What to do, and not to do

[LewisM]

I have heard many conflicting theories on EQ mount usage etc over the years, and like to ask for more feedback.

Personally, when I am done, I remove the scope, remove the counterweights, and stow the counterweight bar. I figure less strain and stress on the mount the better.

A friend of mine ALWAYS leaves the entire mount and scope "assembled", and it can go WEEKS without even moving. I know being balanced it SHOULD be fine, but why put extra strain/weight on it anyway!

Thoughts on this?

[jjjnettie]

At the moment my rig is put away inside the shed. (out of this heat)
The scope is in it's case and the counter weights sitting on the bench.
Everything else is left as is so when I go to set up again, I can line the legs up on the nail polish spots on the paver, put the scope on, slide on the counter weight, and I know that the scope is level and I'm just about polar aligned.
On a run of clear nights during new moon, I'll leave the whole lot set up outside, with a blanky and water proof cover over it.

[Forgey]

Same as Nettie, so when i set it just have to match the marks on the ground and after a quick polar alignment I'm right to go.

[LewisM]

I too have dayglo orange fingernail polish marks on the driveway (now accented with Halloween glow in the dark paint, that I illuminate with my UV torch before set up). The tripod legs I leave in the levelled for position setting etc. If I then check the head alignment with my special made compass bar I find my greatest alignment error to be VERY small - almost always out in azimuth only :)

I have since moved to a new dark spot at home (but much more limited sphere), so a new alignment routine required. Doing a 3 star align is a cow there, but I persist :)

[LewisM]

BTW, by disassembled rig, I mean all apart - mount, weight off, scope off etc. Surprised 4 people say they leave it all assembled!

[Fox]

Lewis, I can see sense in both sides of the argument, and it will also depend where one decides to store the assembly. Inside the house protected from all elements, in a shed where dust and moisture might be an issue etc... Provided the mount is made for the load, I can't see why leaving the scope/mount assembled would be a major problem.

And when you think of it, frequent disassembly, tightening, untightening etc. all places strain and wear & tear on screws and bolts - and eventually one day they will strip and cross thread.

Personally, I disassemble each time - for the sake of space, lighter carry loads and safe storage of the OTA. Cheers, Fox.

[Screwdriverone]

Yep,

I drag mine inside by taking off the 8" scope and carry the whole HEQ5 assembled. Then I plonk it down in the formal lounge which doesn't get any use and remount the OTA on the EQ.

Hopefully soon, it will stay assembled in a nice snug obs shed out the back.....:D

Cheers

Chris

[Forgey]

ok I take everything off but the mount (head). Sometimes i leave the weight on if hubby carries it in and out for me.

[Terry B]

Mine is a permanent setup so it never gets disassembled.

[LewisM]

Paula, yeah, I leave the head alone. Just take off weights, raise the shaft, and take the scope off.

I guess the RA gear failing on a previous HEQ5 spooked me into thinking it was loading it up all the time etc etc, so in all precaution, I disassemble.
IF I had an observatory, that I considered sufficiently water, heat and person proof, then yes, I may reconsider my stance :)

[graham.hobart]

Because I have such a small house , the scope and mount lived outside for a couple of years, my CGEM was under about four big bath towels and then four tarps. Never had an issue with that- though the handbox came in on really dewy nights.
Only took it down once on when we had gale force winds and the deck umbrella was swinging wildly and threatening to topple everything. Pain in the butt re-aligning everything after though. Don't know how you people do it every night- must get more clear nights than I do.:confused2:

[ourkind]

Practice makes perfect ;) I can almost do it with my eyes shut now. Although I wish wish wish I could have a permanent setup :(

[LewisM]

A question of those that leave it out aligned: when you park the scope after each session, how accurate do you find that the park/home position is when you come to restart the next session? Mine always seems at least 2° to 3° out after parking it (though I never leave it - always bring it inside)

[ZeroID]

Mine stays all assembled in the OB ( best option eva !! ) but prior I'd lug the mount and head inside the garage assembled. OTA then remounted till next time. Many USA guys use trolleys to bring their scopes out fully assembled so I assume they stay together for long periods.

I agree with less fiddling if possible. Less chance to damage, drop, wear out, misalign, break, lose etc and if it is well balanced there will be no added wear during storage. I'd be more concerned about lack of use, ie storage for long periods where grease, moisture etc might affect something. Thats why I am happy to go out and just power up and fiddle with the system for an hour or so .. even when it's cloudy .. :D

[Astroman]

When I eventually get the Obs finished, the new mount will be staying setup in there, unless I move to a dark site fore some photography work, then I will strip it down..

[Mighty_oz]

Mines always ready to go in the obs, just go out turn it on and off i go for imaging if i want. Can't imagine Mt Palomar being disassembled each night :)

[asimov]

My old EQ6 has never been disassembled from new except when I relocated once. It's just over two years old. It's permanently setup on a slab with a tarp over it. I house the OTA inside when not in use.

[brian nordstrom]

:D I leave mine fully assembled all the time , I only take the M210/IEQ45 apart to drag it outside in 3 loads , my Sky90 and Vixen SP is always set up , its outside in one load easy as .
If the mount cant handle the weight of the OTA , ,,,,;) ,,
GET A BIGGER MOUNT !!! :rofl: .
Brian.

[Terry B]

My scope is in an observatory.
I use a GPS to set the time on the scope. one of these
http://www.ebay.com.au/ctg/GlobalSat-BU-353-GPS-Receiver-/72931821
I then slew to a star and take an image using a 5 sec exposure. This is then plate solved by TSXP.
It is usually within 20arcmins.
I then synch on this pic and the slews will be close to the centre of the frame.
You do need accurate time on the computer. Try turning your mount off for 30sec and see how far the image will move. If the time is out by 30 sec then the pic will be out just as much. Computer clocks are very poor and mine will be out many secs even if left overnight. The GPS updated the puter clock every 10 mins when I'm using the scope.

[LewisM]

I use the Atomic Clock and GPS clock apps for Android when aligning the scope.

The new Synscan Beta is interesting in how it now displays Polaris time as a clock face position on the Polar scope. Totally useless for us, but interesting all the same.

[Terry B]

This is good. How do you input the time into the computer from the app?
I need very accurate time for The SPADES research program so the time stamp needs to be automatic

[LewisM]

Terry, I have not gone EqMod yet, so I enter the time on the Synscan controller - it does HMS, so can get it pretty accurate.

I check my laptop often against it too, and maybe out 15 seconds or so - never significantly large error.