· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Equipment Discussions >> Mounts Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 Skrenlin member Reged: 12/13/10 Loc: North Chicagoland area Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G question for other owners       #5735340 - 03/16/13 12:02 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I received my new Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G today. The UPS guy was nice enough to report he left it "on the porch" when he actually left it down at the end of the driveway by the road. In the rain. Anyway .. I brought it inside and opened it. Only the outer boxes were actually wet. The inner boxes were still dry, so no harm there. (phew!) After assembling it in the living room, I've encountered a possible issue, however. My RA access appears to have a small bit of play, even with the RA clutch engaged. It rotates back and forth. The movement isn't actually much (appears to be about half the width of one of the lines on the RA scale), but it is very free movement within that short bit with very hard stops each way (light pressure in either direction moves it into whatever is stopping the movement (the worm teeth, possibly?) which sends a vibration through the whole mount. There is no play at all in the dec axis and there's no 'slop' in the RA access, other than that looseness back and forth along its axis of rotation. My question for other owners is "Does your mount do that too?" I can't decide if this is odd backlash or if something is out of adjustment (or worse, broken). Post Extras:       HowardK professor emeritus Reged: 10/20/10 Re: Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G question for other owners [Re: Skrenlin]       #5737053 - 03/16/13 07:54 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   No...my mount has virtually no play in its RA axis. Let us know how you fix this Post Extras:       Skrenlin member Reged: 12/13/10 Loc: North Chicagoland area Re: Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G question for other owners [Re: HowardK]       #5737069 - 03/16/13 08:02 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I've sent a couple messages to Orion about it as I've decided it's actually defective from the factory. No response yet, though. I did some snooping with a flashlight, and without taking anything apart (so as to avoid voiding the warranty) I can't really see anything that could be construed as a worm lash adjustment (or any other sort of adjustment). I suspect there's quite a bit of disassembly required to get at whatever is loose or broken, so my current plan is to pester Orion. Post Extras:       jrbarnett Eyepiece Hooligan Reged: 02/28/06 Loc: Petaluma, CA Re: Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G question for other owners [Re: Skrenlin]       #5737286 - 03/16/13 09:07 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   That sounds like a fairly normal amount of play in the RA gears. You don't want your gears ultra tightly meshed, as that increases wear on the worm and gears. I suggest you use the mount before deciding that it has a problem. The proof is in the pudding as they say. You've yet to eat the pudding, ergo have no proof. Certainly not enough evidence to conclude that it's defective. Different units of the same mount will have different gear mesh settings from the factory. Whose to say the tight ones aren't the ones out of spec? I've had multiple CG5-GTs, and two have had only slight RA play while one has had considerably more. All three of them worked well for years. I still have one - the one with the greater play. No worries here. Regards, Jim Edited by jrbarnett (03/16/13 09:11 PM) Post Extras:       frolinmod Pooh-Bah Reged: 08/06/10 Re: Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G question for other owners [Re: jrbarnett]       #5739672 - 03/17/13 09:35 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   My new Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT SynScan (same as Orion Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G except Sky-Watcher is white and Orion is black) doesn't have any play in either axis. My two year old Orion Atlas EQ-G on the other hand is loosey-goosey just as you describe and always has been since day one. Post Extras:       my_universe member Reged: 01/07/10 Re: Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G question for other owners [Re: frolinmod]       #5741564 - 03/18/13 07:51 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   It is easy to adjust the gear mesh on the EQ-6 if there is too much, or too little, play. I haven't seen the AZ-EQ6 but it's likely the same deal on that mount. I don't believe it is covered in the manuals but I've done it with my EQ-6 a couple of times. You don't even have to open up the housing. Basically you loosen slightly the four screws on the RA housing and you'll see a hole containing a recessed setscrew on either end of the RA housing. Those two setscrews tighten or loosen the mesh. Just experiment until you get it how you want it. Sorry I can't show any visuals at the moment, but maybe you can check it out based on what I've said. I doubt there's anything defective, just an incorrectly set RA gear mesh, if that. As others have said, a small amount of play is often normal and you needn't worry about it. Post Extras:       Lane Post Laureate Reged: 11/19/07 Loc: Frisco, Texas Re: Atlas Pro AZ/EQ-G question for other owners [Re: my_universe]       #5743454 - 03/19/13 05:01 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This play in the mount can be very annoying when using the mount especially with a longer telescope on board. I adjusted this play out of my Sirius mount following instructions I found out here on CN. There is probably a simple way to do that same adjustment on this new mount as well. Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 29 registered and 42 anonymous users are browsing this forum. Moderator:  Bowmoreman, bilgebay, iceblaze  Print Thread Forum Permissions       You cannot start new topics       You cannot reply to topics       HTML is disabled       UBBCode is enabled Thread views: 612 Jump to *Announcements and News* -----   Cloudy Nights Announcements   Discussion of CN Articles, Reviews, and Reports   Celestial Events*General Astronomy* -----   Beginners Forum   General Observing and Astronomy   Outreach   Light Pollution*Equipment Discussions* -----   ATM, Optics and DIY Forum   Binoculars   Binoviewers   Cats & Casses   Classic Telescopes   Equipment   Eyepieces   Mounts   Observatories   Reflectors   Refractors    Video and Electronically Assisted Astronomy*Astrophotography and Sketching* -----   Beginning and Intermediate Imaging   Film Astrophotography   DSLR & Digital Camera Astro Imaging & Processing   CCD Imaging & Processing   Solar System Imaging & Processing   Sketching   Astro Imaging/Sketching Contest *Observing* -----   NEO   Planetary and Solar System Observing   Lunar Observing   Deep Sky Observing   Double Star Observing   Solar   Variable Star Observing and Radio Astronomy*Telescope Specific Forums* -----   Celestron NexStar    NexStar GPS / CPC Telescopes   Questar Forum   Meade ACF/RCX / LX / GPS    Meade ETX*Speciality Forums* -----   Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo   NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum) and NEAIC (Northeast Astro Imaging Conference)   AstroArt   Astronomy Clubs and Star Parties   Astronomy Software & Computers   AstroWebsites   Science! Astronomy & Space Exploration, and Others   Space Rocks   Stellar Media*Swap and Shop* -----   Shop and Swap Audio Components*CN Feedback and Vendor Announcements* -----   Vendor and Group Announcements*International Year of Astronomy 2009 - Forums are now closed.* -----   IYA Archive Info CN Forums Home

Cloudy Nights LLC Cloudy Nights Sponsor: Astronomics