Quote:
Originally Posted by Anth10
Hi everyone on this snowy cold Sep day!
Today was a milestone moment having rigged up the mount and scope on the awaiting pier. Unbolted the Neq6 Pro mount from its tripod legs and re-bolted it using the central locking bolt to the pier. Here it is...
I have to say its worked out just as I thought it would with enough clearance from the rafters as planned. I have also rigged up a block and tackle my father gave me and attached a rope connecting the front beam of the ROR. It's made things smooth and simple enough to slide off now. I like it.
Now, Question : If anybody would care to suggest - Is it bad to leave the scope fully assembled with all the counter weights on the extention rod for lengthy periods or is it better to take it all down after each session leaving just the mount on the pier?
The reason I ask is I'm not sure if it is good to have all that weight straining the damn thing and would flexure creep in over time in the OTA. Also would the mirror suffer from being in the Parked home position? Up until now I have always stood my Newtonian up straight to keep its shape...
Any thoughts welcome and appreciated.
Cheers,
Anthony
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Personally I don't have a permanent observatory so all my gear is stored indoors most of the time.
I store my scopes vertically, so the primaries are facing up or down. Mainly easier to store this way but also heavy mirrors sit flat with gravity. No long term sagging or flexure.
The mount I treat it like a precision instrument not a work horse. So I dry it after each session, I never have a load out of balance on it (e.g counter weights on shaft without scope on) and I service it every 12 months. Strip it, clean it, regrease it and fix or change what needs to be like bearings or shaft wear marks needing sanding, worms, couplings, gearboxes, clutches, etc... It's now over 20 years old.
If a had a permanent set up and ceiling room I'd park the scope vertically up or down and work out some kind of rig to take the weight off the mount to support. If it's for long periods of time I'd take everything apart and put in dry storage.