On 2/16/2025 2:00 PM, Thomas Kallenbach via groups.io wrote:
Is this the kind of RA tracking that might be caused by clutches being too tight?
It is really hard to say for sure. There are multiple possibilities including atmospheric causes.? But yes, it is possible.? Do the experiment..... loosen your clutches on the same night in the same location in the sky and see if it smooths out.? I typically tighten until I feel contact and then go 1/8 to 1/4 turn more.? Less is more.
I spent a great deal of time a year or two ago trying to track down the cause of inconsistent tracking and excessive DEC backlash.? In the process I disassembled and re-assembled, measured, re-greased, tried different greases and made several physical modifications. The end result is that I went from being extremely frustrated with a MINIMUM of 2.5 seconds of DEC backlash to now being extremely happy with the performance.? No RA jumps EVER, and DEC backlash that is consistently between 100 and 800 mS.? Typical tracking is maybe 0.6" RMS on a crummy night and I have seen it as low as 0.3" RMS on a good night.
There is more to this story but A) I don't mean to hijack the clutch discussion and B) no one seems to be particularly interested when I bring it up ;)
Paul
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Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI USA
pgoelz@...
www.pgoelz.com
