Tones New EQ-6

[anthony.tony]

Hello There I just put a set of batteries in my new standard EQ6 mount for the first time and nothing is happening in the drive department.All lights are on but it doesn't seem to be tracking.It wont slew on any of the speeds either.How many volts does it need to run on E.G 10.4 volts .Reguard's TonyP.S I can hear some noise from the ra and dec motors when I try to slew.:shrug: :help:

[matt]

Are the RA and DEC clamps tightened?

Mine runs off a 12v 1amp power source

[anthony.tony]

Yeh I just rechecked the clamps their tight.On the side of the controller there are 2 small switches for R.A and DEC. what do they do. Tony

[h0ughy]

for a start run it directly from a deepcycle battery like a 17AH jumpstart kit you havent enough juice to make it work. little batteries just dont cut it. set your slew rate to 9 then give it a twirl

[anthony.tony]

Just Tried a big battery I can hear some groans but no movement Tony .

[Astroman]

Could be a number of things, either the battery you are using isnt adequate, or there cold be some grit in the gearing causing the motors to stall. A number of things. If you can do what Houghy suggested and get yourself a good battery at least 17Ah if you want to use it during a nights observing. Or if you have access to 240v get yourself a good power supply that is rated to around 5A or above. I am guessing this is the oler mount with only the three slew rates?

The switches could be for changing from North to Southern Hemispheres, but not sure why two.....so dont quote me on that hehe...

[anthony.tony]

I tried a bigger battery But no good still wont track or slew.Tony

[anthony.tony]

Yes it is a 3 speed hand controller

[ballaratdragons]

Just yesterday I bought a 240volt to 12volt 4 amp power supply from Jaycar for my EQ6. $59.

I don't get my mount till about Thursday, but I'm ready with the power.

EQ6, according to the specs sheet, runs on 2 amps, so anything above (2.5amp, 3 amp, 4 amp, 5 amp etc ) will run it, as long as it's 12 volt.

[matt]

Oops.... sorry.

My power supply output is 12volts 4amps:whistle:

That's running off 240v mains

[ballaratdragons]

Tony, here is the link to the power supply if you need one:

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3240&CATID=&keywords=MP3240&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=

[matt]

Yep. That's the one I've got, Ken:thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

Me too, Matt. Now all we have to do is solve Tony's non-slewing problem.

[matt]

If we had some pics of both the hand controller (from a variety of angles) and how it's hooked up to the mount, that might help.

I know it sounds silly, but are the rights cables plugged into the right (RA and DEC) axis ports?

[33South]

probably obvious question

is the mount balanced correctly, if you undo the clamps does it stay in any attitude you place it ?

[Harb]

They do move very very very slowly................It is probly moving , but is hard to see...........
Line it up with something and then try, I can't tell if mine is moving until I line it up on something stationary.

cheers

[Astroman]

even at 16x the mount moves slow, I know that the hand controller you may have only goes to 16x or something, not the 800x we with the newer mounts have. as Harb says, check on something stationary

[Striker]

Yep what both Andrew and Harb said.

Your not going to see your mount slew with the standard controller, you have to have either the Syntrek or skyscan controller to see this.

You will see it move slowly while looking through an eyepiece.

[h0ughy]

thats right it is no goto mount, you manually undo the knobs move the scope until its close then lock off and do any adjustments with the 16 times then so until you have your target. I think it is worth a picture of what you have set up.

[anthony.tony]

Last night I had it set up in the back room.I set the R.A circles at 0 and left it turned on to track came back 1/2 an hour later didn't notice any change in the setting circles then Panic set in I had a few V.B's in me too which added to it.I took your advice and set it up outside Put a Guiding eyepeice in it set it up on a distant tree and it does Slew and track.When set at 8X slew speed on R.A it makes a bit more noise.I jumped the gun and tricked myself.Thankyou all very much fopr your help.Tony

[anthony.tony]

I'm using a chineese 33amp hour gel cell battery to power my EQ6 I have wired in a 2amp inline fuse.