Hey John,
?
First things first, I do not work for Losmandy. I am a new owner, since 1 and a half year.
I feel for you, I have encountered strange and similar issues Magnus also encountered about the same time.
?
Sometimes it worked nicely, sometimes it went crazy. I could not get good guiding. I also encountered runaways, but rare, only during meridian flips or SGP slews. This is a documented problem that is addressed by the beta firmware available.
I went ape nuts not being able to understand and get the accuracy I was expecting.
- I tried dampening solutions. Like pads or I "temporarily" modified the terrace of the apartment I rent (pictures upon request).
- I did 3 axis balancing.
- I designed my own custom RA passthrough cable solution to eliminate drag (pictures upon request).
- Top notch polar alignment, I am sorry to say but you can get much much better PA than with polarscope, it is unfortunately not as precise at it reports it is. For instance, SharpCap is a cheap alternative with same time to get aligned, or PHD2 using drift align but while being to most precise that will take longer 15-30min...
- I reduced focuser vibrations with a second custom designed mounting bracket.
- I started tuning/messing my spring-loaded worm gear adjustments.
?
If you're interested my issues were related to balancing, using a camera lens causing tremendous chromatic aberrations leading to bad eccentricity no matter what, bad tuning of the SLWG, BAD tightening of the clutches, grease contamination on my DEC clutch pad, bad understanding of measuring error in PHD2.
I am saying this because I have eventually fixed my issues. And that was thanks to this community driven website. Which is not sponsored by Losmandy in anyways.
It is a mine of useful information and years of experience from all its users. Brian was here long before he was hired and has always been a major contributor.
?
My message is I know it is frustrating but please be attentive to advises given here, they worth GOLD and they will get you were you want.
Also be patient, none are paid but Brian, rather please be thankful a Losmandy staff is here, because he responds much faster than anyone else here, even on weekends ;-)
?
Good luck you'll get it right.
Never forget that you paid half the price of a scientific mount that will work out of the box but will require expensive maintenance through time. It is hard, but you'll master and understand your mount.
To me this has no price!
?
Cheers,
?
Carl
