EQ6 Zero Backlash Worm Mount

[AstronomyUkraine]

Tomorrow I will be picking up an EQ6 Zero Backlash Worm Mount from the PO. This nice piece of engineering from Rowan Astronomy in the UK, replaces the RA axis on my EQ6. My guiding is not that bad, on a good night I'm down to .6 RMS, on a poor night it can be as high as 1.0. Although not terrible, it can definitely be improved on, and is a cheaper option than buying a new mount. An Ioptron with the ability to carry the same payload is over 3450 Euro, the RA replacement is £285.95, so it's a lot cheaper alternative if I can reduce the RMS to under .50. The RA replacement,  is a spring loaded device to minimize backlash on the worm. The job is very straight forward, I have already done the belt replacement, so I know how it all comes apart, and I'm only stripping down half of it to do the upgrade.

 

 

 

[GazAstro]

Looks promising 🤞🏻

[AstronomyUkraine]

6 minutes ago, GazAstro said:

Looks promising 🤞🏻

I have been waiting for one of these for a few months now, will post a review of the performance increase, if any, once I get a clear night or two.

[Alex]

Interesting - How easy is it to fit?

[AstronomyUkraine]

29 minutes ago, Alex said:

Interesting - How easy is it to fit?

It will be quite simple for me, as I already did the belt mod on my mount. There are detailed instructions how to fit the new RA mount. A basic set of tools is all you need. A couple of allen keys, a pipe wrench to remove the polar scope and that's it really. Not forgetting a bit of grease for lubrication. Here are the fitting instructions.

NEQ6-ZB-WormMount.pdf

Edited April 13, 2021 by AstronomyUkraine

[MarkAR]

Interested in seeing the results 👍

[AstronomyUkraine]

1 minute ago, MarkAR said:

Interested in seeing the results 👍

Me too. I have heard great results coming from this piece of kit, so I'm very optimistic.

[Padraic M]

Interesting! Looking forward to the results. Pity they don't do one for the HEQ5.

[AstronomyUkraine]

6 hours ago, Padraic M said:

Interesting! Looking forward to the results. Pity they don't do one for the HEQ5.

Got it installed today. Quite straightforward, took about 4 hours overall. Half of that time was taken up with fine adjustments when the scope was back on the mount. It's a lot of trial and error with the worm adjustment hex grub screws, as you probably know if you have an HEQ5.

[TerryMcK]

Fantastic. Hopefully it reduces the RMS a bit.

[AstronomyUkraine]

2 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

Fantastic. Hopefully it reduces the RMS a bit.

Me too Terry. Reading a few reviews on the upgrade, it appears to improve PEC too. I never run PEC, but might try recording a curve with PHD2 and using it in conjunction with PHD2, and see if it makes guiding better, or worse. As usual with any new piece of kit, the clouds rolled in, and the forecast is crap for the next few days. Promised a clear night on Sunday, so hopefully will get a chance to try out this piece of hardware.

[AstronomyUkraine]

Should be able to test my new piece of kit out tonight, after making a really stupid mistake. I had everything just snugged down, not overtight, and there wasn't a bit of movement in the mount. I was testing the products of my labour in my workshop, and noticed the RA axis wasn't tracking, it was slewing fine. So it was another few hours fiddling about, adjusting etc, no joy.

 

Today was the same, still couldn't get it to track, finally decided to strip it down again. No sooner had I removed the cover, I noticed my mistake straight away, I had connected the motor leads to the wrong terminals. Luckily I have the motors marked, and the connectors on the board are marked RA and Dec. I have no idea how I did this, but the mount is tracking normally again. 😂

 

Brian

[AstronomyUkraine]

OK got the rig outside, adjusted everything, but not to the point of binding, I will make further adjustments tomorrow when I adjust it to almost binding. First impressions are great, the mount is guiding in poor seeing, some high clouds, with an RMS of 51. This is at least 10 or 15 lower than I would get in good seeing.

 

Brian

 

 

 

[MarkAR]

Sounds like a good result👍

[AstronomyUkraine]

2 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

Sounds like a good result👍

Now guiding at 63 RMS, the seeing is not great, but I'm very happy with this upgrade.

[MarkAR]

That's pretty good, I'm getting over 0.7"RMS tonight. Was down under 0.4"RMS the other night.

[AstronomyUkraine]

10 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

That's pretty good, I'm getting over 0.7"RMS tonight. Was down under 0.4"RMS the other night.

Just got mine to below .50. It is still making quite a lot of corrections in the RA axis, so there is room for improvement.

 

[MarkAR]

Superb👍👍👍

[AstronomyUkraine]

Just had my best spell of guiding tonight, I'm amazed at the improvement this upgrade has made, and I reckon I can eke a bit more out of it.

 

[MarkAR]

Looks like the operation was a success 👍👍👍

[AstronomyUkraine]

7 hours ago, MarkAR said:

Looks like the operation was a success 👍👍👍

It looks that way. Going to fine tune it today, see if I can reduce the RMS a little more. I would like consistent reading below .40, but with a 16 year old mount, that might be too optimistic.