Hi Tan, ( <-- I hope I got this right :') ) Seizing and cold welding are very different things. Yes seizing is common, but to me it is with any metal, not just steel. The lower the thread pitch is and

Thanks all ... @Ray: I've read the help guide and the link, but I still don't understand what the "seconds" (numerator) refers to: in one possible interpretation it's 15x the value of another possible

Hi Carl, The mechanical engineers and techs that I work with have extensive knowledge of stainless steel. We work with stainless steel everyday because it is used for high vacuum. Stainless steel

Hi, I just wanted to give you guys an update. My shaft is seized solid to the insert and the thread is visibly damaged (look at the first thread on the first post). Unfortunately nothing works. I must

It is an 1100 mount with a CP4 controller. And it does not have encoders. I do my best with polar alignment, balancing and levelling of the mount. I was given the impression that APCC with the JPL

Yes we can. You can see the rotation of the sun over a day's imaging. I have done that kind of animation before.

Hi Woody, That may be true; I've never experimented that way. On the other hand, when used carefully WD40 is marvelous stuff. I was a research scientist in a NASA funded biology lab for nearly twenty

Here’s a fun thing to do with the original WD-40 that will prevent you from ever using it again on delicate things or locks – or anything other than what it was originally designed for – rust

What you are asking is a lot for a non-encoder mount, especially one with an older GTOCP3. As I'm sure you are well aware, everything is more difficult at such a long focal length. Polar alignment

Wow! At 5000 mm focal length, you must just about be able to see the sunspots move as the sun rotates! (OK, not sure about that, but that's still a lot of focal length. I'm glad it's folded.

I agree with Cytan 💯% Fernando

Brian, I read through the entire post. In the end it didn't work well or at all. And that is with mostly a full disk image. With the 5 M scope, you have only a small fraction of the sun's surface.

I also use Horizons for tracking comets. It works great! Todd

Hi Eric not directly related to APCC, but I was just looking at this thread on Sharpcap last night regarding tracking sunspots https://forums.sharpcap.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5280 -- Brian Brian

I am trying out APCC to guide on sunspots for my solar imaging. Up to now, I just used polar alignment and GOTO to find the sun and the ASCOM controller to navigate. Once on a sunspot, I again use the

On Tue, Aug 9, 2022 at 11:41 AM, Mike Johnson wrote: I use a dab of anti seize compound on the threads to prevent this situation. I've been putting a dab of Lubriplate 105 on all screws and treads

Personally, I think it's just messy to use anti-seize and lube on a counterweight shaft which I've never used before the improvement with steel inserts. The root of the problem is stainless steel on

I use a dab of anti seize compound on the threads to prevent this situation. Available at any auto parts store. I also use it on spark plug threads when changing the plugs on an auto or marine engine.

WB You could also try NINA's Orbitals plug-in to program your mount for custom tracking rate on a specific comet, I assume you will see the resulting values in the AP UI -- Brian Brian Valente astro

Hi WB, The units are defined by ASCOM and also defined in the help file. They The right ascension tracking rate offset is relative to the sidereal rate, in seconds per sidereal second. There is no