Hypertune horror-M42 & M83 added

allan gould · #1 08-01-2010, 07:49 PM

Some months ago I purchased second hand EQ6 as I wanted to run a higher payload than my HEQ5-Pro. Tracking and guiding were within performance limits '(not as good as the HEQ5-Pro) but the mount had been abused somewhat by being left outside in the weather or not maintained/cleaned properly as the tripod and some areas of the mount were suffused with a white powder which looked like wind-blown material but also there was some Al corrosion and rust present in the head.
So, being encouraged by Peter_4059 who was hypertuning his EQ6 I decided to do the same.
Thank heavens I did as when I started pulling apart the mount it was immediately obvious why it wasn't performing. The whole worm gear, spur gear and moving parts were a mash of small ants and crappy grease. The chitin had hardened almost to a shiny lacquer material which made parts of the RA and Dec hardly move. Took some thorough cleaning to remove the ants and bad muck in the mount and then regrease the whole thing. There was even a mound of ants and vegetation in the bottom of the mount that really took some effort to get rid of. Some bearings had rollers which had completely siezed and wouldnt move at all. All bearings were replaced with SKF as well new ceramic ones for the worms. Now the gentlest of touches moves the mount in RA and Dec if the clutches are undone, its quieter and moves very smoothly.
So if you are thinking of doing a hypertune I can recommend it - but replace all the gears etc with new.
Lastly, Im amazed had how some people abuse their equipment and then wonder why it don't perform very well.

peter_4059 (Peter) · #2 08-01-2010, 09:45 PM

Allan,

Thanks for posting the pics. It is unbelievable what can get in there and mess things up.

It's really encouraging how easily this all came together for you and to hear it is purring rather than growling now. Can't wait to see how it performs under the stars.

Peter.

mswhin63 (Malcolm) · #3 08-01-2010, 11:24 PM

When you purchaced the setup, were you aware that it had problems or was it covered up. Would be difficult to know these things without a lot of external damage.

allan gould · #4 09-01-2010, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mswhin63

When you purchaced the setup, were you aware that it had problems or was it covered up. Would be difficult to know these things without a lot of external damage.

On the surface there was a very small amount of rust on the tripod screws and in use the mount tracked OK. Externally it just had the appearanced of a well used mount. It was when I started to use the mount and found the tripod badly abused ie wouldnt extend properly due to it being gunked up with this white material, then when I changed the head to an ADM model and found this white crap inside I really became worried.Thats why the hypertune.
If the previous owner treats their other equipment this way then Id be worried about what else they pass on in IIS.

Caveat emptor

telecasterguru (Frank) · #5 09-01-2010, 09:27 AM

Allan,

Glad to see it all worked out in the end.

How does it track after the hypertune? Has it improved at all?

Frank

allan gould · #6 09-01-2010, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by telecasterguru

Allan,

Glad to see it all worked out in the end.

How does it track after the hypertune? Has it improved at all?

Frank

Im hoping to test it out tonight.
But from outward appearances it is far, far quieter, far less backlash, easier to move in both axes, far easier to move using the alt and az ajustment screws (did these mods as well) and is not a ant farm. Gotos are made noiselessly and without the usual rumblings and squeaks from the mount.
It has to be better

What was the tip off was that every so often there would be alturnate bad tracking in both RA and Dec but you would have to be guiding to see it and could not have picked it by a casual run.
The next step is to pull apart the tripod and get rid of all the crap in there and remove a dent in the tubing due to over enthusiastic tightening down from the previous owner.

Rastas · #7 09-01-2010, 10:20 AM

I quess that this is a perfect example to use for Mike to look at some sort of comment free rating system to be implemented in IIS. After a few negative feedbacks then people fouls be able to lok more closely at proposed purchases.
Did you think of trialling the mount before purchase? That may have been the best option in the long run.

allan gould · #8 09-01-2010, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rastas

I quess that this is a perfect example to use for Mike to look at some sort of comment free rating system to be implemented in IIS. After a few negative feedbacks then people fouls be able to lok more closely at proposed purchases.
Did you think of trialling the mount before purchase? That may have been the best option in the long run.

There was a thread about getting some sort of feed back for IIS transactions and the best option I saw for this was to leave a score of 1-5 or something like that with NO comments. A least people could then see if it was a persistent trait in a seller or a one off and then have to option of dealing (or not) with that person. The other option is to continue as is and let word of mouth spread. I have been contacted by others about this transaction but this leaves the seller with no right of reply or to qualify what happened. At least with the scoring system if there was a dispute then the moderators could ask both sides then make a decision about the deal and either remove the score or let it stand. That way it would be fair to both parties.

allan gould · #9 10-01-2010, 10:49 PM

Finally got around to testing the autoguiding with the hypertuned eq6. Initially I did not mesh the motors, gears and worms properly and it was hopeless but I spent today resetting everything properly and at the moment I am doing 4 min exposures with my 10"SCT at 2500mm fl using my DSI II pro which I figured was a severe test for guiding. Pleased to say that I have far better guiding with nice round stars. I used Alignmaster to setup the mount and the adjustments and regreasing of the alt adjuster etc made it a really easy exercise. So pleased with the result and I want to thAnk Peter-4059 for his great assistance and tools.
Will post a few dsi shots later when I have processed them.

peter_4059 (Peter) · #10 10-01-2010, 10:51 PM

Good to see it is working now Allan. Hope I can get 4 mins out of mine when it is all done.

allan gould · #11 11-01-2010, 01:16 AM

Well peter, here is 26x4min shots of NGC 2613 using the DSI II and DSS. The guiding was great - very smooth and easy to control. Didn't loose a frame from guiding errors, however as I slewed from M42 to NGC2613 I forgot to refocus and so the pic is a little soft due to focus error from a slight mirror shift in the 10"SCT (something you would never do). I was going to do some more but the dew started rolling in and so I packed up.
Flats and flat darks were taken with the light box you helped me with.
Thanks again Peter for all your assistance and putting up with my dumb questions.
Allan

peter_4059 (Peter) · #12 11-01-2010, 07:54 PM

From what I can tell from the soft focus the stars look pretty round. Good to hear it is operating smoothly. Look forward to seeing some more shots. It's a good looking galaxy and nice scale for that setup. What is the FOV?

Peter

allan gould · #13 16-01-2010, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter_4059

From what I can tell from the soft focus the stars look pretty round. Good to hear it is operating smoothly. Look forward to seeing some more shots. It's a good looking galaxy and nice scale for that setup. What is the FOV?

Peter

Well I finally managed to tweek the RA and Dec axes to my liking and am at present imaging a few galaxies at 2500 focal length with PhDguiding and my 10"SCT. I am doing 700 sec exposures with the DSI II Pro which I feel is a fairly severe test for the EQ6 mount after its hypertune and Im quite happy as the stars are quite round.
Glad I did the hypertune and can recommend it as an upgrade - but I wouldnt by some of the commercial kits available as they are not worth the price in my opinion. You can purchase these bearings locally for quite a price saving. Good grease is needed as well.

allan gould · #14 18-01-2010, 10:38 PM

Added 2 photos to this saga. I was interested to see what sort of fine focus I could achieve and so took some shots of the Trapezium with the DSI as well as M83. Also wanted to see the guiding.
I was pleased with the round faint stars resolved in this shot that I have only seen in a 20"SDM scope before.
With M83 I had a gradient in the shot and while messing with gradient removal I wound up with this shot. While it shows that the guiding was fine it also gave a somewhat different perspective of the arms etc. that I though was somewhat unusual/amusing.

Moon (James) · #15 19-01-2010, 11:18 PM

Allan
Was that with the 10" SCT? Nice resolution and tracking

James

pmrid (Peter) · #16 22-01-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allan gould

so took some shots of the Trapezium with the DSI as well as M83. Also wanted to see the guiding.

That's a surprisingly good focus for a DSI. I have struggled with mine, so much so that I only use it as a standby guidescope now. Well done.
Peter

allan gould · #17 22-01-2010, 09:56 PM

Thanks Peter, Peter and James for the comments. I'm in the process of building the deck and pier for my new observatory, so it looks as if I have done this at the right time as the moon is getting brighter.