this is why you dont rush out to buy products when they are in their infancy. I learnt this the hard way with the losmandy gemini 2. It took a year for the software in the hand controller to be at a good level where you could do accurate GOTOs. It really annoys me when companies release a product half working.
this is why you dont rush out to buy products when they are in their infancy. I learnt this the hard way with the Gemini 2. It took a year for the software in the hand controller to be at a good level where you could do accurate GOTOs. It really annoys me when companies release a product half working.
Same here. I was an early adopter. Thank God for René Görlich and G2 Yahoo Group mod Tom. Top blokes!
You may find this interesting. Even on the new AP mounts, you must check gear mesh before operation. I guess they recognize that after long distance travel, with many bumps on the way, things can work their way loose. As I said before, there is no perfect mount. Perhaps Skywatcher should ship their mounts with a similar warning and provide the necessary steps to re - mesh, assuming that's even the issue here...
Well, to continue this sorry saga, it has now been suggested by its maker to increase the backlash in both axis - to release the pressure of the worm meshing with the drive wheel. Can you believe this nonsense?
Increasing Backlash will only defeat the purpose of upgrading the firmware for both motor and handset. We all know that Backlash is the killer in guiding, so why increase it?
When the mount was finally stripped down, the repairman found a broken motor/worm coupling! Synta eventually sent a new coupling which was installed and tests applied. The RA coupling looked good. A small load test was applied and no jamming was seen or heard, but then they did not do an alignment run or select an object then press Enter, because that is where the jamming happens, not slewing the mount around by pressing some buttons.
In case EQ8 users do not know, the RA has a fixed drive wheel with its worm riding up and down the wheel. The Dec wheel is attached to the Dec shaft and powered by a fixed worm and motor. Maybe the RA worm is riding over an uneven set of teeth of the drive wheel or it's out of centre to its shaft, or the motors do not have enough torque, I don't know. But until this jamming problem is fixed, I have an expensive paperweight.
As a comparison, my 1 year old Losmandy Titan 50 mount pulls a lot more weight than the EQ8 and its slewing rate up to 8 deg/sec. is absolutely spot-on! But then, the Titan 50 is double the price of an EQ8 and it's build quality is of a high standard.
Anyway, this jamming/binding/stalling, only happens during a slew when doing a star alignment. Sometimes if you're lucky enough to get an alignment without a stall, it will happen after you have selected an object - NGC, IC, Planet, etc, and no sooner after you press Enter to slew the mount, we get this..... bbbbuuuurrrrrr - the sound of the dreaded stalling which is random - no particular spot on either axis.
Power is 13.8 VDC when slewing in both axis so no probs there. The OTA balance in both axis is also spot-on and the payload is only 42kgs, Synscan handset is V3.35 and motor firmware is the latest 2.10.
Perhaps SW should make provision in the next motor and Synscan firmware, whereby the user can select a GOTO rate speed other than the factory-set GOTO slew (3.3 deg/sec.) speed after you press Entre to GOTO.
I've have since asked my supplier for a replacement EQ8 head.
cheers,
Jim
Last edited by Star Hunter; 22-03-2014 at 07:53 PM.
Sorry to hear your problems Jim.
I was about to pull the trigger on this mount but held off for another 12 months to give SW time to get this and other issues completely sorted out. I hope you get it resolved to your complete sattisfaction.
Allan
Sorry to hear your problems Jim.
I was about to pull the trigger on this mount but held off for another 12 months to give SW time to get this and other issues completely sorted out. I hope you get it resolved to your complete satisfaction.
Allan
Thanks mate. I'm sure the importer will sort it out as its still under warranty. It should not have happened, as not all flowers have broken petals.
We have put our Skywatcher EQ8 mount through its paces and not one ounce of trouble this way !
We loaded it up with a Skywatcher 12 " Newtonian and had no problems at all slewing around no strange noises just purred like a kitten.
......picture below was from last night under a very clear night sky.
Had mine for 3 months with over 3000 slews to various galaxies.
This mount is superb right out of the box.
I am sure I have read posts on other sites where Jims problems are now fixed?
Is that right Jim?
For the number of responses and inparticular the number of views this post has received it would seem appropriate to hear from the poster just what the outcome/resolution was to his issues.
