AlexN
03-05-2015, 07:07 PM
Hey everyone. It's been a few years.
I have been bitten by the Astrophotography bug again and have assembled a fairly modest little setup.
My drama...
I bought a 2nd hand heq5 pro for a few hundred cheaper than a new one. I knew at the time it was probably a poor place to be skimping on price but I did it anyway.
The RA axis is sticky when the counterweights are on the eastern side. It's buttery smooth when the scope is on the eastern side and the weights are on the western, but flip it around the other way and it's sticky. So sticky you can't balance the scope properly with the scope on the wester side of the mount. This in turn makes tracking and guiding unpredictable at best and horrible at worst aiming east ..
I've stripped the axis down, cleaned and lubed it all, as I was piecing it back together I was checking range of motion and tolerances etc. It was all smooth untill I replace the setting circle. If I tighten the setting circle grub screw I can cause the whole axis to bind up. If I remove the circle completely the mount seems totally smooth.
Anyone got any experience with heq5 tuning that could shed some light on this for me?
Preferably if someone in Brisbane could help me nut this one out I'd be much appreciative.
I have been bitten by the Astrophotography bug again and have assembled a fairly modest little setup.
My drama...
I bought a 2nd hand heq5 pro for a few hundred cheaper than a new one. I knew at the time it was probably a poor place to be skimping on price but I did it anyway.
The RA axis is sticky when the counterweights are on the eastern side. It's buttery smooth when the scope is on the eastern side and the weights are on the western, but flip it around the other way and it's sticky. So sticky you can't balance the scope properly with the scope on the wester side of the mount. This in turn makes tracking and guiding unpredictable at best and horrible at worst aiming east ..
I've stripped the axis down, cleaned and lubed it all, as I was piecing it back together I was checking range of motion and tolerances etc. It was all smooth untill I replace the setting circle. If I tighten the setting circle grub screw I can cause the whole axis to bind up. If I remove the circle completely the mount seems totally smooth.
Anyone got any experience with heq5 tuning that could shed some light on this for me?
Preferably if someone in Brisbane could help me nut this one out I'd be much appreciative.