Thanks everyone. Tonight went much better. Rough collimation period at first with the secondary but I finally figured out the Bob's Knobs for this scope. They are just REALLY sensitive. At zenith there was a slight shaking if I changed EP's or if I had just rushed a focus on the focuser so that issue was resolved. I basically did it all . . . the primary was loose so I adjusted and that seems to have helped. Was leveled in good ground tonight and everything went fine. What a difference between the Pit last night and my backyard tonight! The intelliscope worked twice and that was it. Orion should send a replacement part out so I'll have that. Other then that I just did about 15 Messier tonight and tried for 3 H-400's but the LP got in the way. I'm about ready to offer money for someone to get the intelliscope up and working! On 2010-07-05 22:37, daniel turner wrote:

Jay:

You said the problem was at one degree from vertical. I wouldn't expect much in the middle of Dobson's Hole. Look at something else and then come back in fifteen minutes and the object will be out of the very small dead zone that comes with this design.

Also the ground support is a big source of wobble shift. You want to protect your ground board but putting it on a rug or a cloth is a bad idea. You need FIRM support at the bottom. I use three paving stones which are carefully set so that there is no rocking in any of the three. I set my ground board on this foundation. Three bricks would do just as well but a rug or tarp on soft ground will just not work.

Don't go taking apart the mirror cell yet. I doubt that it is the problem.

DT

--- On Mon, 7/5/10, Jay Eads <jayleads@???> wrote:

...

From: Jay Eads <jayleads@???> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Help on my XX14i Truss Shaking at Zenith To: "Utah-Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@???> Date: Monday, July 5, 2010, 1:07 PM Actually Chuck, you have a good point. Well checking the scope for balance in preparing to use the intelliscope I noticed it was not in balance and then I gave up on the intelliscope until tonight. It means the legs were not firmly planted. I had it on a rug and that may have been an issue. Would a piece of plywood help out?

I'm also going to take it out in a little bit and drop my cheshire and then laser in and see what the primary does when it is at zenith. If it moves it will tell me the primary is not secure and I'll need to go back in and redo it. Oh the fun. Thanks though Joe, Chuck and Craig for helping. Another thing I need to recheck is to make sure the hand screws that secure the spider vanes are at the right tension. Anything else I should check?

If the primary is loose I assume it is simply taking the mirror cell out of the tube and securing it a little better and then reassembling them. Correct?

On 2010-07-05 18:36, Chuck Hards wrote:

...

The scope might have not been seated on the ground in a stable configuration. Make sure all three contact points are firmly in contact with solid ground.

On 7/5/10, Craig Smith <cs2560@???> wrote:

...

There was a slight breeze some of the time. Not to put words in Jays mouth, but initially there were a couple slightly loose trusses, but tightening them didn't seem to help. It seemed to get into a resonance that wouldn't stop. The shroud wasn't on as we didn't think about it until after collimating it and it wouldn't fit easily over the focuser.

Craig

-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@??? [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@???] On Behalf Of Joe Bauman Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 11:47 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Help on my XX14i Truss Shaking at Zenith

Yes, Jay, I agree. You definitely should get any defect fixed. Also, I'm wondering if there was a breeze. Were all the parts bolted together securely? Best, Joe

--- On Mon, 7/5/10, Jay Eads <jayleads@???> wrote:

From: Jay Eads <jayleads@???> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Help on my XX14i Truss Shaking at Zenith To: utah-astronomy@??? Date: Monday, July 5, 2010, 8:57 AM

Need some help on the XX14i I have. Took it out to shake it down last night and I found that the scope did terrific until I got it up to zenith. At zenith last night M13 looked like it was being viewed during an earthquake. The scope really shakes back at forth at zenith so that impacts the viewing. Any ideas what would cause this and how to correct it?

I'm thinking that the mirror cell may be lose (but the scope performs wonderfully until you are about 1 degree from zenith and then it freaks out) or the springs used on the primary aren't strong enough to support the weight of the scope at zenith and I may need to order stronger springs. Sorry about this, user error I'm sure and being new to a truss design I thought I would ask and hopefully solve some an issue with some help.

I still don't have the intelliscope thing down and I think my azimuth encoder disc which came slightly dented in the middle hole where it goes through the bolt is the cause. I'm going to call Orion and ask for a replacement. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@??? http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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