Heq5 and EQ6 class mount servicing

[_Jimmy]

Hi all, I'm offering Heq5 and EQ6 class (EQ6, NEQ6, AZEQ6) servicing and tuning -Perth based.

Electronics and mechanical repairs from $75

Servicing and tuning from $400. Belt-mod option available.

Mounts are tested for post service accuracy prior to return and you will get a copy of those results.

Edit: Pics added for attention from a couple of recent services; an AZ-EQ6 and an NEQ6 (DO NOT EVER LOCTITE GRUB SCREWS IN!! GAH!)

PM me for further details.

Cheers,
Jimmy.

[xelasnave]

That is a wonderful thing to do and I would think there would be a need for this sort of thing:thumbsup:.

I have had my mount down so many times that I am thinking of doing a utube vid showing it dismantled and reassembled like you would expect in the pits at formula one:) I see a new sport with competitors dismantling and reassembling mounts...given the stuff on tv these days I think it could take off.

I would to like to hear more about you, your experience etc and how you see the market for your enterprise.


alex

[suma126]

how about paramount mounts

[_Jimmy]

Cheers Alex!

Myself and my repair partner have 4 NEQ6s going under the screwdriver in a week or so (just waiting on parts)! Going to line them up and make a video out of that haha!

I've been pulling these apart for the better part of this year and electronics and mechanical things apart and putting them back together for probably a decade. My mate has been doing these mounts for nigh on a decade, and we are even to the point of currently prototyping our own mount.

We want to be able to offer high quality servicing to the Australian astronomy community without having to send mounts overseas as we have seen done.




I'll send you a PM Shane!

[Lognic04]

Would you do CGEM's? From what I understand the internals are almost identical to the eq6.

[_Jimmy]

Hi Logan, I would. When it comes down to it, as you say, EQ mounts are similar internally. I can just have bad dreams of the synta mounts though.

Let me know what you are looking for :thumbsup:

Jimmy.

[xelasnave]

I wonder how much to ship a mount from here? or do you pick up:D

Mine may come to you having been chopped into little bits with an axe.

And Jimmy I have a mount design which is rather good but based on an English equatorial rather than a German equatorial.

Grendel a member here put it in a competition and apparently it got second prize for being wonderful or something.

The key features were dual bearing support for the RA axis and a disk rather than gears enabling a "gear radius" of some two feet...I figured such would improve control and accuracy.

alex

[_Jimmy]

If I'm in the region I would pick up ;) Just the mount-head from your area to mine is about $91 through Pack and Send.

I think if it's been chopped to bits with an axe we can get it running, put the mount through a wood-chipper and we might struggle though

YMMV :D

It would be great if the Australian population was large enough to enable the start-up of a range of astronomy based businesses for people that can design things like that. It would be good to not have to rely on overseas manufactures for supply and repair down the track.

[that_guy]

How much would it be for a belt mod? I assume I'd have to pay for both the parts, shipping both there and back?

[_Jimmy]

Hi Tony,

I'll send you our service price list, you can add the belt mod to the refresh and basic options at the cost of the mod parts. Those prices include shipping one-way to most areas of Australia, so you only need to pay to send to us. We won't do a plain belt-mod and bang it back together as we need to pull the mount apart anyway, so we want to be able to guarantee a minimum performance when it gets back to you and warrant our work for 12 months.

The other option is we have some belt mods on the way we can resale at Rowan Astronomy's RRP plus the difference in shipping. You'll save on some shipping time there as we already have them in transit.

Cheers,
Jimmy.

[xelasnave]

Hi Jimmy

Are you allowed to post a price list firstly and secondly would you if you could ...I am thinking it could be useful to post it.

I am thinking maybe a belt modification also and althought the mount is playing up I suspect it is adjustemnt and I would be surprised if it needed any parts, say bearings, at all, other than the belt and associated bits.

Also what sort of time do you think we are looking at..

alex

[_Jimmy]

HI Alex, you cleared your inbox :lol:

I've PM'd you the various service options (you can add the belt mod to the refresh and the basic).

We generally have good results and see better mount performance by replacing the factory bearings with high quality German/Japanese bearings regardless of age, but more so older ones. Especially for the RA, which is doing most of the work. But when we service we do check for any particularly bad bearings and will let you know.

We aim for a turn around of a maximum of two weeks from when we get the mount. This is normally around a week though. If it's going to be longer you will be advised.

I'll investigate being able to provide more information up front on the OP.

Cheers,
Jimmy.

[xelasnave]

Sorry about the inbox being full I noticed and cleaned it up.

Thank for all the info.

alex

[xelasnave]

I am torn between sending the mount over or doing the F1 pull down movie.

Anyways I have to pull it down once more, I won't let it beat me...but just to get it working fair to good is a step forward...and it was so good...there is something I could do better.

But I think I would send you the mount if I decid to go belt drive and new bearings.

Interesting you thought to offered a motor change out.

I had thought this seemed an area folk had not raised, well that I noticed, and it struck me there probably would be efficiencies either in the motors or their primary gears.

Does a belt drive replace the primary gears at the motor?

Probably should open a thread on my mount issues rather than clog your thread.

Alex

[_Jimmy]

The inclusion of stepper motor upgrade is an option to reduce lateral shaft movement exhibited in belted systems

Jimmy.

[Chris85]

Thought I'd offer a mini review of the service provided by Astronomy Academy Perth...
A few months back my AZ-EQ6 was driving me up the wall with crazy backlash, stiff axis, unreliable guiding, and not being game enough to stip the mount, I had my finger on the trigger with buying a new mount. A Mesu or Avalon, I couldn't decide, but either way bucket loads of cash.
Fortunately at around that time AAP made themselves known through our local Astro group and I decided to drop the mount off to Brendan for the Hypertune Basic and after a couple weekends the mount was ready for pick up.
Being able to finally balance my scope properly was a joy and the graphs in PHD2 are amazing compared to how I remembered. Unfortunately I don't have any before service graphs but see below for my last session on the 4th of this month. I'm happy to provide the original Phd guide logs for people to see for themselves. Star field is 14 x 30min ha subs taken over the last few sessions.

Couldn't be more happy with the service and at the end of the day it's saved me $1000's

[Premordial]

Hi Jimmy,

I have an AZEQ6. Since day one, the RA axis has been stiff which makes it difficult to balance a light scope such as the ED80 I'm currently using to image. Just wondering if your servicing/tuning would make any difference?

--Max

[_Jimmy]

Hi Max,

With out turning this into a technical discussion thread, I'll send you a PM. There are several points that a service and tune would address that could cause this. In saying that there are other benefits to be had as well.

On the very slight chance that it's something that a service doesn't cover (not something we've encountered yet) we would advise you first.

Cheers,
Jimmy.