Upgrade complete

[Matthew.Blake]

Woot! Now I just need some more Vespane gas.

When tracking the Synscan motors for the EQ6 make a little high pitched squeal, not too loud, but compared to the deathly silence of the old EQ6 peasant class motors it's loud. Is this normal?

[daz]

Yes normal. Mine does the same occasionally.

Strange how loud things can seem in the dark

[Astro_Baby]

Do they do it when tracking or only whe slewing. My HEQ5 is as quiet as a mouse, it only makes a short whhheeee sound as the motor starts up in a fast slew.

[Matthew.Blake]

There is the quite bzzz all the time. When they slew they are more noisy though. I had to adjust the DEC motor as it kept slipping, wasn't quite tight enough in. I think the RA motor is OK but I get the occasional "Bark" as it speeds up.

[Astro_Baby]

When you say a 'bark' does it sound like a 'crunchy' sound - like someone changing gears in a car without a clutch ?

If it does it may be the worm gear needs a bit of tuning.

[Matthew.Blake]

When you say a 'bark' does it sound like a 'crunchy' sound - like someone changing gears in a car without a clutch ?

If it does it may be the worm gear needs a bit of tuning.

It is indeed like the very sound of someone learning to change gears for the first time!

[Astro_Baby]

At start up as the motors kick off or in mid slew ?

[Takahashi]

Not being familiar with the noise these things make, my own new NEQ6 seems to make a bit of a racket while starting/slewing/stopping. I'll make a video of it tonight when I get home. It just sounds a bit too "clattery" "grindy" for my liking.

[Matthew.Blake]

At start up as the motors kick off or in mid slew ?

It's as the motors kick off and wind down, during slew it is fine.

[Astro_Baby]

I'd say that was normal - they do make a grindy sound as they kick off - I thought you meant they go CCCRRRUNCHHH in the middle of slewing.

[Marmite]

Every EQ6 I've ever heard has made the "crunching" sound at the beginning and end of fast slews. Apparently it's a normal stepper motor sound, and not a case of anything actually grinding. According to some posts it can be reduced via a mount tune up, but I suspect there may be some placebo effect occurring there.

The faint UFO-like "whee-whee" sound heard while the mount is tracking is also normal. It's hard to detect during the day but is quite noticable in a remote observing spot at night. I've never heard anybody complain about it though. If anything it may help users avoid walking into their mounts in the darkness!

One other noise is a faint whine from the hand controller (or the PCB in the mount, I'm unsure). I was with a friend when he upgraded the HC's firmware and he immediately claimed the sound had become louder as a result of the change (or possibly just a slightly different pitch which he was more sensitive to.)

When you compare the EQ6 with most other mounts around, even those that are far more expensive, it's very quiet. At a star party I attended, a Losmandy G-11 owner once commented that he wished his mount was as quiet as a nearby observer's EQ6.

[Takahashi]

Thanks Marmite. That settles it... I'm panicking over nothing.