[bert (Brett)]

I recently purchased a hypertune kit from the the states due to an issue I was having with tracking. Turns out the tracking issue was a guide scope flexure problem, not the mount. So I thought I'd attack it anyway. Beats reprocessing old data! I figured the mount could use all the help it could get as, I image at 1800fl with a quite slow scope (f9) so long exposures are the norm, I'm also oversampled at .8 arcsecs per pixel, these factors combined magnifies any tracking errors.


I have had the mount apart previously to adjust worms and adjust other bits and pieces. I really did not know how to get further into the mount without instructions. The hypertune dvd is pretty extensive, and the rebuid requires a lot of time, it took me approximately 8 hours to rebuild the mount.


The kit comes with an allen key set that is quite good quality a screwdriver with 4 slot in attachments, a brush for removing that black grease/glue that synta favours, 2 dvds, teflon spacers, emory paper, graeses (I used my own lithium grease) and a small knife. When the kit is purchased you are sent a link for a worksheet for calculating the teflon spacers widths. The tools that I needed to use as extras were a pipe wrench to remove the ra axis, a set of digital calipers, a hammer and a timber block/dowel and a set of circlip pliers, all were essential.


The dvd shows how to pull the mount down and does a modification that makes the altitude adjustment a lot easier, It involves drilling and tapping the mount and putting new bolt in the newly tapped holes, I really felt this was unnecessary for me as my mount is observatory mounted on a fixed pier and not used in the field.


Pulling my mount down I found some things that should make a real world difference. One of the plastics spacers was perished and brittle, and this mount is not 2 years old yet. There was also some rough casting in the main ra housing shown in picture (pic 1 and 2) with the arc of plastic spacer on the bearing. I found that the bearings' grease was very thick and restricted the movement of the bearings, I removed as much of the thick brownish clear grease as I could and replaced it with lithium grease, which made a large difference to how the bearings ran. The worms and ring gears was filled with the famous synta black glue, which is really quite easy to remove with the included brush, again I used lithium grease in the worms. On the ra howing the factory workers put masking tape over the threaded holes (in last pic) my worker evidently didn't like removing it so half was still on there and then been painted over, the included knife made short work of it. Putting the mount back together is not too difficult except for the ra axis putting it back together was a royal pain, it took about an hour and a lot of sanding of the housing to get the front bearing housed properly, the rest is quite simple.


I found there were a few thing that I did not agree with the dvd for going about things. Adjusting the worms was one thing, it was very blase about it, which I think is possibly the most important adjustment you can make on a mount. I have found that for me the best way to adjust the worm on a eq6 is to remove the electrics cover, remove the motor of the axis you wish to adjust, then you can stick you finger in an spin the spur gear with a finger and then do you adjustment and then you can check the meshing tightness with the spur gear and how it spins.

Overall its nice to know that my mount is performing at its best. I am yet to see results due to the eternal cloud over bathurst. So will see how it goes performance wise soon.......

Brett