Hi all,

I have an FTQ mount I acquired directly from Charles about 8 years ago and I've really enjoyed using it. It's pure simplicity - no encoders (I think only a few were built without), no slow motion, just pure alt/az.?

Today, I received my second HH engineering mount - a decked out Quarter Hitch! Unlike my FTQ, this one has all the bells and whistles - slow motion, encoders, upgraded knobs, counterbalance with extension, finder bracket - it's really dolled up! I'm looking forward to first light with it but have a few questions for owners of this type of mount:

1.) There were three nylon screws in the base of the mount. They prevented it from being screwed onto my tripod, so I removed them. Does anyone know what they are there for?
2.) The slow motion controls appear to be driven by steel rods riding directly on anodized aluminum. My mount arrived in like-new condition, and I hope to maintain it as such. Does anyone have a lot of hours on their mounts that can report on the durability of this mating? I'm a little concerned that the steel rod will eventually damage the aluminum race. I'm wondering if putting some heat-shrink tubing around the rod would maintain the function and provide a replaceable sacrificial surface in between the steel and aluminum.?
3.) Does anyone know the encoder resolution? I set Sky Safari to automatically read it but would like to confirm.?

Thanks!

-Jeremy