Jon,
Thanks for the correction. Well, that's still longer than I think would be comfortable. Others using longish refractors may have found otherwise.
iOptron ZEQ25, initial impressions
Started by
Astronewb
, Feb 27 2013 07:48 PM
1857 replies to this topic
#602
Bill McNeal
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Ranger 4
Posted 04 October 2013 - 11:29 AM
It'd be great if someone could spread the word to the Yahoo! group also to ask iOptron to restore the two star alignment and permanent PEC.
The more people who e-mail support (at) ioptron.com the more they realize what users want.
The more people who e-mail support (at) ioptron.com the more they realize what users want.
#603
Seanem44
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Posted 04 October 2013 - 11:39 AM
So, my zero on the dovetail saddle is about 1-2 degrees left of straight in the locked position. Is this a big deal or an easy fix? If it doesn't affect anything I'll just leave it.
#604
Mkofski
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Surveyor 1
Posted 04 October 2013 - 12:09 PM
Bill,
I'll check but I think that that has been addressed in the Yahoo group. Just sent my email request to support.
Mike
I'll check but I think that that has been addressed in the Yahoo group. Just sent my email request to support.
Mike
#605
BJS
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Messenger
Posted 04 October 2013 - 12:17 PM
I forgot to ask support about the PPEC. That is also something i would like to see this mount have. Not sure why it does not. Maybe the fact that the IEQ30 does?
Brian
Brian
#606
BJS
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Messenger
Posted 04 October 2013 - 12:29 PM
Bill,
I'll check but I think that that has been addressed in the Yahoo group. Just sent my email request to support.
Mike
Which Yahoo group? The imaging Ioptron or just Ioptron?
Brian
#607
Bill McNeal
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Ranger 4
Posted 04 October 2013 - 12:29 PM
iOptron has already responded to my e-mail!
1) The old two-star alignment and offset readings was of limited accuracy and hit-or-miss, and they received a complaint about this;
2) PPEC requires a hardware upgrade.
1) The old two-star alignment and offset readings was of limited accuracy and hit-or-miss, and they received a complaint about this;
2) PPEC requires a hardware upgrade.
#609
BJS
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Messenger
Posted 04 October 2013 - 03:45 PM
iOptron has already responded to my e-mail!
1) The old two-star alignment and offset readings was of limited accuracy and hit-or-miss, and they received a complaint about this;
2) PPEC requires a hardware upgrade.
Thats pretty much the same answer i received as well. The Z25 lacks the hardware for PPEC and that with the old two star method "the accuracy is very much case dependent" and it was "for reference only". They also indicated that people have indicated that they can achieve five minuet images unguided with the new align routine.
Brian
#610
Mkofski
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Surveyor 1
Posted 04 October 2013 - 09:40 PM
Hi all,
I got the same reply. Not much chance to get them to do either request. The lack of PPEC is about the only thing that is better on the iEQ30. Not that it is a big deal for me anyway. Since you need a guide scope to record it, I'll just use a guide scope and forget PEC.
Mike
I got the same reply. Not much chance to get them to do either request. The lack of PPEC is about the only thing that is better on the iEQ30. Not that it is a big deal for me anyway. Since you need a guide scope to record it, I'll just use a guide scope and forget PEC.
Mike
#611
gramaglia
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Vostok 1
Posted 04 October 2013 - 10:47 PM
I got new springs for my mount from Paul Chasse, the mount was **** good already; with the new "stiffer" springs it's incredible. I strongly suggest if your tracking is slightly erratic like mine was to buy these new springs from Paul. I only used the RA ones (they come in pairs a spring inside another). After running it through a few cycles tonight my best guess is that the highest error is about 30% smaller and there's less than a third of these "peaks".
#612
saga01
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Vostok 1
Posted 04 October 2013 - 11:03 PM
Where can we find these new springs for the mount? A commercial scource would be nice. I seem to have a little play in the RA axis. Thanks, Mike
#613
gramaglia
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Vostok 1
Posted 04 October 2013 - 11:22 PM
I have no idea about a commercial source. I bought mine from Paul Chasse AKA astronewb.
#614
rkayakr
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Surveyor 1
Posted 05 October 2013 - 07:21 AM
You can make the spring force greater by effectively shortening the holder depth. Simply get a some washers that are the OD of the springs at your local hardware store for a few pennies. Use these to shim under the springs in the holder. With that you can tighten to get the force you need. Three did the trick for me.
Since with the shims you can tighten down enough to cause an overcurrent fault (too tight) you can produce as much useful force as any other solution.
Since with the shims you can tighten down enough to cause an overcurrent fault (too tight) you can produce as much useful force as any other solution.
#615
ekallgren
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Viking 1
Posted 05 October 2013 - 09:28 AM
Last Update,
Well as many of you know I tried like hell to own a ZEQ from iOptropn. After 2 failures I decided to go in a different direction and get the AVX. I can here the BOOOOs now. I came yesterday, I got it out of the box set it up went through the alignment procedures and the goto's are dead center in a 11mm eyepiece every time.
The AVX is larger but I can still move it with the scope and counter weight without much trouble.
Thanks all for your helpful suggestions.
See ya on the AVX site..
Eric
Well as many of you know I tried like hell to own a ZEQ from iOptropn. After 2 failures I decided to go in a different direction and get the AVX. I can here the BOOOOs now. I came yesterday, I got it out of the box set it up went through the alignment procedures and the goto's are dead center in a 11mm eyepiece every time.
The AVX is larger but I can still move it with the scope and counter weight without much trouble.
Thanks all for your helpful suggestions.
See ya on the AVX site..
Eric
#616
ekallgren
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- Posts: 862
- Joined: 23 Dec 2011
Viking 1
Posted 05 October 2013 - 09:32 AM
Last Update,
Well as many of you know I tried like hell to own a ZEQ from iOptropn. After 2 failures I decided to go in a different direction and get the AVX. I can here the BOOOOs now. It came yesterday, I got it out of the box set it up went through the alignment procedures and the goto's are dead center in a 11mm eyepiece every time.
The AVX is larger but I can still move it with the scope and counter weight without much trouble.
Thanks all for your helpful suggestions.
See ya on the AVX site..
Eric
It came yesterday I didn't....
Well as many of you know I tried like hell to own a ZEQ from iOptropn. After 2 failures I decided to go in a different direction and get the AVX. I can here the BOOOOs now. It came yesterday, I got it out of the box set it up went through the alignment procedures and the goto's are dead center in a 11mm eyepiece every time.
The AVX is larger but I can still move it with the scope and counter weight without much trouble.
Thanks all for your helpful suggestions.
See ya on the AVX site..
Eric
It came yesterday I didn't....
#617
Seanem44
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- Posts: 2,292
- Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Vanguard
Posted 05 October 2013 - 10:24 AM
Last Update,
Well as many of you know I tried like hell to own a ZEQ from iOptropn. After 2 failures I decided to go in a different direction and get the AVX. I can here the BOOOOs now. It came yesterday, I got it out of the box set it up went through the alignment procedures and the goto's are dead center in a 11mm eyepiece every time.
The AVX is larger but I can still move it with the scope and counter weight without much trouble.
Thanks all for your helpful suggestions.
See ya on the AVX site..
Eric
It came yesterday I didn't....
No boos here. Congrats on finding what works for you.
#618
gramaglia
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- Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Vostok 1
Posted 05 October 2013 - 03:51 PM
if you have a little too much play in the gears, as I had yesterday, I reopened the RA drive system for the zillionth time and found that the brass screw that holds the worm gear was about a 1/16th of a turn loose, tighten it to finger tight, no pressure as it will create friction with the worm/pulley assembly.
#619
Astronewb
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topic starter
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Apollo
Posted 05 October 2013 - 07:32 PM
if you have a little too much play in the gears, as I had yesterday, I reopened the RA drive system for the zillionth time and found that the brass screw that holds the worm gear was about a 1/16th of a turn loose, tighten it to finger tight, no pressure as it will create friction with the worm/pulley assembly.
Good catch, and easy to check with the plastic RA cover off.
Lightly rock the mount in RA (no, lighter than that)...watch the action of the worm housing, if you can see it moving side to side, the worm adjuster nut is probably too loose. It will help if you run the tension adjuster all the way in while checking for side to side play. Apply pressure to the top of the housing with your free hand if necessary to isolate the movement.
The RA worm adjuster is just accessible on the encoder side, you can use a pocket screwdriver to nudge it a bit closer to the worm shoulder. Again, as mentioned, just until the play is gone. If you preload the worm bearing too much, you will pick up stiction from the ball bearings stacking against the race.
If you adjust it way too tight, be prepared to trip an Overcurrent Message.
Hope the info helps,
Paul
#620
n1wvet
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Vostok 1
Posted 05 October 2013 - 11:41 PM
A nice compact C11 is still different than a 4 foot long refractor. The refractor is going to have a bigger moment arm (torque) and will cause a lot more vibration. I don't think a ZEQ25 can handle a big refractor very well either. Not bashing - I think the ZEQ25 is a nice mount.
#621
Bill McNeal
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- Posts: 337
- Joined: 07 Oct 2007
Ranger 4
Posted 06 October 2013 - 01:31 AM
Great advice, and highly appreciated. I hope someone can do a YouTube for those of us who aren't mechanically experienced and prone to misidentifying parts and misinterpreting technical instructions. Video is worth a million words.
#622
anat
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- Joined: 03 Jun 2004
iAstroHub 3
Posted 06 October 2013 - 11:01 AM
Great advice, and highly appreciated. I hope someone can do a YouTube for those of us who aren't mechanically experienced and prone to misidentifying parts and misinterpreting technical instructions. Video is worth a million words.
I made an instruction to fix the crosstalk noise problem. You can see some photos of internal parts. It may help a bit.
https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing
Anat
#623
Seanem44
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Vanguard
Posted 06 October 2013 - 12:16 PM
So, my zero on the dovetail saddle is about 1-2 degrees left of straight in the locked position. Is this a big deal or an easy fix? If it doesn't affect anything I'll just leave it.
Anyone?
#624
Astronewb
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topic starter
- Posts: 1,456
- Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Apollo
Posted 06 October 2013 - 05:48 PM
So, my zero on the dovetail saddle is about 1-2 degrees left of straight in the locked position. Is this a big deal or an easy fix? If it doesn't affect anything I'll just leave it.
Nope, not a big deal at all. As long as your RA and DEC axes are squared to whatever base level you refer to, it will be fine.
Clear skies,
Paul
Anyone?
#625
StrangeDejavu
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Surveyor 1
Posted 06 October 2013 - 06:30 PM
Does anyone know how well the ZEQ25 handles a Sky-Watcher 120ED? The scope is 11 lbs and 37 inches long. It would be visual only at first, with AP later down the road.
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