az goto steadiness...

[Panzer]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any tips on keeping the Skywatcher explorer 130p az goto steady while focussing?

It wobbles so much, its causing a lot of wasted time just spent waiting for the image to stabilise before knowing whether the object is in focus or not. Ive seen a few things posted that recommend tightening nuts etc but im a complete beginner, and im not too sure exactly which nuts to tighten or if im missing any.

Could anyone help? Anyone have any other tips they could share?

[brantuk]

Do you have the leg spreader tray securely in place - it helps a lot with stability of the tripod. Also make sure the dovetail is tight in the mount.

If that still doesn't work you can hang a weight under the tray for additional stabiity. And make sure the focuser is smooth - it might need a regrease. A wide rubber band round the focuser knob can give a bit more grip and helps to smooth out using it.

[keef_uk]

I have recently purchased and fitted an auto focuser for my 102SLT which has greatly reduced wobbly - maybe worth doing some research see if there is one that fits yours

[mijijim]

Hi,

I agree with Brantuk about the weights.

I often put my ED 120 on a heavy duty photo tripod and hang the HEQ5

weights under it, cheating, but it woks quite well.

mijijim

[Panzer]

Thanks for the replies, I'll definitely try that thing with the weights. The main wobbliness, upon further inspection, seems to be related to the OTA and dovetail mainly. Even just gently touching the focus knobs causes the OTA to wobble. Is this just a flaw with dovetails or is there a way to further secure it? Any further help would be much appreciated! At least, it will when this morbid weather finally goes! :

[brantuk]

Dovetails are pretty standard on your scope. Ensure the dovetail sits flat against the base of the jaw and flush into the angular side so that when tightening up it all presses down into the jaws.

[Steep]

I think it's a goto plus tripod combined thing, mine has the same problem. I'm working on a permanent garden mount for it which should at least cut the tripod out of the equation but an auto-focuser might be worth investigating too if that doesn't settle it down enough.