sx filter wheel inconsistent positions

[Horwig]

I've had my SX usb wheel for well over ten years, and this is the first time I've seen this fault, over a few days, the wheel would occasionally not position the filter accurately, and then my flats would not line up, here's a stretched master light:

I've since stripped out the wheel and tried it on the bench: no problem found, it behaved impeccably (naturally!). Has anybody ever had their wheel behave similarly?

Huw

[Ibbo!]

I wonder if the direction is the problem ie always go clockwise or anti cw and not shortest route.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Have you contacted Starlight Xpress ? I cannot remember what issue I had it was a few years back but they were very helpful and prompt to react.
Not that this helps but a that is a cracking image, I hope you can still salvage something from it if the flats are of no use.

Steve

Edited December 9, 2023 by teoria_del_big_bang

[Horwig]

Thanks both, yes SX have been good over the years, I managed to bust the USB connection to the board many years ago, and the replacement board was very reasonable.

Not sure if it's a direction issue, I do have SGP set on 'both directions', but I have 'rotate through events' set. Some subs were correct, some not, and on different filters.

Yes a mail to SX is in order

Huw

[Xilman]

I concur: contact SX.  Very very helpful. I also recommend joining their mailing list which is run as a Yahoo Group.

I suspect they will tell you to lubricate the wheel, but contact SX first.

 

[Horwig]

Left a message for Terry, who came straight back! That's what I call customer care. I'll copy the answer here for reference, somebody else might find it useful.

Hello Huw,

This can be due to several things, so it could be a bit difficult to pin
down. The most likely cause is a slow loss of magnet strength on the
carousel - this will tend to happen after a long period since manufacture.

First, check that the bearing screws are all firm and that the central axle
screw is tight. If these look good, please try loosening the two nuts that
hold down the PC board and insert a strip of thin card under the long
straight edge of the board. A strip of cereal box is about the right
thickness. Once the nuts are screwed down, see if the packing has helped.

If the card doesn't fix it, then it might be best to send it to us for
checking and updating.

Best regards,
Terry

 

Card strip added, simple engineering fix, moves the magnetised screws closer to the sensors of the pcb, very neat.

Huw

[sloz1664]

Good ol' Terry. Helped me out on a few occasions, both software and hardware related, fast response and a complete success on every occasion. The SX support is second to none.

Steve