Is it possible to wear out your scope in 8 months :(

[Jen]

Is this possible? Or it it that i have got a bad scope?
Ok i got my first scope mid January this year after waiting patiently for 2 weeks for a clear sky my hubby dropped my scope and the tube was at the panel beaters shop for 2 months to get repaired with a big dint in it then had nice weather for two months then winter came along grrrrrrr so really i havnt used it that much and now im having trouble with the RA side of things it wont go up any more than 70degrees the screws on the side just keep spinning around doing nothing i think the thread is worn out or something can this be easily fixed or should i just throw it in the bin and get a DOB
Has this happened to anybody else

[sheeny (Al)]

Sounds like a mount problem, more than the OTA.

What mount have you got, Jen?

Can you post a photo or two?

Assuming it is an equatorial mount... how well balanced is it?

If you release the clutches on the RA and dec, can you move it by hand through the full range of movement without any tight spots?

Al.

[TrevorW]

Jen what have you being doing with your scope I hope you don't treat your hubby that rough!!!!

[leon]

Although I don't know what mount you have it is probably the the same problem i have seen a number of times with two mounts that i was asked to repair.

When stripping down the mount I found that all components that made up the gears and cogs which controlled the movements were entirely made of plastic, sad but true, as they charge plenty for these mounts and scopes.

However I found in both instances that a very small plastic lug had been snapped off which in turn enabled the spindle which held the cogs in place to slip, there fore preventing the cogs to engage at certain angles of movement.

If the setup were dropped, as in your case this may have caused your problem.

They are pretty easy to dis assemble, so have a look and see the problem if you feel comfortable about the job.

Hope this helps a bit, however this may or may not be the case with your mount.

Leon

[Jen]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Jen what have you being doing with your scope I hope you don't treat your hubby that rough!!!!

[Jen]

Originally Posted by sheeny

Sounds like a mount problem, more than the OTA.

What mount have you got, Jen?

Can you post a photo or two?

Assuming it is an equatorial mount... how well balanced is it?

If you release the clutches on the RA and dec, can you move it by hand through the full range of movement without any tight spots?

Al.

Ok im not sure what mount it is its just the one that came with the scope i think its a EQ3 does that sound right here is a pic

(ps thanks Bill for helping me put the pic up here )
oh and dont take notice of the date of the pic the date wasnt entered in the camera properly hahah

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Jen,

You would have an EQ3-2 with that 6" scope, not too much different to my EQ2. What is probably the problem is this:
1) the little silver screws holding the slow motion cables are loose and therefore the slow motion cables cant turn the gears around.
2) When you use the slow motion cables a LOT (Read Jenhandling rather than loosen the big screws to point the scope around) then the springs pushing back on the slow motions controls run out of room because you have turned them all the way to one side. Try winding BACK towards or away from the 70 deg mark and see if things get easier. Make sure that the slow motion controls are tightened up first.

Also, with respect to the slow motion screws that hold them on, if you take one off, you should find a little notch which the screw pushes against and locks in the cable. if the screw isnt lined up, then the cable just spins around when you turn it, but it doesnt drive the scope.

Finally, get used to pointing your scope roughly towards the SCP and use the BIG SCREWS to loosen the scope, point it in roughly the direction you want, tighten them up and fine tune with the slo mo controls.

See if this helps. It should be something like that on your mount as its similar to mine.

Cheers

Chris

[sheeny (Al)]

Thanks for the photo, Jen.

Is the way it is in the photo exactly how you use it all the time? Because I notice you don't have a counterweight on it to balance the OTA... Without the counterweight, the weight of the tube would be transferred entirely to the RA gear when you point the scope up. Using a counterweight takes this weight off the RA gear.

Given that some mounts have plastic gears in them, if you are using it without a counterweight then that could cause accelerated wear...

Al.

[§AB]

WHY has my post been deleted?


Edit by moderator. Your post was deleted because it was inappropriate.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Jen,

It looks as though the RA axis on your scope is horizontal. It needs to be pointing up the same number of degrees that you are south of the equator (about 35-37 - you need to check). That way when you point the RA axis due south (as opposed to magnetic south) the RA shaft will be pointing at the south celestial pole. Once you get that aligned you can follow objects by turning the RA shaft only.

As Sheeny said you need to have the scope in balance. My favoured method is to have the dec axis horizontal and the tube horizontal. With both locks disengaged the assembly should just stay in place. If not you need to either move the tube back or forward in its rings, or move the counterweight in or out, depending on which way it is out of balance. Once it is in balance it should remain stationary in any position even without the locks engaged. That way the locks and drive have the least amount of work to do.

cheers,
Dave

[Jen]

Chris now you have really got me all confused AGAIN

[Jen]

Originally Posted by sheeny

Thanks for the photo, Jen.

Is the way it is in the photo exactly how you use it all the time? Because I notice you don't have a counterweight on it to balance the OTA... Without the counterweight, the weight of the tube would be transferred entirely to the RA gear when you point the scope up. Using a counterweight takes this weight off the RA gear.

Given that some mounts have plastic gears in them, if you are using it without a counterweight then that could cause accelerated wear...

Al.

Hey there Al
Yes i do always use the counterweights but i need to carry it away from the house first so i take them off and put them back on when im ready to go (now thats one thing i know that i should be doing )

[Jen]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

Jen,

It looks as though the RA axis on your scope is horizontal. It needs to be pointing up the same number of degrees that you are south of the equator (about 35-37 - you need to check). That way when you point the RA axis due south (as opposed to magnetic south) the RA shaft will be pointing at the south celestial pole. Once you get that aligned you can follow objects by turning the RA shaft only.

As Sheeny said you need to have the scope in balance. My favoured method is to have the dec axis horizontal and the tube horizontal. With both locks disengaged the assembly should just stay in place. If not you need to either move the tube back or forward in its rings, or move the counterweight in or out, depending on which way it is out of balance. Once it is in balance it should remain stationary in any position even without the locks engaged. That way the locks and drive have the least amount of work to do.

cheers,
Dave

Thanks Dave i just knew there was going to become a time when i have to deal with this RA stuff that i have no idea about I have been putting it off for a while and i just keep picking up the scope and turning it around to where i want to go i was going to wait for the warmer nights to kick in so i wont freeze my butt of for an hour just to see one thing i just cant work out why i cant go up any higher than 70 degrees I will try and have a play with it and see how i go
thanks Dave

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by Jen

Hey there Al
Yes i do always use the counterweights but i need to carry it away from the house first so i take them off and put them back on when im ready to go (now thats one thing i know that i should be doing )

Ah, well that's alright then!

I hope you sort it soon.

Al.

[Jen]

Originally Posted by sheeny

Ah, well that's alright then!

I hope you sort it soon.

Al.

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

Just had a look at the pic of your scope. On the side is a scale in degrees and a couple of horizontal adjusting screws on the bottom front and rear of the mount. Unscrew the front one about an inch or so and tighten the back one. Watch the scale until it points to 35 degrees. Screw in the front one again until the two screws have trapped and locked the head in postion. That should be close to your latitude in Swan Hill.
From memory the adjustment on the slo mo drives has limits. You will have to wind it forward and then back all the way to find out what they are and then set it to the mid point.
Use a compass to find magnetic South and point the RA axis of the mount about 11 degrees to the left of it ( just move the tripod legs). That should give you rough postioning for polar alignment.
Good Idea is once you have it set up, mark the position of the tripod legs and you can put them back next time and don't have to go through the set up again.

Cheers
Bill

[Jen]

Thanks Bill how the hell am i gonna try and read all that then run outside and remember all that im lost after the first sentence ok i will give it a go cheers. But the thing is i have never moved any of those dials and i could go more than 70degrees before

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by Glenhuon

From memory the adjustment on the slo mo drives has limits. You will have to wind it forward and then back all the way to find out what they are and then set it to the mid point.

Cheers
Bill

Bill, you are right about the limits with the slow motion control but I think that only applies to the dec drive, which is a spring-loaded tangent-arm set up. I think the RA is worm and wheel, and that shouldn't have any limits.

Jen, I think the idea that the grub screws are loose sounds most plausible - and the easiest to fix.

Personally, if I had to take one thing off my scope to move it (as opposed to setting it up from scratch as I have to do) I would remove the tube. That way the locks don't have to do anything; the counter weight just hangs down. If I seem overly concerned about the well-being of the locks it is just because I have seen too many mounts ruined by the abuse of the locks. Admittedly some cheap scopes have (or had, when I used to look at such things) locks that are doomed to fail over time.

I notice that your tripod is fully extended. I remember you saying that you are .. um .. vertically challenged. If you leave the lover section of the legs fully or partially retracted you will have less problem getting to the focusser and the tripod will be more stable.

Now back to some Floyd (you'll be pleased to know it's 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' at the moment).

[Jen]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

I notice that your tripod is fully extended. I remember you saying that you are .. um .. vertically challenged. If you leave the lover section of the legs fully or partially retracted you will have less problem getting to the focusser and the tripod will be more stable.

@ vertically challenged i sure am Yeah i do have the legs down a bit now and i have a step ladder too



Ok so what am i supposed to do with this scope
Was throwing it away plan B

[kinetic (Steve)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

If you leave the lover section of the legs fully or partially retracted you will have less problem

I think this is inapropriate also and should be edited by the
Moderators

regards,
Steve B.