Hi Guys and Gals,
I've been having all sorts of trouble aligning my Goto mount. Would work occasionaly but not often and even when I did get a "Match" it was often way out! Also been having massive problems with vibration, so much so that it was almost impossible to focus it with any degree of accuracy.
So tonight we finally had some clear sky and I went to give it another go. Same deal. No alignment and when I sighted up manualy, the vibration was even worse than normal. Trying to focus was like chasing a firefly around the sky!
Naturally, being the calm restrained individual I am, I spat the dummy big time!
Dragged the thing inside and pulled out the tools. Stripped the mount down and tightened all the clutches etc. Pulled the focuser apart and found the tensioning mechanism. Looks like it is only a cover but there is a spring steel leaf under it that tensions the mechanism.
Lubricated it and decreased the tension. Put it all back together and took it back outside.
It aligned first try!
Then of course the dicky power plug picked the moment when it was just starting to point to Saturn to pull its normal stunt. Yep -- Power Down!!
So I tried again. "Match Found"!! Went to Saturn after making sure the power lead had plenty of slack. It actually found it and almost centred it!!
And kept tracking it while I focused (much less vibration!) put in the Barlow and focused again. Then went to the 9mm lens and it was still in the fov! Lens fogged up of course but happily waited for it to clear then started to focus. And the clouds centered themselves right on top of Saturn. I could see that I wasnt going to get much more time so decided to try some more alignments. Worked every time!
When the clouds finally got too bad I packed up and came inside a lot happier with my scope than I have been in a very long time!
Just thought I'd put this up in case other newbies like me are having similar problems with on again off again alignment. Might pay to tighten everything up!
Ken
