AWR Goto

Yipeeeee....! At last, after 4 attempts (about 10 hours) at getting my goto system back up and running after my, err, holiday, its working!!!

The last few nights have been cold and clear so i took the opportunity to familiarize myself with the system again. The first night was a nightmare, couldnt polar align using the polar scope or iterative method, the finder scope was out of alignment so i gave up after about an hour. Took the whole lot indoors and sorted it all out in comfort. PTFE tape for the focuser on the finder, insulating tape to tighten up the finders front pivot (the O ring has dissapeared) and a bit of oil on the gears inside the mount

The second night, after all of my preperation, the power supply (a car battery with a charge attached to it to regulate the supply) started to freak out.

Finally, on the third night (last night) and after many fouled up attempts, i got a near perfect 2 star calibration only to have the gears start slipping!!!

Meching the gears is not too much of a problem, i done it while the scope was doing a massive slew so that i knew they where meshed properly..

I got a fair few objects in but the new observing site really only gives good views to a North Easterly direction but its better than lugging the gear into the car then out again only to suffer the problems i have mentioned.

I shall make some light screen to block out the intrusive street lighting (2 years of trying and the council wont shield the offending street lamp for love nor money (what do i pay council tax for exactly???)) and hopefully all will be well. I think i might get myself a TAL 100 R too :)

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