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  #61  
Old 21-10-2013, 08:08 PM
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Loupy31 (Peter)
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Haven't had a chance to test it on the night sky as yet, but this mount was very accurate before I did the belt Convert, (Gave it a complete rebuild when I first got it), main reason for the up grade, was to get rid of the gear noise, it was driving me nuts.
and to get rid of the backlash. the mount now responds instantly to the hand controller.
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  #62  
Old 25-10-2013, 03:36 AM
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1parsec (Dave)
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Hello again,

I've been working on my NEQ6 / EQ6 belt kit for the last month or so and have just converted my NEQ6.

I wanted to use a 6mm wide belt and not have to modify the slots in the castings or any of the other tweaks usually required.

The belt mod I've already done on my HEQ5 had idler rollers to improve the belt wrap around the small pulley and this idea was put in to the NEQ6 too.
I made the idlers an optimum diameter so that the standard belt lengths used are a nice fit with the motor mounting adjustment in the centre of the slots.

Fitting the idlers on the NEQ6 allows belt path to be optimised to give a good clearance at the ends of the slots to make sure thet don't rub on the ends of the slots.
They also guide the belt to the centre of the slot too.
Not having the cut /grind /file the slots makes the mod relaively quick, taking about 1 1/2 hours.
It also eliminates the posibility of any swarf / filings remaining and contaminaing the worm wheel gear.

In order to do this I've made a new idler lower mounting plate and a new upper motor plate for each axis.
The additional benefit of the 2 plate arrangement means the upper motor plate has a nice flat surface to slide on when tensioning the belt
and makes it easier to find the loop on the end of the belt when placing the motor in position.

The mount is in my observatory now waiting for some clear skies so I can capture some tracking log data with the belts fitted.
I have a pre-mod track log using the original drive gearing for comparison.
I'll follow up with more details as soon as I can and with the tracking results when these clouds clear.
Cheers, Dave.
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Last edited by 1parsec; 25-10-2013 at 04:13 AM.
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  #63  
Old 25-10-2013, 07:11 AM
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Loupy31 (Peter)
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Nice work, Looks like you put a lot of thought into it.
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  #64  
Old 25-10-2013, 08:16 AM
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coldknights (Cathy)
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Hi Dave Well done been waiting for it to be finished any chance of a YouTube video on the installation of the kit ? It would help people if you had a step by step instructional video of the kit install .

Have you worked out the final price of this kit and also how much would it be for postage to Australia ?
Looks like you have some competition also on this kit and the EQ5 from the Company Beltingonline.

Looks like a Great kit waiting for your report on the testing.

Once again Thankyou Dave for adding to this forum with the Great products you make

Last edited by coldknights; 25-10-2013 at 08:32 AM.
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  #65  
Old 26-10-2013, 03:39 AM
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1parsec (Dave)
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Hello Cathy,

Thanks.
It's taken a while to get the parts machined and finished, though everything went together very well.
I'm hoping to capture the belt tracking log over the weekend and compare the before and after performance. Once that's completed and all's well, I'll put the kit on the website.
I'm sure the improvement will be like the HEQ5 , eliminating the 10 sec tooth to tooth oscillation a big plus.
Though I can already say it sounds super smooth and quiet when slewing.

The main fitting instructions will be printed, with a .pdf file available on our website that have higer resolution images that can be zoomed in to.
There are a couple of stages during the disassembly that may be helped with a video, but will see how the printed instructions look like first.

I haven't finalised the price of the kit yet although it will be more expensive than the HEQ5 kit as there're more machined parts. The postage to Austrailia will be £9.95

We didn't make any compromises in the design. There are a number of significant improvements compared to the Beltonline kit.

I'd much rather have 6mm wide belts for this size mount and this is the main reason the extra parts were necessary. The 4mm wide belt seems minimal to me ?

We completely cnc machine the 12T and 47T pulleys from start to finish from bar stock and get excellent concentricity on the mounting bore to the tooth profile.
The Beltonline kit uses standard pulleys and then drills /bores them to size which is difficult to get good concentricity and consistency.
I believe our kit will be well worth the extra cost

All the best
Dave.
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  #66  
Old 26-10-2013, 07:53 AM
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Well I will be the first on the list

Hi Dave ,
We got a NEQ6 a few days ago (bought it only for testing our 4 way Bluetooth ) with EQmod which I can report on works well .
The NEQ6 mount is in good condition but had a little bit of gear noise which we went through the procedure of adjustments till we were happy to get rid of 99.9% of the noise did not want to make a video with a mount with gears making noise .

We intend on doing a video on the 4 Way Bluetooth for EQmod for EQ5 through to EQ8 we will wait on doing the video till we receive your kit and can do a video then

So We will Be the first to put our hand up to buy 1 I can say from the pictures you have added a job well done send me a pm when you have the kit ready .

This NEQ6 will be for sale the day after the video is done then off to buy a EQ8 for testing which we will keep after the video is done!.

Last edited by coldknights; 26-10-2013 at 09:09 AM. Reason: Corrections
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  #67  
Old 27-10-2013, 07:56 PM
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Loupy31 (Peter)
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So Dave, what your saying is your kit is better than the Beltonline kit?
Taking the accuracy of the center bore and the width of belt,, out on the equation, what would be the improvement ( let me be clear, by improvement I mean overall performance of scope and mount ) of your kit over the Beltonline kit.
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  #68  
Old 28-10-2013, 02:37 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Loupy31 View Post
So Dave, what your saying is your kit is better than the Beltonline kit?
Taking the accuracy of the center bore and the width of belt,, out on the equation, what would be the improvement ( let me be clear, by improvement I mean overall performance of scope and mount ) of your kit over the Beltonline kit.
Hi Loupy,
If you take out what are important factors when making a comparison I'm not sure what valid conclusions you can come to.
Our design was to use a wider belt and to make the pulleys to a high precision.
Dave.
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  #69  
Old 28-10-2013, 05:54 AM
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Ok, how much will it cost to buy one?

And when will they be available
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  #70  
Old 28-10-2013, 08:47 PM
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1parsec (Dave)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Loupy31 View Post
Ok, how much will it cost to buy one?
And when will they be available
The details will be on our website as soon as I set up for tracking test runs and we see the expected performance.
The time scale for that to be completed is some what weather dependant

Dave.
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  #71  
Old 29-10-2013, 06:24 AM
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Could you also post the current draw during tracking and slewing please.
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  #72  
Old 29-10-2013, 01:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Loupy31 View Post
Could you also post the current draw during tracking and slewing please.
That'll be governed by the motors, so shouldn't change noticeably from the geared example. I measured EQ6/NEQ6 power usage a while back:

NEQ6 Pro Power

Someone also measured the HEQ5 Pro current draw (though didn't mention the exact supply voltage):

HEQ5 Pro Power
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  #73  
Old 05-11-2013, 05:19 PM
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I ordered the NEQ6 kit

Hi all,Dave from Rowanastronomy has the NEQ6 belt mod kit up on his web site now for sale .

http://rowanastronomy.com/productsa2.htm#heq6beltkit

There is a PDF file there for download on the fitting instructions link below

http://rowanastronomy.com/pdf/NEQ6-Belt-Kit.pdf

I placed my order for the NEQ6 kit and the bearing ring retainer removal tool and awaiting delivery I had the tracking number emailed to me so I can track it online .

Thank you Dave for getting the NEQ6 kits finished and the fitting instructions look great well done!
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  #74  
Old 05-11-2013, 05:30 PM
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If it's anything like the HEQ5Pro kit it'll be great. I put mine through the paces last Saturday and am very happy. Installation was a doddle (but I have stripped down my mount several times before).

Cheers
Steffen.
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  #75  
Old 05-11-2013, 05:39 PM
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Hi Steffen ,Glad your kit installation went well we are looking forward to the installation of the first NEQ6 kit in Australia have a clean table with white paper laid down ready to pull the mount to bits .Great set of installation instructions as well.
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  #76  
Old 06-11-2013, 09:30 AM
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The NEQ6 kit has arrived

The NEQ6 Belt kit arrived from ( Rowan Astronomy /Rowan Engineering)
only took 1 week and only $22.00 Australian dollars postage.
As you can see in the pictures Dave packed it well.
We also ordered the Bearing Ring Retainer Removal Tool
Now to get some spare time to fit all the parts.

Dave
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  #77  
Old 07-11-2013, 12:57 PM
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Loupy31 (Peter)
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Price?....... Never mind, found it, approx. $214.00 Aud
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  #78  
Old 07-11-2013, 02:54 PM
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Loupy31 (Peter)
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No Mods were required for the belt to work without rubbing on anything

Quote:
Originally Posted by naskies View Post

Loupy31 - do the belts that you're using require modifications (filling, cutting, etc) to the EQ6 case?
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  #79  
Old 07-11-2013, 03:42 PM
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Belt Mod Kit Installed

We Finished installing the belt mod kit all went Well No Mods had to be done to the housing at all. Dave.
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Last edited by coldknights; 07-11-2013 at 07:31 PM. Reason: Added Pictures
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  #80  
Old 07-11-2013, 09:44 PM
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Loupy31 (Peter)
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Neat, how long have you had the mount for... looks brand new
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