Hi all,
wondering if anyone has any experience with the Skywatcher Star Discovery AZ GOTO mount - the "all in one" spacey looking mount used for small refractors and Maks?
I recently bought this mount including a SW 102-500 small refractor as my travel scope and am having some "mechanical" issues with the mount as follows:
During manual "slew" on BOTH the ALT and AZ axes,and at Synscan speeds of Rate 6 and below,the motors produce a "jerky" slew viewed through the eyepiece. It is almost as the motors are "slipping" as they try to move the scope. Occurs in on both ALT and AZ axes and in both directions. Higher slew rates produce no such problems.
I have tried two hand controls, both Synscan V4.37 (from my EQ5) and V3.37 that came with the mount but the issue remains.
I have also tried my AC/DC 7 amp power supply as well as a 22A/Hr SLA battery to power the mount . The problem remains.
So it is something else going on and as I plan some basic photography with this setup,I am naturally worried that the sidereal or lunar rate slews will be similarly "jerky".
Another issue is that even with the scope "balanced" on the mount,the scope can physically "sag" a few degrees overnight
I am in discussion with Tasco about the issues but not getting a resolution so far
Any thoughts or similar experiences?
PS: I have not tried any astropics yet so don't know the impact the issue might have. Am practising on a land(sea) based oil rig 20+kms offshore to try and learn basic photography
Ron
