Is my mount just broke?

[Ollienttm]

So then, following on from my thread the other night I have purchased a power pack from FLO and took it out tonight to get this goto mount working. First alignment was quite good and when I shot back to vega to test it it was only a few mm off. Could find nothing after on the M list though other then darkness

I tried to re-align around 3 times till I noticed the scope dip at the point of alignment on vega so I had a look and found a big lever underneath which is suppose to set the mount(for me 53 degrees) but even though it wont tighten anymore it is still lose enough to randomly "slip" back in which case ruins the alignment.

On the plus side I got to see saturn again before it fell behind the houses and I still cant believe it is 1,500,000,000km away and it is right there in my eye piece with a ring as clear as day and 3 moons to makes me laugh when the mrs says "its still tiny though" as if she is expecting it to be huge

Is the fitting knackered on the mount so I need a new one or can I fix it/doing something wrong? Getting really fed up now, on the plus side the local astro club I have just joined is gonna hold weekly viewing nights this year and they have a 24 inch bad boy in the obs I canny wait to see some stuff in that

[GazOC]

If I'm reading you problem right there are 2 levers, you have to tighten one and slacken the other to get (and keep) the position you want. Just tightening one of them will leave "play" in the mount that you take care of by tightening the other.

Be careful about over tightening them though, they can bend inside the mount and become a PITA to get out.

[Ollienttm]

There is one lever that screws into my dovetail bar and that feels fine after I have just checked. Cant understand why it seems to be "slipping" back

[Cornelius Varley]

What mount do you have ?

Peter

[haitch]

From your first post I took it you were on about the latitude adjustment bolt on an eq mount but from your second post it becomes unclear. I think if you could post pictures it would help.

If it is the latitude adjustment bolts and you can't get the second one to tighten to your latitude (because it was intended for a range of latitudes outside where you are) you may have to switch the 2 bolts around (if that doesn't stop the other from reaching the right position) or get a longer one for the side that is too short.

[Cornelius Varley]

From your previous thread it appears that you have a Skywatcher AZ GOTO. The large handwheel underneath the dovetail only clamps the dovetail bar in place. I suspect that the dipping is due to the telescope not being balanced properly on the mount. If the telescope is dipping at the front it is needs to be moved backwards in the dovetail.

Peter

[Ollienttm]

Ah that would make sense. I never thought of it balancing. I took it off today and had a look in the light and it feels sturdy enough on the part where the dovetail fits moving up and down so I must need to balance it properly.

On another note does anyone know where I can get one of them eye pieces with the cross on for aligning? Had a look on FLO but dont know what they are called and cant find one that looks like it is what it should be

[Cornelius Varley]

Try this one 12.5mm Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece

Peter

[Ant]

Not sure why you need an illuminated EP, please see the attachment below - this show the key things you may need to tighten/loosen when setting up and during an observing session.

The mount is an EQ5 - but won't be wildly different for EQ3,HEQ5 EQ6.

HTH

Ant

[Ollienttm]

Hi, thanks for that but it is a synscan goto mount so no weights. I guess I will have another blast next week now and try to get the balance right.

On a side note I might be going to view the sun through a solar scope and reverse binos(whatever they are lol) tomorrow night at my local astro club I canny wait

[Ant]

I have a Skywatcher Synscan goto mount and it has weights.

Which mount have you got?