This may have been addressed before. I have an older G-11 non-goto that serves me well but has a stiction issue in both RA and DEC motions. Dose anyone have any suggestions for a possible fix? Once near an object I can slew via the handbox but it would be nice to alleviate some of the stiction issue when slewing manually.
G-11
s/n HGM299603097
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Re: How to restore operation after safety limit is reached?
Hmmmmmm.... I have the RAEXT on my G11G, does that mean when using NINA, I can tell it not to do a Meridan Flip???? Would definitely prefer it.
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Re: How to restore operation after safety limit is reached?
>>>
Just? do NOT do?a formatting! You can recover from it, but it's not easy.
what did you format Sonny?
I think you are seeing the default settings there Paul.
But if you are ever in doubt, you can go back to square one with
When I was getting started, and things seemed off to me, I would do a factory reset to get back to Zero and start over.
Just do NOT do a formatting! You can recover from it, but it's not easy.
I used this Video to set mine.?
It's a little tricky (or I thought so at first) but here Ya go.
I did the "Set Limit Here" a few times during my No Meridian Flip test run.
I don't know if any other mount has this No Flip capability, but it's golden for me.
An additional reason I got the RAEXT for my 811 mount. First was being able to configure my mount to my desired needs. But the No Meridian Flip is just genius to me.
Meridian Flips have always been a PITA to me. And completely disruptive to my imaging.
(In Fact, I have page bookmarked. It helps me, and it helps me help others.)
--
SonnyE
(I suggest viewed in full screen)
-- Brian?
Brian Valente portfolio
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Re: How to restore operation after safety limit is reached?
On 12/3/2020 1:25 PM, Sonny Edmonds wrote: I think you are seeing the default settings there Paul.
But if you are ever in doubt, you can go back to square one with a Factory Reset, as explained by Tanya. <> Not quite. They are close to the defaults but they are custom to my installation and 100% verified as safe. The one big change was that I increased the western goto limit from the default 2.5 degrees to 30 degrees so the mount would do a flip if a GOTO caused it to slew more than 3 degrees west of the meridian. With these limits, it is my understanding that any GOTO will end with at least 30 degrees (two hours) of tracking available before hitting the western safety limit. So as long as I don't track for more than two hours before the next GOTO I should be good. At least I think I am ;) Paul -- Paul Goelz Rochester Hills, MI USA pgoelz@... www.pgoelz.com
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Re: How to restore operation after safety limit is reached?
I think you are seeing the default settings there Paul.
But if you are ever in doubt, you can go back to square one with
When I was getting started, and things seemed off to me, I would do a factory reset to get back to Zero and start over.
Just do NOT do a formatting! You can recover from it, but it's not easy.
I used this Video to set mine.?
It's a little tricky (or I thought so at first) but here Ya go.
I did the "Set Limit Here" a few times during my No Meridian Flip test run.
I don't know if any other mount has this No Flip capability, but it's golden for me.
An additional reason I got the RAEXT for my 811 mount. First was being able to configure my mount to my desired needs. But the No Meridian Flip is just genius to me.
Meridian Flips have always been a PITA to me. And completely disruptive to my imaging.
(In Fact, I have page bookmarked. It helps me, and it helps me help others.)
Edit in: Sorry folks for this edit. But setting the limits is, to me, a fairly personal need based on each configuration.
I use a fairly small, fairly short, refractor for Deep Space Objects. So my limits can be pushed as needed do to the additional room my telescope allows, and my mounts configuration as a "Portable Pier" (no legs to dodge).
So in my opinion, each operator needs to address your personal needs, and to do so before your first use. It's prudent to learn as much as you can before you have a close call. ;^)
--
SonnyE
(I suggest viewed in full screen)
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Re: Looking into Losmandy
Daveo,
Yup, you have Losmanditis, this is a similar affliction to Takitis. Stay well and enjoy the mount!
--
Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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Re: Looking into Losmandy
Hi Andrew, I have owned a few Losmandy mounts and all viable tripod options under $1,000 for the GM8 and G11 mounts for imaging and visual use. I have owned classic welded Losmandy adjustable 3" leg HD tripods, Losmandy Folding HD 3" leg tripod, 2 different versions of the Losmandy LWT (Lightweight Tripod), Losmandy MA (Meade tripod Adapter) on Meade LX200 heavy 2" leg tripods, and Berlebach Planet with double clamps. All of these tripods are strong, some are extremely strong and more than capable of carrying a G11 with an over max. spec. payload well. But in my experience using everything from a Takahashi FS-60Q to a C14 the best tripod for visual use has been the amazing Berlebach Planet Ash hardwood? tripod. IDK if it is the dense hardwood, the tripod head design, the locking head leg setup or some sort of Mulda black magic but these are much more damp than any of the metal tripods I have owned and used a Losmandy mount on top of. For a visual observer shorter settle time is a plus and for visual sessions I only load the Berlebach Planet in the car? For imaging it is a toss up between the heavyweight Losmandy FHD, middleweight MA/Meade and Planet tripods. The Losmandy LWT IMO is too light for serious imaging but fine for casual visual use. LOL, this from a guy who routinely loaded his classic GM8 and 1st gen. LWT rolling on a Wheelie-Bar out to the driveway with a C11 for years. You have heard this before, do as I say not as I do. ? But other than stability and settle time the Berlebach Planet offers a slightly taller max. height, large accessory tray, the fact that wood is more comfortable to touch in the cold, the Planet is easy to setup and handle. But just because the Planet has wood legs don't imagine it is a lightweight tripod, the Planet is more than 10 pounds heavier than the LWT and only about 9 pounds lighter than the old FHD which my scale says was 35+ pounds bare. I just took delivery of the new GM8G mount but the new FHD will require a second trip to the shop in a few weeks but I don't think it will be very different than the original FHD.?
 ?ACorkill
Hi deitzelj?
5,
, Great information and thanks for verifying damping. I love the look of the mount and have "experienced" one, but not with a long refractor like mine, so good to know your experience. Thanks, Andrew
-- Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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Re: Cleaning and lubing the worm and worm gear
On Thu, Dec 3, 2020 at 12:05 PM, Bill Tschumy wrote:
Looking through the Youtube videos, I don¡¯t see anything about servicing the worm and worm gear. ?Could you post the link to it? ?I¡¯d rather not tear into it without a little guidance.
?
There isn't one from Losmandy.? Not sure why not, maybe its coming, but it seems like a logical followup to the (rather simple) cleaning of the needle bearings. Keith
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Re: Cleaning and lubing the worm and worm gear
On Dec 3, 2020, at 8:34 AM, Edward Beshore via <ebeshore@...> wrote:
Hi Bill -
I just cleaned and lubed a G11 that has been in storage for 10 years. I would definitely consider taking care of the worm and worm gear as well. It's a bit intimidating removing the worm with all of the on-line discussion of how difficult it is to realign, but frankly it's not that hard. Scott L. has a youtube video describing it and you can see he is not too fussed about the process. It may take a few tries to get it right, but you will get the feel of it.
_._,_._,_
Looking through the Youtube videos, I don¡¯t see anything about servicing the worm and worm gear. ?Could you post the link to it? ?I¡¯d rather not tear into it without a little guidance.
--? Bill Tschumy Otherwise -- Longmont, CO
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Re: How to restore operation after safety limit is reached?
On 12/3/2020 10:35 AM, Michael Herman wrote: Last point: there is a nice checkbox in gemini.net <> to "move away from limit when limit is reached".? I suggest you try enabling that feature in gemini.net <>. Thanks, I had not looked that deeply into the ASCOM driver settings. The ASCOM driver did not have safety limits set so I duplicated the limits I currently have set set in the mount and also checked the "nudge away from safety limit" checkbox. EAST 100 WEST 123 WESTERN GOTO LIMIT 30 Does that all look correct? My east and west safety limits are tested and valid and have been set in the Gemini2 controller for a while now. The western GOTO limit is set so I will always have at least two hours of tracking available after a GOTO. Meridian flips occur 3 degrees past the meridian. FWIW, I had an incident the other day where the mount suddenly returned "object unreachable" in response to a GOTO after some hours of successful tracking. It then refused to perform any GOTOs until I power cycled and re-alined. Is it possible that it tracked into the west safety limit and didn't notify me at the PC because the safety limits were not set in the ASCOM driver (they WERE set in the mount)? If it beeped I could not hear it since I was indoors. So to recap, if I hit a safety limit I merely park, then un-park and perform a GOTO to any object? When the incident above happened, I THINK I tried that sequence before I powered off but I can't swear to it. Thanks, Paul -- Paul Goelz Rochester Hills, MI USA pgoelz@... www.pgoelz.com
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Re: Cleaning and lubing the worm and worm gear
Hi Bill,
Absolutely use any common solvent to remove all old lube, alcohol is a good final rinse but letting the work rest or if you have shop air is just as good to evaporate the solvent. Relube using SuperLube with Syncolon (Teflon) NOT the silicone stuff, you can't get rid of that stuff! Order it from Amazon and like magic is arrives in a day or two!
Use enough but not too much, if it is blobbing up that is too much. It is better to remove and reapply fresh grease when it gets contaminated and having done it will make it easy the second time. I do this every two years or sooner if I have been out in the desert a lot and give the mounts a through once over checking for loose screws and things gone askew and setting them right.??
It's like changing your vehicle's oil, easy once familar with the job. Keep us posted!
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
 ?Bill Tschumy
Group,
I have been having problems on my 10 year old GM8 with periodic jerkiness when centering while viewing through the eyepiece and with RA motor lag messages. Brian suggested that after 10 years it was time to clean and lube the mount.
I took it apart and cleaned and lubed the needle bearings as Scott showed in the YouTube video. That seemed to go well and the bottom needle bearing on the RA axis did seem stiff or possibly even frozen.
I was wondering if the worm and worm gear needs to be cleaned and lubed at this time. That was not shown in the video and it seem like getting into the worm gear is somewhat involved. Is this also something I should tackle, and if so how do you do it?
Bill
--
Bill Tschumy
Otherwise -- Longmont, CO
www.otherwise.com
--
Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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Re: Old GM8 (late '90's) , Gemini 1. Restoration advice...
Hi Dave,
Welcome!
Disassembly for cleaning and lubrication on classis mounts is very straight forward. The secret is to take photos as you go so you can see how it comes apart. My advice for the first time is to do only one axis at a time to minimize errors and to reduce the number parts that can somehow seem not familiar when reassembling the axis.?
Any common petroleum based solvent works but avoid gasoline. Mineral spirits, lacquer thinner are plenty powerful enough solvents. Get old toothbrushes for the needle bearings and if possible have shop air available and a good sized pile of clean lint free rags available. The old lube is going to be dirty and maybe even hardened so some solvent and toothbrushes helps reach into places more effectively. Once all bearings are clean use shop air to blow out hidden solvent. Or just put a fan blowing on all work to let evaporation do its job. It can take a few hours but it is much better to lube a clean dry parts than parts that still have some solvent on them for obvious reasons.?
The best lube for precision mechanicals you can use IME is Synco Chemical's - SuperLube with Syncolon (Teflon) - grease. This is a pure synthetic based oil that doesn't dry out and get hard, doesn't freeze and get stiff when cold, doesn't melt and run all over the mount inside getting on the clutch discs (causes slipping) has extremely high pressure, lubricity and shear test results higher than even moly loaded greases yet stays soft like yogurt hot or cold. This stuff is relatively inexpensive and Amazon will bring it to you most places in the world.?
Keep us posted on your adventures!
--
Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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Re: Cleaning and lubing the worm and worm gear
Hi Bill -
I just cleaned and lubed a G11 that has been in storage for 10 years. I would definitely consider taking care of the worm and worm gear as well. It's a bit intimidating removing the worm with all of the on-line discussion of how difficult it is to realign, but frankly it's not that hard. Scott L. has a youtube video describing it and you can see he is not too fussed about the process. It may take a few tries to get it right, but you will get the feel of it.
I have an Astro-Physics mount as well, and I followed their recommendations for cleaning. I used mineral spirits to clean the gears (a toothbrush is very handy for this) and then removed the mineral spirits with denatured alcohol (you want to get rid of the stuff that dissolves grease before putting grease back on). Sparingly apply a low temp grease like SuperLube or low-temp Lithium grease to the center of the worm and sparingly around the edges of the worm gear. I found a small brush used to apply flux for brazing worked well for this (0.49 at Ace). Another very handy item is a plastic chemical wash bottle for applying the alcohol wash.
You will notice quite a difference in the ease with which the worm turns once you are cleaned and re-greased. You will also feel a lot better after mastering the worm alignment process.
Best, Ed Beshore
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Re: How to restore operation after safety limit is reached?
Dear Paul,
Try this (it has worked for me using Gemini-1...you can try in the daytime to test it):
1. Tell the mount to Park at CWD.? This will stop tracking, but not lose your alignment info.? Do not power off!
2. Then tell it to Start Tracking.??
3. Then do a GoTo.? You should be back in business.
This also gets me out if trouble when I don't know which direction?to press to get away from the limit position.
Last point: there is a nice checkbox in to "move away from limit when limit is reached".? I suggest you try enabling that feature in .?
Best of luck, Michael
On Thu, Dec 3, 2020, 4:55 AM Paul Goelz < pgoelz@...> wrote: Simple question but I have not been able to find the answer anywhere in
the various documents I have read.? If I slew or track into a safety
limit, the mount beeps and stops tracking.? Afterwards, it will still
respond to manual slew commands from the HC to (for example) move away
from the safety limit but will not perform a GOTO from the HC or the PC
until I power cycle the Gemini2 and re-align.
Is this normal behavior or is there a simpler way to restore operation
without the need for another align or synch?? If so, I have not found it
yet.
TIA,
Paul
--
Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI? USA
pgoelz@...
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Old GM8 (late '90's) , Gemini 1. Restoration advice...
Needs a good cleaning and to have the worms reset to remove some 'wobble', especially in RA.
Can some one post links to useful videos or provide PDF's of 'exploded' diagrams of the dis-assembly of each axis for cleaning.
What solvent to clean the bearings and shafts and then what grease/lubricant should I use, etc. etc..
Thanks
Dave?
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How to restore operation after safety limit is reached?
Simple question but I have not been able to find the answer anywhere in the various documents I have read. If I slew or track into a safety limit, the mount beeps and stops tracking. Afterwards, it will still respond to manual slew commands from the HC to (for example) move away from the safety limit but will not perform a GOTO from the HC or the PC until I power cycle the Gemini2 and re-align.
Is this normal behavior or is there a simpler way to restore operation without the need for another align or synch? If so, I have not found it yet.
TIA,
Paul
--
Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI USA
pgoelz@...
www.pgoelz.com
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Re: Cleaning and lubing the worm and worm gear
I use?CRC BRAKLEEN Brake Parts Cleaner.? Do?NOT get the spray on the power-coat, anodizing or plastic.? Its also flammable...? Clean the parts outside.
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Re: Suggestion for idiot proofing close-to-mount slews
Yes i'm here :)
I made note of the feedback
the answer (short term and likely longer term) is you probably need a different approach when setting your limits.?
The purpose of limits are to avoid any possibility of pier crash, so if you set limits and you have a pier crash, the limits aren't set properly :)
I'm doing a video shortly on this, but the basic idea on limit setting is this:
Slew your ra to each side of the pier and get close to where you think the limit should be set (e.g., typically parallel with the ground, plus a little past if your telescope allows)
Then loosen the DEC clutch and manually rotate your telescope in DEC back and forth to ensure everything has clearance.?
I'm guilty of this too - just slewing RA to each side to where the camera is close, and assuming it will work at all angles. Turns out, that is sometimes a bad assumption
I'm thankful (hopeful?) you didn't have a major crash and damage anything, but for sure get those limits set properly.
Brian
"Idiot", (me), proofing is the key point here. Take the suggestion for what it is worth. (Brian, if you are reading?)
Twice now I had thought I had my limits set well, but because of poor planning and less than well though out changes to my configuration I have had "fender benders" between my scope/camera and pier.
Basically I have tracked to past the ideal RA limit point but not hit the pier or mount. The issue has been that when I execute the meridian flip or other goto, the Dec and RA move simultaneously and the change in Dec bumps the equipment into the pier/ mount.
If it is possible to make changes to Gemini programming, a 1/2 to 1 second delay between RA and Dec activating on a Goto would prevent idiots like me from crashing their scopes.
Or I could do a better job setting my limits...
Just a thought if it is reasonable to consider.
-- Brian?
Brian Valente portfolio
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Re: Cleaning and lubing the worm and worm gear
As long as you feel confident in working with them, Bill, now would certainly be the time to refresh all the lubed parts.
And check for any irregularities while things are clean.
After that, you can forge ahead, confident the moving parts are clean and the lube is fresh.
--
SonnyE
(I suggest viewed in full screen)
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Re: Suggestion for idiot proofing close-to-mount slews
Hi Anthony,
I don't recall what mount you have, but I got around Meridian flips when I put the RAEXT on my GM811GHD.
I didn't put the RA extension on solely for getting away from meridian flips, I put it on to make the two planes easily separate able.
But doing away with Meridian flips was really appealing to me.
The first time I tested it I began well East of the Southern Meridian and imaged for 3.6+ hours. (13,000 seconds in 10 second images) (My Infinity camera's software stacks images for me.)
But... here's the Caveat, as the mount approached the limits, I discovered I could reset the limit on the fly. I got really close by the end, and decided to stop at the 13,000 second mark.
My rectangular Camera is the biggest culprit to a crash hanging off the butt of my scope.
Anyway... you might want to look into the RAEXT if it will work for you. ?< Good short video.
I'm doing no flips all the time now.
--
SonnyE
(I suggest viewed in full screen)
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Kent Blackwell
Chip Louie
Bill Tschumy
Michael Herman