First night with the Rowan belt upgrade...

[Sterrenland]

Having struggled to get my guiding down to manageable levels I decided to upgrade my HEQ5 Pro with the Rowan belt kit which I purchased from FLO. I spent a couple of hours yesterday evening fitting it with a little bit of trepidation. managed to drop one of the tiny tiny tiny washers off one of the motor bolts...half an hour on the floor with a torch solved the problem.

I've set up this evening and am trying to get some data of LDN1251...bit of a random target, but it's not right next to the moon!

After months of hovering between 1.2 and 2 RMS tonight has seen my guiding around 0.5. Bit of a wow! moment for me.  Definitely pleased I did the upgrade. Obviously I'll be able to see later if the shape of my stars has improved, etc. I know RMS figures aren't the only story, but I definitely feel like some progress has been made. From what I've seen so far I would recommend the belt upgrade!

[StarryEyed]

Congrats on finding the washer!! That's the sort of thing life throws at us just to check we are actually dedicated and serious about it. Makes the success at the sweeter! 

[Ishan Mair]

Done the belt mod myself. Not sure how much it improved. I guess only time will tell. How tight did you keep the belts?

Please post your results in future.

[Neil H]

If I am working on anything with tiny bolts of washers I put a sheet down and work over that due to the fact I lost a tiny bolt and washer well over 7 years ago and still not found it in the rug 

Glad the belt mod helped your guiding I did mine just to stop the rattles, well done finding the washer 

[Sp@ce_d]

Did mine years ago, never looked back & it’s so quiet & smooth.