That ain't right !

[Somnium]

so i was getting ready to capture my first light tonight, sky clear, looking good. i turn on my mount and home it, it is taking longer than expected to home so i look at my web cam and turn the light on in there to see the telescope pointing at Zenith and and rocking back and forth in Dec as if it is trying to home but cant. the mount doesn't throw any errors and i restart it, re power and still has the same issue. looks like a trip to the observatory is on the cards in the next day or two, but has anyone seen this behaviour on a Paramount MX+? fingers are crossed that nothing is damaged

[rustigsmed]

Yikes, fingers crossed nothing is damaged mate!

[Somnium]

yeah, i am scared about opening the door. i can only see half of the telescope in my web cam. i am heading down after work tomorrow. fingers crossed.

[Somnium]

HOLY CRAP! i was slewing the telescope in 10 degree increments along the RA axis to try and get it to its park position and all of a sudden it was like it let go and rotated telescope down, probably smashed into the pier and F*&%d my new scope that hasn't even seen first light !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is like something is pulling it down with force but that makes no sense, it was well balanced and the cables are all cleaned up. needless to say i am seriously concerned now

[Atmos]

My heart sinks for you Aidan :( Really hope that there no damage :/

[Somnium]

Thanks Colin, me too, i have visions of walking in there and picking up shards of carbon fibre. there should be no way for the mount to slip like that, it makes absolutely no sense. lest night i took 400 images doing a Tpoint model and it had not one issue.

[strongmanmike]

Yikes, sounds like cable wrap? I hope it is all ok and an easy fix when you get to her Aidan :prey:

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Oh my!! I was wincing as I read this! :( I've got everything crossed for you Aidan that there's no damage.

Marcus

[ZeroID]

<cringes> <fingers crossed>

Insurance maybe ?

[PRejto]

How was your balance? Almost seems like the worm slipped over the ring gear and the heavy end went down. Yikes!

Good luck!!

Peter

[Somnium]

Yeah but cables aren't elastic and wouldn't it just stop and say the mount hit something ? Anyway I will know more tonight. I am thinking that the scope should be largely ok, at least the important parts, the mount might have something seriously wrong with it but it is covered by warrantee . Hopefully the imaging train didn't get too damaged. I have been running through scenarios all night, didn't sleep much, I just need to see it.

[Somnium]

The balance when I left it was perfect, but that is what it sounds like. I have no idea why the balance all of a sudden went out of whack , maybe a possum jumped into my ota ???? I have no idea

[Decimus]

Geez, Aidan, as someone who just got his brand new scope two days ago, reading about your experience made me feel sick too! Sorry you are experiencing all this - hope no damage has been done.
Best wishes,
Richard

[alocky]

It sounds almost as if the counterweight fell off, but surely there's a keeper on the dec shaft, and it's hard to imagine how a worm and wheel could let go like that.
Hope it's nothing serious!
Cheers,
Andrew.

[Somnium]

Thanks Richard, me too




I thought of that too but I can see the counterweights are still on via my web cam. It will be a nervous drive down tonight. I haven't been great to work with today, a bit snappy

[vlazg]

Good luck Aiden, i hope there's no damage.

[Somnium]

Thanks George. I will probably post something by about 10 tonight with the results

[loc46south]

Hi Aidan - just came across the post - hope that nothing is broken and you are back up and running soon.

Geof

[Somnium]

Looks like scope is fine ! Such a relief , working on understanding the issue

[Atmos]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thum bsup::thumbsup:

[Somnium]

just on a side note, it was beautiful and clear when i got here, now it is cloudy ... that means i have sorted the issue. so what happened is that likely during my 400 point Tpoint model 2 nights back, moving back and forth the telescope slipped in the losmandy dovetail. i tightened it pretty good when i first put it on but it must not have been enough. the scope itself was hanging half off with the cabled preventing it from going further, not sure if it would have come off if they were not attached, probably not. the movement of the scope obviously put it way out of balance and when it went to home it got to a critical point the gears just slipped. luckily it was only really on the Dec axis. i have tightened the bolts up something savage now, and put a couple of cable ties in just for assurance. luckily it looks like the scope never actually hit anything. while clearly it is not great, it could have been a lot worse. i will sleep a lot better tonight !!
so, 2 hours back to Sydney now.

[MortonH]

Is it possible the roof of the observatory was closed and interfering with the scope?

Edit: Doh - you posted the answer while I was typing! Glad all is ok.

[Atmos]

Wonderful to hear that there is no damage Aidan!

[marc4darkskies]

Good to hear! :thumbsup: But the scope nearly slipping off the mount truly is the stuff of nightmares :eyepop: You're a lucky man!

[Decimus]

That's a relief - great news, Aidan. Hope you you get a chance soon to use that lovely scope. (I had no idea you were so far from your observatory).
Cheers,
Richard

[Somnium]

made it back home :)

thanks all for the concern, it is such a relief, i was so worried when i was opening the door to the obs:prey: but i think the outcome is about as good as i could have hoped for.

tell me about it Marcus, seeing the scope the way it was freaked me out!

[rustigsmed]

great to hear it is all ok, could have been a massive disaster!!
strange how it happened hopefully you can problem solve that so it doesn't happen again!

[vlazg]

A bullet dodged, glad to hear :D

[loc46south]

Hi Aidan -

Glad to hear all is OK -

[Somnium]

Thanks guys, I have assured that it won't happen again :)

[multiweb]

I had this happenning to me once. The whole refractor slid down the clamshell. The only thing that stopped it from going further was the dewshield. The tube must have got smaller when it got cold.

[Somnium]

Ouch, just not an issue you expect to encounter!

[Merlin66]

Aidan,
I have fitted a safely clamp to my Losmandy dovetail on the C11 to make 100% sure it can't slip....you may want to consider this option as well.

[Somnium]

I looped 2 zip ties through the versa plate and the ota which should stop any movement. Do you have any pics of the clamps , I would like to see the setup

[Merlin66]

Aidan,
The attached image shows the dovetail clamp - just to the left of the orange Geoptik saddle.
It works 110% and allows me to remove the OTA etc. and then reposition (for balance ) safely.

[Somnium]

I see, the problem I have is that the versa plate is much bigger than my dovetail bar. I can only screw up 2 of the 3 bolts. For now everything is secure, I will investigate a more permanent option.

[Atmos]

A mixture of Tarzan Grip and Super Glue :P

[Somnium]

HAHA, or just weld it in place

[multiweb]

I think all Losmandy plates come with a little screw that stops the dovetail from slipping too far. I always use it with my C11. It weighs more than a dead donkey after all the mods. Once I had a nightmare that it did slip off the end while I was setting up and I clearly remember the noise of it crashing in the grass, with corrector, primary and all and I woke up in a cold sweat. :lol:

[Somnium]

I will have a look into that, I just can't imagine what it would be like if the scope actually fell! It is a bit butt clenching just thinking about it now.

[multiweb]

Tell me about it. :scared:

Here's a pic of the grub screws I'm talking about. I took one off. I have two. One on each side of the dovetail. When I don't use them I put them on the top dovetail. The bottom dovetail is under the scope in the pic.

[Somnium]

Ah, I see, I will look into it.

[traveller]

Glad all worked out Aidan. Hairy!
A couple of bolts at the end of the plates is the way to go.
Bo

[PRejto]

Hi Aidan,

I think you may want/need to get a longer plate so all the screws will engage. Also, the manual indicates that "finger tight" is not enough and that the hex bolt should be tightened using an allen key. Had you done that? On my setup Ive positioned the dovetail high enough up so I can put a bolt in to prevent the dovetail from sliding down and out out. I think you really dodged a bullet. Lucky you!!!

Peter

[Somnium]

The dovetail plate is a component of the scope itself so may be difficult to swap out . I only finger tightened it originally so that was definitely the problem, I have since tightened it with an Allen key, although the metal is really soft on the hex receiver, so I have to be careful not to completely bore it out.
I do feel like I dodged a bullet, when setting it up my dad said to me, "are you sure that is going to hold?" . Anyway, a lesson for all.

Thanks Bo