On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 03:00 PM, Thomas Kallenbach wrote:
I appreciate your comments and no, I am not looking for perfect guiding.? What is the saying...The perfect is the enemy of the good.? I did have one thought; could the camera fan, if it is out of balance cause the problems I am experiencing?? I seem to remember hearing that some 2600MM cameras had fan vibration problems.? If that is possible I can swap cameras and see if there is a difference in the guiding.? What do you think?
Hi Tom,
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I did the fan change on the 2600MM and I can't say it ever improved any of my images. But I don't think that would affect guiding on one side of the meridian versus the other. It sounds like you got a mount with low mileage so it most likely was set well at the factory. But there is no way to judge guiding performance until you actually get it out under the stars. Perhaps your mount got jarred during handling or transportation. But back to the worm gear - each one made at HGM is unique and has its own profile/personality even though they pass QC inspection. Sometimes you can get lucky swapping the RA and Dec worms to get better performance.? The RA worm is always turning and will wear more quickly than the Dec worm which just rocks back and forth. Once you have a very good polar alignment, Dec adjustments through a guide cam arrangement will be making only minor moves. So the latter will have a different thread wear which can serve for better RA tracking. The worms are made of brass and are easily bent on nicked when removed from the mount so be careful if trying this swap. As was already mentioned these mounts can be rebuilt more easily than other brands. You have something mechanical going on, so it all depends on how much you want/need to chase down the true cause.
?
John
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Losmandy G11G2 on pier; refurbed Losmandy G11 with OnStep controller; SkyShed design roll-off observatory; ZWO ASI2600MM-P; ZWO ASI071MC; Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED with field flattener; Celestron C925 Edge HD with 0.7XFR, William Optics Zenithstar 61 APO; PHD2, NINA, Sequence Generator Pro and PixInsight user
