AstronomyUkraine Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Since purchasing my Ioptron CEM70, I have had mixed results when it comes to guiding. Sometimes it can be as low as 0.3, or as high as 0.8 RMS. Up to now I was using a 10kg weight, which was fairly low down the counterweight shaft. As I had a 5kg weight too, I decided to move the 10kg higher up the shaft towards the mount, and add the 5kg lower down. The effect was amazing, my RMS is now averaging between 0.25 and 0.3. I had it as low as 0.21 for a spell, which is astounding for this mount, it shouldn't be able to guide so well. Another thing that improved my guiding, was to adjust my OAG to slightly out of focus. I had the OAG really focused sharply, but PHD2 kept losing the guide star. Adjusting the OAG to be slightly out of focus and PHD2 has performed perfectly since. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Y Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 To clarify, are you saying that there is some space between the 10kg and 5kg weights? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 7 hours ago, Adam Y said: To clarify, are you saying that there is some space between the 10kg and 5kg weights? This is how my weights are now distributed on the mount. Previously I was only using the large 10kg weight, low down on the counterweight shaft. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Y Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Interesting. Do you find there is a difference in doing it that way as opposed to just putting the weights together somewhere between those 2 lengths? I'm always looking for ideas to improve my guiding - I thought getting between .6" - 1" was pretty good but definitely room for improvement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaDec Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Very interesting, especially as I’ve been having guiding issues recently, well, on the one chance since 6th Feb! Can you detect any difference doing a balance test? how did you decide on those positions? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 On 5/3/2023 at 5:53 PM, Adam Y said: Interesting. Do you find there is a difference in doing it that way as opposed to just putting the weights together somewhere between those 2 lengths? I'm always looking for ideas to improve my guiding - I thought getting between .6" - 1" was pretty good but definitely room for improvement. I have not tried putting them together. My aim was to have the large weight as close to the mount as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstronomyUkraine Posted May 4 Author Share Posted May 4 On 5/3/2023 at 11:28 PM, RaDec said: Very interesting, especially as I’ve been having guiding issues recently, well, on the one chance since 6th Feb! Can you detect any difference doing a balance test? how did you decide on those positions? The balance test is perfect and so easy with the Ioptron. I can get the balance spot on every time. My Z axis is out though, I'm going to purchase a Z axis counterweight that will balance the scope even better. The position of the weights was determined by placing the large weight as close to the mount as possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaDec Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 Unfortunately, my iEQ45 pro is an absolute pig to balance in RA. It fixes with 4 thumb bolts and is clunky to the point of difficulty. There is a board that allows you to balance the RA axis electronically and I tried that, but after 2 versions failed through bizarre issues, I gave up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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