DIY Improvements to Celestron Astromaster 130EQ

[Eliah]

I recently bought a pre-owned Celestron Astromaster 130EQ from Gumtree and have since learned it was not necessarily the best choice. However, now it is in my possession I'm determined to get the best out of it - and have made the following improvements, which may be of some use to beginners with the same equipment:

1. Stripped, cleaned, lubricated and tightened the equiatorial mount. In it's purchased condition it was far too stiff and the torque obviously wrecked the add-on  Celestron DC Motor Drive.

2. Stripped the motor drive and soldered the second brass cog which had separated from its centre bearing. Now works perfectly.

3. The 9v battery is susceptible to cold weather and the motor speed decreases as it drains, so I used an old 9v transformer with a connector half-way along the cable.

4. I also soldered two short wires to the motor's power terminals, with a female bayonet connector on the end of each. With a cheap multimeter, I can now measure (in volts) and record the speed of my motor drive for the tracking of various objects in the night sky.

5. I made a simple 'dog-leg' bracket from 25mm wide aluminium strip to replace the existing, thereby straightening the motor case in line with the polar axis and lowering it by 15mm. It no longer restricts full rotation of the telescope tube. 

6. I have ordered a small smartphone bracket which will screw onto the tube ring bolt and allow me to use the Star Walk 2 app for viewing what the telescope is pointing at.

I can't claim credit for all these ideas as many have been previously suggested online, but they do work and could be of help to the frustrated beginner armed with a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ.