did you buy the AzGti from, they maybe able to offer some advice, even if the warranty has expired. 

Have you backed off the 3 cross head screws and retightened them and still have the movement? 

Lee 

 

 

Edited February 6 by AstroNebulee

[Elp]

This is happening on the declination motor?

Does the RA motor show the same play?

I've never took mine apart but I think motors should not move when not energised. If it's the Declination motor you do have the option in the asiair to turn off declination guiding, I think it's within the guiding graph screen somewhere.

[happy-kat]

I wonder if mine is similar as currently I'm not getting it to guide at all the star drifts off and I know you can guide atl-az just use one star not multiple in the settings and a centre or so star to minimise rotation

It's a summer project to open it so I'm following the replies here

[myk68]

16 hours ago, Elp said:

This is happening on the declination motor?

Does the RA motor show the same play?

I've never took mine apart but I think motors should not move when not energised. If it's the Declination motor you do have the option in the asiair to turn off declination guiding, I think it's within the guiding graph screen somewhere.

Sadly yes

[myk68]

17 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Hmm, this is strange. Where did you buy the AzGti from, they maybe able to offer some advice, even if the warranty has expired. 

Have you backed off the 3 cross head screws and retightened them and still have the movement? 

Lee 

 

 

Yes, I tried retightening as the first thought but that doesn't stop the movement you see when the gears are meshed.

I got the mount July 2021 from Harrison Telescopes so I'll email them to see if they have heard of this. Hope opening it up and tightening things up doesn't invalidate the warranty.

Mike

[AstroNebulee]

4 hours ago, myk68 said:

Sadly yes

This seems very strange indeed that both motors are showing the same play on the motor shaft. I'll do some more investigation. 

 

4 hours ago, myk68 said:

Yes, I tried retightening as the first thought but that doesn't stop the movement you see when the gears are meshed.

I got the mount July 2021 from Harrison Telescopes so I'll email them to see if they have heard of this. Hope opening it up and tightening things up doesn't invalidate the warranty.

Mike

I've just looked through Harrison telescopes website and the warranty is valid for 12 months so it'll be out of warranty anyway. Let us know if you hear anything back from them with any advice they give for your issue. 

I am wondering if these screws are anything to do with your issue? 

Lee

Edited February 7 by AstroNebulee
Add image

[myk68]

Hi Lee

The advice I got was to try Rother Valley Optics for repair.

looking to Sky-watcher for help led me on a goose chase that ended up saying to contact your local dealer. 😐

So, I took it apart further.  In the casing that you highlighted the 4 screws on. There is a multiple-layered planetary gearing system, one layer has 3 small white gears that after testing seem to be the point of the problem.  They literally are the only part that is loose even to wiggle on the pin they rotate around, everything else is nice and snug.

I know need to see if spares are available anywhere, or if I can resin print my own.

I may have a cheeky email to first light as they have always been helpful. 

Mike

[AstroNebulee]

8 hours ago, myk68 said:

Hi Lee

The advice I got was to try Rother Valley Optics for repair.

looking to Sky-watcher for help led me on a goose chase that ended up saying to contact your local dealer. 😐

So, I took it apart further.  In the casing that you highlighted the 4 screws on. There is a multiple-layered planetary gearing system, one layer has 3 small white gears that after testing seem to be the point of the problem.  They literally are the only part that is loose even to wiggle on the pin they rotate around, everything else is nice and snug.

I know need to see if spares are available anywhere, or if I can resin print my own.

I may have a cheeky email to first light as they have always been helpful. 

Mike

Hi Mike. 

I've had a trawl through the Internet and found this on our forum

Then this on the other site.  

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/824496-az-gti-planetary-gearbox-replacement/

I'm afraid it doesn't bode well, still contact RVO and flo and see what they say though. You maybe able to get new motor units for it? Let us know how you get on. 

Cheers 

Lee 

Edited February 8 by AstroNebulee

[myk68]

Hi Lee

Thank you for looking around for that. I'd not had a chance to do any searching yet.

I knicked the image from the first article and it's these 3 white gears on mine that are the gremlins. Also, the inside of the gearing system was dry as a desert, which might be why it's worn loose. 

I've been looking for a project. I suppose a cycloidal drive to fit the gearbox could be 'fun'!!😵‍💫

I think I'll try to resin print the white gears first as that may be easier if it works lol.  Just wonder how long resin gears might last.

Mike

[AstroNebulee]

2 hours ago, myk68 said:

Hi Lee

Thank you for looking around for that. I'd not had a chance to do any searching yet.

I knicked the image from the first article and it's these 3 white gears on mine that are the gremlins. Also, the inside of the gearing system was dry as a desert, which might be why it's worn loose. 

I've been looking for a project. I suppose a cycloidal drive to fit the gearbox could be 'fun'!!😵‍💫

I think I'll try to resin print the white gears first as that may be easier if it works lol.  Just wonder how long resin gears might last.

Mike

Hi Mike 

Good luck with the resin printing of the gears you need. Like you say I expect them not being greased from factory attributed to the downfall of them. If your gears are sound and work and kept well greased it might work. Keep us posted. 

Lee 

[Elp]

2 hours ago, myk68 said:

Just wonder how long resin gears might last.

As in SLA printing? You could try it but the material isn't really designed for mechanical applications. Normally you'd FDM print in ABS, PETG or Nylon.

[happy-kat]

Testing skysafari 7 plus tonight wanted to share that the slew speed settings works with the app go to. So can go to at a quieter level using the app

[Zermelo]

23 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Testing skysafari 7 plus tonight wanted to share that the slew speed settings works with the app go to. So can go to at a quieter level using the app

Just to check - you're saying there's now a way of setting a top speed in SkySafari that won't be exceeded during goto operations?  I've been waiting a long time for that.

Which version are you running? I have 7.1.10.8, which is the latest in Play Store, but I can't see any setting in my version for that feature.

[happy-kat]

The same version as you

Telescope was connected, choose object on screen, selected slew speed 2 from 1-4 and then goto and mount slewed at a slower pace then normal I thought because it was quieter but I'll check it again.

Edit: I created a demo system preset to connect to so I could share where I found slew rate

Edited February 16 by happy-kat

[AstroNebulee]

Worth a watch on YouTube right now. 

Lee