EQ6/NEQ6 Alt/Az adjustment solution.

[Astroman]

A really cool idea for those with EQ6 or NEQ6 mounts. Fixes the little problem of the Alt/Az adjustments and I must say, it looks very professional and well made. http://www.eq6wedge.com/
Dion Heap from the Astronomyshed has done a great video on putting it onto his mount. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7JH7vBNFU So simple. I am in no way sponsored by eq6wedge or Astronomyshed, I think it's just a bloody awesome idea for those that already have an eq6/neq6 mount. If this has been mentioned before I apologise.

http://www.eq6wedge.com/wp-content/uploads/MG_0131.jpg

[BPO]

Awesome device at an awesome price. (Awesome for the manufacturer and dealer!)

I'd buy a couple if the price was lower, although I can understand why it is so high. (Small volume craftsmanship, etc.)

[jenchris]

If my mount sits on my pier as I expect, then it's likely to be under utilised for the initial immodest outlay.

[MrB]

I was thinking up idea's similar to this, I wonder though if gravity is the only thing holding the altitude in place?
Perhaps the bearings are loosened slightly to allow adjustment, then when positioned the cap-head bolts are torqued down to lock it in place.
Edit: Ah yes, that is the idea... not sure I like it.

I wish people would stop hyping with terms like 'aircraft grade' and 'aerospace grade' aluminium, there really is nothing exotic about the alloys.

[jenchris]

Aircraft grade.
Just means no pits or voids.
I'll ask them to make me one from recycled coke cans - should be half the price... or even recycled Jumbo Jets. Which is probably their translation of Aircraft Grade.

[The_bluester]

I don't se any real issue with the clamping method in Alt. At least when compared to the standard system it will be pretty positive locking.

The issue I would have is that the Az locking is not particularly secure in the standard mount and it uses the same setup in essence. On a permanent pier I would use a normal bolt not a hand wheel on a bolt so that it could be torques appropriately with a spanner and really lock it down. The couple of EQ5/6 mouts I have seen always seemed a little flimsy to me in that regard.

[Wavytone]

Might be OK !

Many years ago a mate of mine cast and machined a 10" worm for me out of duralumin complete with mating hub and clutch, after I spent a day smashing up old engine blocks using a 16lb sledgehammer. This easily beat collecting coke cans - standing on top of a block and with a big swing to deliver a resounding WALLOP !, the sledge would punch a neat hole clean through most engine blocks, and after a day I had reduced a half-dozen to about 200kg of rubble small enough to fit in his backyard smelter. The smelter had been cannibalised from a concrete-block BBQ with the addition of coke, a crucible and a vacuum-cleaner running as a blower to achieve a temp high enough to melt the stuff. The results were OK BTW as duralumin alloy has a lower melting point than aluminium, doesn't oxidise so fast (can be exposed to air) and pours easily to make good castings. And best of all its harder, a lot stronger and machines well whereas the coke-can stuff is bloody awful - too soft and binds on machine tools.

At the end of it there was a pile of lumpy bits (mainly bearings and valve sleeves) and slag.

[MrB]

Duralumin is the old name for the 2000 series aluminium alloys and is a wrought alloy, not a cast alloy.
Most engine blocks are cast from 300 series alloys. When re-casting the alloys properties do change slightly due to loss/gain of alloying components, in particular if there is foreign matter in the melt. (bearings/shafts etc... iron is supposedly bad for aluminium alloys)

I have used engine blocks and pistons in my home foundry(long disused :( ) but the melt should really be de-gassed or it is ends up 'foamy' (full of microscopic gas pockets of hydrogen) and sometimes brittle. This is fine for non critical use but it can sometimes be difficult to machine.

[jenchris]

Slap plenty of kero on it as you machine it and it seems not to foul the tool.
Plenty of clearance angle and a honed edge to the tool helps too.
I've machined stuff I cast and as long as you keep the RPM up and the tool immaculate it works ok with rough aluminium - though nice fresh stock is lovely to work with by comparison.

I always wondered why they didn't make right handed lathes ( chuck on the right) much easier to make shouldered threads in that direction

[MrB]

Yeah I use a 50/50 mix of kero and parrafin oil. Hate the smell tho.
I had meant to try artificially aging my castings, but never got around to it. Haven't made a casting in almost a decade! Still have the furnace tho.


Never really thought about it. I have a cheap chinese hobby lathe (all I could afford years ago, they are now half the price I paid :( ) which has a DC motor and is reversable at the flick of a switch, very handy.

[pelu]

No seem a good solution for me. I have a C14 in a EQ6 mount and it is impossible use the vertical adjustment, because the bad design of almost all comercial equatorial mounts: The center of gravity of the mount plus telescope and counterweights are far of the balance screw. I´m working in a solution, I hope I can show it in the next week.

[Astroman]

a C14 on an EQ6? I can see why you would have problems, with Alt adjustment. Like to see the solution you come up with, personally I would try and invest in a new mount such as the EQ8 (but thats me). Look forward to seeing your results.

[jenchris]

I can only think a counterweight that attches behind the RA stock to offset the weight of the large OTA so that it can be easily adjusted might be a solution..

[pelu]

Jennifer, you have focused the problem perfectly. Just it is my solution! Later i go to my dome and I take some images. The logical configuration for a german equatorial mount is that the center of gravity is located in the center of the vertical leveling of the mount, and in consecuence in the center of the tripod or column. But I see this solutions only in a old mounts, as the EQ Meade DS16, or Parks mounts. Why? I´m sure that is a strategy of market: Small mounts for small houses with optical polar finder for easy position and a lot of electronics for an easy tracking. I not sure that a EQ6 need a polar finder, and I´m absolutly sure that a EQ8 NOT need it! Somebody is thinking in a EQ8 as portable mount? No polar finder will allow more rigid axis... and cheaper mount.
Meanwhile, the EQ8 is my target mount for my C14, but is too priced for my unemployed spanish pocket (anybody need a experienced mechanical engineer? :D )

[pelu]

Here my solution:
prototype finished, coupled to the mount and with the M16 threaded bar and counterweight for test it this night and cut the bar and paint the counterweight tomorrow. But now I can easy move the Alt adjustment. Of course the C14 in a EQ6 demand to be very carefully with the total weight. Because I can´t add a centering telescope, I have modified tha original finderscope for to push up it to 20x, and I have builded a special rotary eyepiece holder that fit my two QHY5 (color and mono) and an 20mm. eyepiece. And of course too, all work fine if the mount remain without hand touchs. I have installed a stepper motor for remote focusing. But works, at last! :thumbsup:

[technofetishism]

mmmmmm that looks a nice upgrade for the eq6. Pity its not color anodized but that wouldnt be hard to change.

I do like the fact that it appears that all the sharp corners are rounded off, as I do have a nasty tendency to cut myself on them at least once or twice. The only benefit is working in IT, I know any hardware will only work after its bled on.