Hi monoxide,
I've a 12" GSO dob and use the Argo also. I have the Wildcard kit for the GSO dob (encoders, mounting hardware, etc). Is this what you have? If so, yes, pics re the AZ encoder install would help. I had about 4 mm of clearance over the encoder before my mods. Perhaps - if you are using the Wildcard kit - you have modified your scope or base to make the clearance less? How much additional clearance would you need to have the OTA clear the encoder?
If you have the Wildcard kit, you will have this brass az tangent arm. this arm normally has a nice right-angle end where it would fit down on the rocker bottom. I chose not to secure the arm to the rocker bottom because I noted a little precession in my az bolt. I thought it was the rocker bottom being a bit uneven, but turns out it is the well drilled into the az bolt. It's not perfectly straight up and down, and so my encoder bearing precesses. Result: can't screw down the tangent arm or it'll bind the encoder. So I "fence in" the az tangent arm so it can't rotate, but it can glide up and down and not bind as the scope spins in az. I also had too short a bolt after I added thicker az pads and ebony star, so I ordered a new longer bolt from Wildcard which will fix all the above issues.
If you have this kit, there is another option for you. You can remove this tangent arm, or modify it so the encoder bearing can slide farther down into the az well. That well in the az bolt is quite deep, but when the encoder is attached to the tangent arm, it (the encoder bearing) won't slide in as far because the tangent arm flange hits the rocker bottom and stops the assembly short. If you bend the tangent arm "up" you can slide the encoder bearing farther in the well. Now, this will leave you without a nice flat tangent arm surface meeteing the rocker bottom. Cosmetically less appealing but still 100% functional, and you get maybe 3-4 mm additional clearance.
Gary K at Wildcard can also make you custom az bolts to suit your needs.
If you don't have the wildcard kit, then this won't really help. Send pics. There are a few other ways to improve clearance but it depends on how much clearance you need and the length/style of your az bolt. Washers or shims under the bolt flange on the ground board side (to shorten the bolt's projection above the rocker bottom), adding shims under your alt teflon pads to raise the tube a few mm, etc.
Most every Argo user has that same initial struggle with the unit. It is a very powerful and feature-heavy product and there is no easy way to present all that simply without cutting corners, and Wildcard doesn't cut corners. I would say a quick start section with bare essentials for first-time users would be nice. But teh Troubleshooting section is pretty good, really.
The most enthusiastic users are generally experienced people who forgot their first few hours of struggle. I haven't, so I'll tell you that! Yes, I think most folks have troubles the first 30 minutes of use. In large part that's because folks rush out into the dark and don't do their initial QA steps in a comfy lighted room so as to recognize the big issues. Cables swapped, mount type setting is wrong, fix alt ref step skipped, the list is long.
But, 90% of that manual can go unread and you will still never exhaust the unit's potential. There are only a few key sections you need to enjoy hours of use (Geez, I sound like an ad, now.... I have no connection with Wildcard, just to say!)
You can contact Gary K at Wildcard via email; or thru the very helpful argo_navis Yahoo group.
There are few basic Qs to ask to identify your struggle point. Mount type entered correctly? Did you do a daytime encoder test? Are you sure your az and alt cables aren't swapped? Did you successfully do a two star align? Did you do a Fix Alt Ref step after initialization (power on)? I can pretty much guarantee that if you were able to install the encoders in 20 min, Gary (or I or someone) can get you up and running with the Argo within about 25 lines of email text after getting those Qs sorted out. Gary especially has so much experience and insight that he is almost telepathic about it...you just need to spell out what you did and what the argo said and showed you, and he can often diagnose the problem.
But pics for the Az encoder/tube collision issue will help.
Cheers
Scott in Sandringham, VIC
Quote:
Originally Posted by monoxide
the skies have cleared up a bit here, so i was just out trying to get it going, obviously im doing something wrong as it is waaaaay off the mark at the moment, it really sounds simple until you get it in your hands and try to work it out.
right now im trying to wrap my head around how to get this thing going
i had a warp of -0.05 but accuracy was way out,
right now the manual is just confusing me 
i guess ill sort it all out eventually but right now it just seems frustrating |