Wobbly mount!

[milkyjoe]

I've recently purchased a 4" refractor telescope that also came with an EQ1 mount and reasonably stirdy tripod. I decided to purchase a few bits and bobs to have a go at a bit of astrophotography using a webcam. I can get everything setup myself, ready to go..., but I've noticed that when the scope is aligned, with the scope on one side and the counter-weight on the other, the mount is a little bit wobbly, and this disrupts the RA motor drive for tracking purposes!

Is this normal or do I have a duff mount... or is the simple answer that the EQ1 mount is rubbish? My hope was to delve into this hobby, but if my mount isn't up to the job, then I may as well forget it.

What mount would anyone recommend, I've read threads about the EQ5 or HEQ5 mount, but I fear they will be too heavy and too expensive for my budget, and not essential for only a 4" refractor... or I am talking nonsense?

Any advice would be very much appreciated; I have the feeling a new mount is going to cost me an arm and a leg!

Many thanks

Richard.

[eddy]

Tip 1) Dont extend the legs fully out, that will help with the wobbly mount (All being well, unless you've already tried that?)

Lower centre of Gravity = More sturdy. Personally i wouldnt extend them at all, if your imaging you can grit your teeth when you use an EP and just put up with a bend over or hand and knee action! lol

Tip 2) Hang a weight (of some sort not TOO HEAVY) from the centre of the tripod, if you have a tray, try hanging from there, Carton of milk or bottle of water.

Tip 3) Dont give up, its hard, expensive and im still to delve into it myself having just forked out 'x' amount on gear. And still have a lot to get, i have only ever imaged Jupiter and i hand tracked it, i dont have RA/Dec motors (yet) But will be investing soon.

There is hope i assure you. Obviously if you can upgrade the mount at some point do it, but for the time being try your best with what you have. Im sure you will get something you will be proud of

All the best

Eddy

[milkyjoe]

Tip 1) Dont extend the legs fully out, that will help with the wobbly mount (All being well, unless you've already tried that?)

Lower centre of Gravity = More sturdy. Personally i wouldnt extend them at all, if your imaging you can grit your teeth when you use an EP and just put up with a bend over or hand and knee action! lol

Tip 2) Hang a weight (of some sort not TOO HEAVY) from the centre of the tripod, if you have a tray, try hanging from there, Carton of milk or bottle of water.

Tip 3) Dont give up, its hard, expensive and im still to delve into it myself having just forked out 'x' amount on gear. And still have a lot to get, i have only ever imaged Jupiter and i hand tracked it, i dont have RA/Dec motors (yet) But will be investing soon.

There is hope i assure you. Obviously if you can upgrade the mount at some point do it, but for the time being try your best with what you have. Im sure you will get something you will be proud of

All the best

Eddy

Perhaps I should of worded it differently. It is not the mount per say, but, how can I describe this..., when the mount is aligned, if I press down on the counter-weight there is movement from where the mount is joined to the tripod; I have made sure the screw underneath the mount is tight before you say.

What could be causing this, or as I said earlier, is it because the mount is cheap?

Thanks eddy.

Richard.

[eddy]

Silly question, and could be totally irrellivant lol but is the mount balanced properly? By that, i mean is it balanced WELL? Could be a starting point.

Also, on the flip side it could just be because the Scope is quite a big scope for a small mount, could be over loaded a little? (someone correct me if im wrong) OR it could be that the mount is just small, cheap and struggling. Like i said, im not a seasoned proffesional but im just thinking of how my mount goes together and what could cause that kind of action whilst pushing down on the weights......

Hope that helps a little

Eddy

[Ludd]

When I got back into astronomy a few years back I bought a 4" f5 refractor on an EQ1 mount. Compared to the mount I'm now using it was indeed rickety but careful balancing helped. It also helped that I was not trying to do too much high magnification work or trying to image with a webcam at that stage. For widefield observing the EQ1 was quite serviceable.

While the EQ1 was fine for a while, it really helped to move on to an EQ3. It may seem daft to spend money on upgrading so quickly but the EQ3 was not that expensive (£90 including polar scope) and I sold my EQ1 to offset some of the cost.

[Llamanaut]

yup agree with Ludd wholeheartedly... i had an EQ1 which for low mag work is adequate but anything higher than a 10mm ep and its very rickety. With a 4" refractor and a webcam it will be struggling. If its wobbly from the scope mount make sure you have the correct scope rings/ mount, if there is any play try packing it out a little (a sheet of newspaper folded lengthways a couple of times... (doesnt look nice but works)

Try rebalancing everything as per skywatcher website so that scope (and webcam) just sits there without tilting in either axis without brakes on and then go from there.

I have an EQ3-2 now and thats far superior in both sturdiness and tracking. Hope this helps?

[Rossco72]

It may be hard to take, but what you have is the most basic mount. With some persperation and perserverance you "might" get some webcam images, but unfortunately there is also a reality that the wonderful images of the moon and planets we see on here and in magazines were almost all taken with HEQ5Pro or EQ6Pro or even more expensive mounts.

You can get images, you can get some enjoyment from the gear you have but please limit your expectations in line with your budget or you will ultimately be disappointed.

Maybe try setting yourself a challenge to see just how much you can get out of your current gear before deciding if you are ready/able to take the next steps.

All the best and good luck

[milkyjoe]

Thank you all for your comments.

The mount and scope are balanced correctly as far as I can tell eddy, I will try and make a small video later this evening and upload it to youtube so you can see exactly what I'm attempting to describe, hopefully that will help you (and others) understand my problem better.

Ludd: I was quite tempted to maybe upgrade to a better mount, and an EQ3-2 sounds pretty good; I've seen them going on FLO for £155 (but sure I could get one cheaper second hand ;-)). Would it more practical to get an EQ5 as I can't really afford a HEQ5 mount?

Rossco72: Many thanks for the tip, but I can't afford one of those beasts! lol

Thanks.

Richard.

P.S. What about a tracking or GOTO system instead?

[Ogri]

It's not without reason that I'm trying to avoid astro-photography like the plague! I'm keeping the right side of the black hole money pit event horizon, that's for sure!

Personally, I'd learn all the ins and outs of tweaking and fettling an EQ mount, with the one you have. It's a cheap school, and you already own it, and the others will be just 'bigger and better' versions of the same thing?

While doing that, save up and keep your eyes peeled for a decent secondhand buy on here. They do crop up pretty regularly, for example http://stargazerslounge.com/sale/111568-celestron-cg5-gt-mount-polar-scope.html , which would handle an ST102, with no problem at all.

No panic, nothing's wasted, and when you have managed to latch on to a bargain at a later date, then you can sell the EQ1 in a fully fettled state, to somebody else for them to learn on as well.

[watchmakerjohn]

must agree with the last comment, keep using the eq1 till you get the hang of using eq mounts

[Deano6128]

Had the same problem with my eq-1 mount, but found there is an easy way to improve how much movement there is on the RA axis.

Firstly if you remove the plastic cap from the end of the RA axis where it is attached to the mount head (shown in attached picture). Looking in this tube you should then be able to see a nut and bolt. All I did was to tighten this a little bit and it vastly reduced the movement on the RA axis (although don't do it too tight, otherwise you'll not be able to move it at all )

Regards,

Dean

[milkyjoe]

Thanks Dean, i'll give that a go. ;-)