On Mon, Nov 18, 2024 at 10:42 PM, George Stallings wrote:
I just received an axis upgrade for the G11T. Travel, poor weather, and stuff still coming in for my imaging setup will prevent me from putting everything through its paces. For G11T (with Titan RA axis) users out there, do you guide east heavy with this mount? I realize experiences may differ, but I'm wondering whether or not some or most users see guiding improvement this way specifically in RA.?
Hi George,
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A little East-heavy balance is needed with most non-spring-loaded worm/gear mounts (including G11T). This is because the worm and the gear can't be meshed too tightly in such a system, as that results in binding and motor stalls.
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Since there must be some distance left between the worm and the gear, the gear has room to float just a tiny bit between the worm teeth (this is also the cause of backlash). With a perfectly balanced RA axis, the gear can shift from engaging one side of the worm groove to the other. Slight wind, slight cable drag, etc. can all cause a sudden jump in the gear position. In the image below, the gear tooth can jump from engaging the left side of the worm groove to the right with no resistance.
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A slight East-heavy balance in RA pushes the gear into one side of the worm groove that drives the gear forward, while tracking. This imbalance produces the resistance needed to stop the gear from free-floating that can cause random jumps during tracking and guiding.
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Regards,
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? ?-Paul
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Paul Kanevsky
