4 replies to this topic

[Poisonokie]

Thank all of you kind CN members who are so helpful to give you time and help to me and others with qeustions of all types.

I recently made another CN friend (all of you are so far, I have only been hit by one scammer in 9 years) who purchased a brand new, never used Skywatcher EQ6r-Pro mount from me and a nylon carrying case that perectly holds the pre-formed slots for all of the mount head and it's components.

The buyer told me it arrived well-packaged and looks beautiful.

Hiis only problem and slight concern is the ability to get the latitidue adjustment lever to operate above 44 degrees north. Woah! I never played with any of the adjustment knobs, I just left them alone, and the mount head only

fits into the pro-formed carton slot somewhere in the mid 30's latitude range. 

Does anyone know of anything that needs to be done (unlocking of a lever which buyer most likey has tried) or some mechanical setting overlookd, or would anyone know why what appears to be a threaded screw and handle

at tje rear of the mount would simply hit a "stop" before going just below 44 north. It is about a half of a degree below his set up spot, but he often travels to upper Michigan for a dark sky site which is a couple of degrees further

norht. He told me he thinks he can work through the issue, but as always, I am concerned for the buyers of my gear ( I have become disabled and am selling of all of my new, never used gear in order to buy a lighter weight, 

dummy proof Celestron Origin as I suffer from a TBI and a recent slip and fall that effects my short term memory, cognitive issues that slow my critical thinking way down, and bad back pain in lifting over 25 pounds or so.

I truly want to offer suggestions on a possible reason and/or fix while he tries to figure it out for himself. It's going to be a bit of a hassle and around $200-$300 to send/return the mount to Skywatcher for them to fix the thing if

in fact it is truly jacked up. In what is left of my brain, this seems to be a fairly simple snag that can be corrected.

Has anyone experienced the same issue and figured it out, or have a reasonably simple idea short of tyring to open the mount head up and getting "mechanically adept" at a fix/solluton?

I and the buyer truly appreciate those of you who can offer advice.

Clear skies,

Byron Labadie

Bixby, OK

[deSitter]

He's probably trying to adjust the latitude bolts when the scope and counterweights are mounted, which is sure to lead to stripping of the soft aluminum casting being devoured by the stainless steel adjuster bolt. On initial polar scope alignment on such mounts, it should be done without anything on the head, THEN when the scope is loaded and settles some, you can push/pull on the counterweight bar to unload the stress from the adjusters and then tweak them so the alignment is perfect with the scope and weights mounted.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

I probably need to clarify.

 

So you do the initial polar scope alignment without anything mounted. Leave the front adjuster loose and well backed out. Mount the scope and weights and recheck the alignment. it will likely have settled some. To tweak it, support the scope by pushing on the counterweight bar hard enough to remove the stress on the rear latitude adjuster. Tweak this in or out as needed, then release the counterweight bar and recheck. Do this until the alignment is perfect with the scope mounted. Then tighten down the front adjuster.

 

-drl

[astropgr]

44 deg shouldnt be an issue. It may be how the person is using it, as was specified previously.

[Poisonokie]

I think that deSitter has nailed it, I will copy and paste, then send this to Doug. Thank you, you always have great ideas!

Byron