They are not galled. There are aluminum slivers bound in the threads from the previous all-aluminum counterweight shaft adapter. "My advice is always free and worth every penny!" -Christopher Erickson

Take the counterweight shaft and stuck adapter to a friendly local machine shop. Take the counterweight shaft and stuck adapter to a friendly local machine shop. Take the counterweight shaft and stuck

Good grief people. The counterweight shaft and adapter are stuck together because one or more slivers of aluminum are caught in the threads. The slivers of aluminum came from the old aluminum threaded

Use Youtube and share the link. "My advice is always free and worth every penny!" -Christopher Erickson Observatory Engineer Summit Kinetics Waikoloa, Hawaii Virus-free. www.avg.com

And if you don't want to get the help of a machine shop, a rubber strap wrench and a bench vise with a couple small pieces of plywood in the jaws will probably help you get them apart without marring

My guess is that there was a sliver or two of aluminum in the threads of the counterweight shaft and that is what got the shaft and the adapter bound up together. Cleaning those threads first with an

Your friendly local machine shop will be able to deal with this without a problem. "My advice is always free and worth every penny!" -Christopher Erickson Observatory Engineer Summit Kinetics Waikoloa

It *might* work. What problem are you trying to solve? -Christopher Erickson Observatory Engineer Summit Kinetics Waikoloa, Hawaii Virus-free. www.avg.com

#WiFi

I design, work on and maintain professional observatories for a living. Having a periodic maintenance checklist and a thoughtful critical spares inventory is something ALL of the pro's and more experi

I think everyone should have a spare Y-cable and power cable in their kit. -Christopher Erickson Observatory engineer Waikoloa, HI 96738 www.summitkinetics.com

Where did you enter your lat/lon numbers? -Christopher Erickson Observatory engineer Waikoloa, HI 96738 www.summitkinetics.com

Also consider getting a spare motor Y-cable and try that. EVERYONE should have a spare motor Y-cable in their kit. A spare power cord too. And there is an outside chance that a software axis limit set

If it were me, I would be refabbing those pier plates to eliminate the conflict. "My advice is always free and worth every penny!" -Christopher Erickson Observatory Engineer Summit Kinetics Waikoloa,

It wouldn't be too hard to CAD-up and 3D-print a slip-over knob that would allow for some additional hand force to remove a stuck knob that doesn't have the Allen key socket. AP's dovetail lock design

I am going to assume that the only fair way is that everyone only gets to sign up once. And only one entry per household. And that cheaters will be disqualified. I also assume that it would only be fa

For a long time I have been a firm believer in putting a NUC, power dist. and a 50u multimode fiber transceiver (if a permanent installation) at the balance point of the OTA. Run 13.7V power, fiber an

The actual top recommended voltage isn't an absolutely precise number because variables like altitude, ambient temperature, relative humidity and localized air movement play significant roles in heat

When I lived up in Alaska I put a steel pier into the ground and set it with concrete. I took rhe scope and mount off of the pier when I wasn't using it and put a rubber canvas kayak bag over the pier

Possibly a drive backup program? -Christopher Erickson Observatory engineer Waikoloa, HI 96738 www.summitkinetics.com

#APCC

In my experience, even with a hood, the display brightness on the AP hand controller is so low that non-dark-adapted eyes still can't see it easily during the day. Removing the red lens is the best wa