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az eq6 not tracking well


AstroHobbyman

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Over the last few nights my mount has developed a tapping noise every 10 seconds with a little bump in the R.A track.

 

I pulled the cover off but cant see anything obviously wrong and the mount moves/sounds normal when doing gotos  

 

I would like to hear back from the forum if anyone can think of what might be wrong.

Neil

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can you be a little more descriptive on the tapping noise.

Is it metallic

Better still can you take a video with your phone and post that up so I can hear it.  

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Yes it a metallic nocking noise , I will post a video later, finish work at 10pm cheers.

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https://goo.gl/photos/X9GsrrGR73i6M7s59 I removed the single weight I had on the empty mount and it stopped making the noise so I guess the az eq6 likes to be finely balanced. 

I read some were a slight inbalance was useful for accurate tracking but it must be very slight. 

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Hi that sounds like the stepper motor snapping back under a reverse load.

Basically the command from the tracking software to move the mount is so small the motor cannot complete the single step so snaps back to its last lock point. 

Belt driven mounts do not need an imbalance.  The imbalance is set on a gear driven mount to keep tension on the gears to stop backlash.

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I will try for a perfect balance next time I get the scope out , thanks for your help Graham.

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Perfect balance has not worked I can report ,which is a shame.

No noise that I can hear  but a small shake can be seen while looking into the telescope eyepiece every few seconds , needs some kind of repair I imagine :facepalm: 

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