Thanks for the tips. The mount was purchased new and was mounted in
an observatory not use all that often. I picked it up from the
observatory and in a nut shell, it s in new condition.

I will check the mesh, last night this issue never happened and the
pointing was perfect, I moved to about 10 objects and took an image,
it was almost perfectly in the center every time.


--- In ap-gto@..., chris1011@... wrote:

In a message dated 8/8/2007 7:37:31 PM Central Daylight Time,
cluster@... writes:

This is a used but only 4 years old. I will look at the worm mesh
which makes more sense. Again, as long as moving the mount with
TheSky does not cause issues, then I don't care.

Whether being moved by TheSky or by TheKeypad, the motors are

always only

controlled by the servo controller. The problem is not in TheSky or

TheKeypad -

they are simply software word generators - the problem must be

adressed in the

actual electrical portion of the mount. Please understand that

software cannot

move motors directly, it is the capture of the software words by

the servo

and then translating those words into electrical signals sent to

the motors that

results in the mechanical movement.

here are the possibilities:

1: not enough voltage for the motors to do the job being told by

the software

2: very tight worm mesh (can be caused by improper packing when the

mount was

sent via UPS or other carrier which can cause the motor box to jam

into the

worm).
3: faulty receiver/transmitter chip (UART chip) inside the servo

box - this

normally is a total failure, not intermittent and will cause total

failure to

communicate.

If it is inside the servo box (CP2 or CP3), the mount can not be

controlled

from an external source such as the keypad or a computer, but the

motors will

still track at the sidereal rate. If the worm mesh is too tight,

then the

motors will not be able to keep up with the commanded motion, will

fall behind and

will try to catch up even after receiving a stop signal (stop

signal =

direction key not pressed).

If the mount has been purchased second hand, it is a good idea to

go over the

mount mechanically to make sure that all items work. It is quite

common for a

3rd party to pack the mount inadequately and ship it with little or

no

protection on the motor gearboxes. These motor boxes can be forced

into the worm by

blows received during shipping. You can check this easily when you

receive the

mount. Remove the motor gear covers and try turning the large spur

gear by

hand. If it moves freely, the motors can do their job. If it feels

tight, you

will need to reset the worm mesh - a job so simple that even I can

do it!!

Rolando


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