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Old 22-06-2020, 02:32 PM
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The_bluester (Paul)
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Kilmore, Australia
Posts: 3,342
I am going to go against the grain a bit here. I have been imaging both sides of the meridian on a nightly basis ever since I got automated flips going and was happy that my cable management will ensure that I won't see any snags. And that was with my SCT as well as my refractor (I wouldn't go out and buy the SCT I have now as an imaging scope, it was my visual scope and I use it to image because I have it)

Provided you get all your mechanical alignment and setup right there is no reason for plate solving to fail after a flip, the only times this happened to me were in the setup and refinement phase as I got it all working and it was inevitably a problem of my own making.

I run my RA axis somewhat unbalanced (The AZEQ6 and AZEQ6 derived mounts are not easy to balance properly in RA anyway) so the gear loading while it will change direction before and after the flip should be enough to keep the worm meshed both sides, it still tracks and guides OK to the west in my experience.

You do need to be sure of your cable management and of your mount limits (Software or hard stops) to ensure no cable tangles or equipment crashes and in the case of the SCT in particular, automated focus is a must so that you can make a focus run after the flip and regularly thereafter in case of mirror movement. If you are chasing a particular target, why waste up to half the night by only imaging on one side?
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