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There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding the SLW Block Adjustment. Scott Losmandy does have a very helpful video here on YouTube that illustrates the process but I realize people have different ways of learning and so I wanted to offer another perspective on it. I am very open to others chiming in with their own techniques and considerations. I've attached some photos that I have labeled with the terms I use for each of the parts. I'm happy to adjust these if there are actual names for these various screws, but these labels work for my understanding. The worm gear sits between two moveable blocks. One of these pivots and one of them slides in a short groove so that it may travel towards and away from the ring gear. I call these the "Pivot Block" and the "Travel Block". The two adjustment screws that sit in cradles on the very bottom of the SLW hold the blocks to the base of the mechanism. These cradles have the purpose keeping the screws square to the pivot/track openings. These screws should not be tight as they must allow the pivot block to pivot and the track block to track easily, but they should be screwed just to the point of first gentle contact and then backed off a whisper. I call these the Pivot Block Tension Screw and the Travel Block Tension Screw. The rest of the screws are in what I call the Worm Block Cover. Two are recessed and two stick out. The two recessed screws in the cover hold the Pivot Block and the Travel Block firmly against the cover. Ideally, the Pivot Block and the Travel Block are snug against each side of the worm gear so that the worm gear cannot slide back and forth. The Pivot Block Lock screw should be loosened just a tad, so that the Worm Block cover has a little bit of space (like 1mm) to the left of it, then that Pivot Block Lock screw should be tightened down good and tight. This secures one side of the space that the Worm Gear occupies. Then you can loosen the Travel Block Lock screw slightly and you will see that the Travel block has a little bit of play built into it. If you remove the Travel Block Lock screw completely from the Worm Block Cover you will see there is a small eccentric slot that the Travel Block Lock screw seats into so as to allow for this next adjustment. I press the Worm Block Cover towards the ring gear and rotate the axis of the mount (RA or DEC as appropriate) with my other hand so that the Travel Block gets pressed towards the Pivot Block. Then with my free thumb I maintain this pressure on the Travel Block towards the Pivot Block while I use an allen wrench to tighten the Travel Block Lock screw nice and tight. The ultimate gain is to get rid of any extra space on either side of the Worm Gear so that it can only spin on its axis and not slide side to side in the bearing race. Once this is complete there should be pretty much no play when you try to rotate the axis back and forth by hand. Finally now we are at the Spring Tension Screw and the Backoff Set Screw. These two screws operate in concert to fine tune the amount/limits of pressure that the spring will exert to press the Worm Gear into the Ring Gear. Start by turning the Backoff Set Screw counterclockwise until it is no longer making contact with the underlying plate. There are a few different approaches to these two screws but the technique that Scott uses in the video is to tighten the Spring Tension Screw all the way down, then back it off between 1/2 and 3/4 of a turn. I have found that backing off the screw one and a half turns works just as well and makes me less likely to accidentally over-tighten the Spring Tension Screw. At this point Scott has the transfer gear cover removed and he gently tries to turn the upper transfer gear while he slowly screws in the Backoff Set Screw clockwise. You will feel the Backoff Set Screw make contact with the plate underneath and as you continue to slowly turn it clockwise. Somewhere shortly after it makes contact with the plate you will feel the tension in the upper transfer gear release and it will suddenly turn freely. There is a veeeery small transit
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I'm looking to mount up my C11 with the 0.7 reducer and take some images of galaxies. The image scale is about 0.4 arc-s/px, and my normal guiding with my 80mm refractor is 0.6-0.9, so I'll clearly be oversampled. I figure I can Bin 2 to get my image scale about the same as seeing/guiding. And folks on CN have seemed to have decent results doing this and adding in a deconvolution/sharpening step to the post processing. So losmandy users, how much luck have you had with C11? Example images you can n share? With galaxybseason nearing I'm keep to see what I can get. But afraid maybe it's just not going to work out. Brian
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Ever since my upgrade, I've been getting this message about uploading PC data to Gemini. I accidentally selected ok tonight and now it is updating slowly (about 10 minutes) elapsed so far and not sure if I may have now screwed my mount up. I believe all the Gemini settings via the PC are correct but not sure. What is actually happening and how do I stop it from asking me in the future. Do you all update from PC reguarly are just ignore it and use your mount settings. Russ
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Dual-axis controllers EPROM images
3
Would anyone here happen to have copies of the firmware binary or hex code for the EPROM's for the Losmandy dual-axis controllers? Also it is my understanding that the EPROM code for the GM-8 controller is slightly different for the G-11, as to the worm wheel tooth count differences. I am hoping to get a copy of each firmware image so I can re-program a dual-axis controller for a G-11 to work on a GM-8. -Christopher Erickson Observatory Engineer Honoka'a, Hawaii www.summitkinetics.com
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811G lack of DEC dampening options!
7
I'm a new 811G owner, as of November 2023. I received the mount from Losmandy with all of the newest features: spring-loaded worm, tucked motors, Gemini 2 updates, hand-tuned by Scott. At the moment I have a heavy 130mm TOA refractor mounted with about 29 pounds of CW (11+11+ 7). So, I am familiar with non-spring loaded worms so the observed degree of "springy" oscillations during slews or centering is really annoying. Based on my search of this problem on the user group, I was able to reduce the effect to a minimum on RA, by tedious east-loading of the counterweights. Also, I reduced centering speed to less than 10 steps, which does help. But the DEC axis has no dampening feature (namely, counterweights) that can be adjusted. So I'm currently tolerating the large oscillations on DEC. I've tried different saddle positions of the OTA, thinking an offset might reduce the effect... as of now, nothing really seems to minimize the effect. What are my options? I considered replacing the DEC worm spring with a stiffer spring, I am not sure that would actually dampen centering oscillations very much. I could add a dampener counterweight but that requires a good bit of experimenting and it maybe very sensitive to OTA balance conditions. Is there some simple worm adjustment that could reduce this effect? Loren
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I am adjusting my worm gears and I notice that the face of the gears that are connected to the servo motor are covered in grease, and they must rub on the cover. Is this intentional?
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Mature G11 repair
9
My club has recently obtained a maybe 2010 era? G11 with Gemini-1 controller, untucked servos, OPW, and pretty gummed up bearings and axis shafts. We debugged the Gemini a bit and got it booted, tested the servos (good), and took apart both axis, using the Losmandy lube kit to remove really old hardened grease and free the bearings. Regreased with the Losmandy supplied grease. Clutch pads are a bit worn (some grooving). The needle bearings were frozen, but eventually came free-ish. Minimally, we should replace the clutch pads, and install new bearings. Haven't even started looking at the OPW. Any suggestions for further tweaks/upgrades/adjustments to make? SLW upgrade, bearings? Pitfalls? Thanks in advance! Dale Nelson
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Pempro??
2
What happened to the new version of Pempro equivalent that was going to be released?
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For Sale in Nothern CA
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Asking here before I list it on Cloudy Nights.. I’m selling (almost) all of my Astronomy Gear.. (I’m half blind and moved to an apartment complex.. Would rather sell it all than have the neighbors see I have valuable stuff they can steal..) I prefer to sell to a local – think Chico, CA - buyer, but.. Of primary concern for this group would be my 12” Meade SCT, G11 w/ Gemini 2, and Meade Giant field tripod.. Has all the bells and whistles, as well as a lot of extras.. Also available, in case you want an entire setup, is my Stellarvue 130mm Raptor (Carbon Fiber) Triplet w/ FeatherTouch (an many extras).. FYI – Not giving them away, but not price gouging either.. I have a plethora of other items too.. Two Sky Atlas 2000.0 field editions laminated BNIB and unlaminated LNIB), a Harold Bobroff AstroAtlas, and much more.. If interested, send me a direct email and we can discuss, otherwise I’ll just start listing stuff on Cloudy Nights.. Derek
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Spring loaded worm availability G11T RA axis
7
Dear Losmandy community, I have a G11T on my short list. Regarding the spring loaded worm availability for the G11T RA axis it says "future plans" here: http://www.losmandy.com/whatsnew.html I'd have three questions: a) Does anyone know if Losmandy is still working on spring loaded worms for the RA axis as stated above? b) If so, any estimates on when they might become available? c) Lastly, will these be backwards compatible to existing G11Ts (as often the case for Losmandy upgrades)? I've already asked this question through the official Losmandy support channel a while ago without a reply. Thanks! Georg
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Gemini 2 Level 6 Instruction Manual/PEC Training
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Hello All, I just installed the Level 6 upgrade on my 9 month old G11G. I qaa having an issue with a large peak to peak RA PE of about 24". I sent the RA axis to Losmandy and they could find nothing that might cause a PE of that magnitude, but they replaced the HP worm just to rule that out. Anyway, when they sent the RA axis back, they also sent a new Gemini 2 circuit board with the Level 6 upgrade already installed (their suggestion). The new board is installed now and the hand controller is updated. Everything seems to be working fine on the bench, but it has been cloudy since I received/installed the upgrade. In the mean time, I wanted to read up on Level 6, particularly PEC training. I understand Level 6 is not compatible with PEMPro, but there is a PEC training option in the HC menu. I would like to conduct PEC training when the weather allows, but I can't find any instructions/documentation for Level 6. Does anyone know where I can find the Level 6 instructions, or has anyone installed Level 6 and successfully conducted PEC training/correction? Thanks, Dave
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How do I delete old PEC files saved on my Gemini-2 mount? I am using the web interface and I see no way to delete the files. ------------------------ Jim W Phoenix, AZ. USA Losmandy G11G w/ L6, NINA 3.0 / ASTAP, ASI2600MC Pro, Sky-Watcher Scopes, Canon L Lenses.
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I have been working on this project for 5 months now and after some setbacks, it is finally done, the top adapter plate has been modified to also fit my EQ6-R and EQ8-R.
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Level 6 Upgrade DIY Instructions
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Does anyone know of instructions on how to do this without the Losmandy kit? I thought this had been discussed here in the past, but I cannot find the thread. Losmandy is no longer offering the kit for sale. Rather than attempt to reinvent the wheel and still end up walking anyway, I figured it might be better to ask trailblazers out what they did. Regards, George
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Guiding spikes
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Guiding last night was good for periods of time last night. But both RA and Dec would spike, stopping the imaging. I was trying dithering for the first time in quite a while. I see no dithering events in the PHD2 log. I tried varying the guiding between 1 to 4 seconds. I did not see any difference. While I was modeling, I did have a Dec stall cause by the saddle knob hitting the Dec motor. I had to restart the modeling because everything was off after the contact. I also had a RA stall, but could not figure out the cause. Anyway, any insight on the guiding spikes? Losmandy GM811G, Sequence Generator Pro, Off axis guiding, PHD2
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Gemini 2 got wet. USB seems not to be working
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Last night a shower popped up out of nowhere and got my mount wet. Gemini 2 looked dry inside tonight. After about 1.5 hours of use I lost connection with the mount to my computer. It is showing the mount is not connected and no com port is shown. Any ideas what to look at before I call Tanya and ship it to Losmandy for repair. I will look closer at it tomorrow.
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Hi all, I just joined the group. I am considering buying the G11G mount, to be controlled by my PC via a USB cable (I don't use asi air). I use Sharpcap and Stellarium. Can someone please indicate the correct PC control software I would need to download (Gemini II)? And are there instructions on how to use this software for mount control? Is it compatible with Sharpcap and Stellarium, and how well do they work together- any issues? If there are any introductory tutorial videos on PC control of the G11G, using sharpcap and stellarium, can you send a link, or let me know where I can find one? Thanks!
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Advice on updating motors on a 2006 G11
3
Hi All:
I have a 2006 G11 that has been in storage for a while (10 years), I pulled the unit out and done the following:
- Gemini 2 upgrade (now running version 6 firmware)
- cleaned / lube RA / DEC bearings, replaced thrust washers and clutch pads
- Installed a RA extension kit
My question is this: is the upgrade to high torque servo motor worth it? In 2006 I was playing with a Meade 10” RCX 400 and attempting to use it on a better mount (but that’s a different story). Now I’m using a relatively light weight refractor with some imaging gear, but a fraction of the RCX weight. I would assume the higher torque motors are more of benefit for a heavier load, but I thought I would ask the group for opinions.
-ca norton
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Operation in the cold
17
What's the tolerance of mounts, and other gear to cold temperatures? We have had lows in the single digits and below zero (F) here in Indiana, as elsewhere, lately. I'd love to take advantage of the first clear night here in weeks but temps are expected below 10F and I don't want to risk damaging anything (besides the danger of frostbite). I recall reading some discussion of lubricants, but not sure of what else might be an issue.
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Sat 8:39am