The homing/limit switches which he refers to are an optional ad-on for the 1600. They're not available in kit form, yet, but when they are I'll jump on them. The precise homing of the SB mounts in RA and Dec was perhaps my favourite feature of the MX. Thankfully, the AP isn't too far behind.
Re balance, I've seen references to 'fish scales' on the AP GTO Yahoo Group. It threw me at first, but after reading the comments above re the friction in the newer mounts (namely, the 3600, 1600 and 1100), they sound like an invaluable (and cheap!) tool to find the balance sweet spot.
According to the AP website, 1600s will be available in February! I also note that the 1100s have been bumped back a few months to June. So delivery in early March for me, perhaps? Then the inevitable taxes/import duties... ouch!
I'll bookmark the site for future reference. Cheers.
Last edited by Logieberra; 26-02-2014 at 07:29 PM.
Yes, it's like a drift alignment on steroids. I made a cheat sheet of instructions located on my desktop that helps me dial it in quickly. It has stuff like to move mount west in Az, turn knob X. I also have what each graduation represents on the adjustment knobs. The exact measurements of what the short and long marks represent are in the AP manual. I have the same for Altitude adjustments, ie, to lower mount, turn Alt knob clockwise. Again, the graduations are in the manual...
Terry
Thanks Terry, I looked into this. According to the 1600 manual:
AZ
* One full turn of the azimuth knob is approx. 0.3733 degrees (22.4 arc mins)
* the small graduations are 0.74 arc mins and
* the long graduations are 3.7 arc mins.
ALT
* One full turn of the altitude knob is approx. 0.41 degrees (24.6 arc mins)
* one half turn of the altitude knob is approx. 0.205 degrees (12.3 arc mins) and
* one quarter turn of the altitude knob is approx. 0.1025 degrees (6.15 arc mins).
... As for Terry's comments, the notches on RA / DEC adjustment knobs are for "Pemming" the mount in ...
You will love it.
Steve
Thanks Steve, I'm sure I will
Re Dec adjustments, are there notches with long and small graduations? I was under the impression that there's just a large, 4-way knob? The MX had graduations built into the dec knob. It was a beautiful thing and very precise-
Last edited by Logieberra; 27-02-2014 at 08:07 AM.
The precise homing of the SB mounts in RA and Dec was perhaps my favourite feature of the MX. Thankfully, the AP isn't too far behind.
Even the early Paramount mounts way back in the late 1990s had homing switches. Have A-P mounts not had them until now and if so, how did they ever get along without them? I find this difficult to believe.
Somewhere I read a statement by Roland that went something like "try for balance, but don't stress about getting it perfect" ...
Geoff
Back to your comment Geoff, I've also seen Roland's advice on the AP GTO Yahoo Group that balance doesn't matter with an AP mount. Re the link that Peter provided and the 3600 user's tracking issues with an out-of-balance mount, it does seem strange for such a measly load (7" refractor + 8300cam) on such a whopping big mount! He must have been way out?
Any of you AP 1100, 1600 and 3600 guys employing the fish scales?
Even the early Paramount mounts way back in the late 1990s had homing switches. Have A-P mounts not had them until now and if so, how did they ever get along without them? I find this difficult to believe.
Frolimond, I'll have to defer to the long-term AP users on this. I'm very new to AP, and learning as I go.
Unless you physically move the mount against its clutches , it will always know where it is . Even if you turn the power off it automatically stores its last position and picks up where it left off.
Back to your comment Geoff, I've also seen Roland's advice on the AP GTO Yahoo Group that balance doesn't matter with an AP mount. Re the link that Peter provided and the 3600 user's tracking issues with an out-of-balance mount, it does seem strange for such a measly load (7" refractor + 8300cam) on such a whopping big mount! He must have been way out?
Any of you AP 1100, 1600 and 3600 guys employing the fish scales?
Nope, I was tempted but I don't see any issue with mine being roughly balanced by hand. May be it will perform worse if I balanced it properly :p. Honestly I think balance matters but the tolerance level is very high so unless you are trying to run in totally out of balance intentionally you should be fine.
... I think balance matters but the tolerance level is very high so unless you are trying to run in totally out of balance intentionally you should be fine.
Raki
Thanks Raki. I did buy some cheapy digital fish scales off ebay, probably unnecessary, but for $8 shipped, why not
Last edited by Logieberra; 15-03-2014 at 01:16 PM.
Thanks for the offer to 'shore up' my pier with an extra weld (or two) before the arrival of my 1600GTO mount. As you can see, it hardly supports the colossal Mr Meow! During pier production, my father in law said something to the effect of, 'is that for the QE2?' I can't imagine why...
Last edited by Logieberra; 13-03-2014 at 08:55 PM.
My cat's called Caesar.....and I suspect jumping atop of a new pier is something cats can't resist....as he did the same with my PME pier while it was being installed and still not quite vertical...it was promptly dubbed " the leaning tower of Casear"
My cat's called Caesar.....and I suspect jumping atop of a new pier is something cats can't resist....as he did the same with my PME pier while it was being installed and still not quite vertical...it was promptly dubbed " the leaning tower of Casear"