HEQ5 Pro Rowan Belt Modification - Was it worth it ?
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- This video is not instructions on how to fit this upgrade. It's a summary of why I'm doing the upgrade, an overview of what's involved with the install and a test night to see what improvements have been made to our guiding and ultimately is it worth it?Hope this helps guys and clear skies.
0:00 Intro and background
3:47 Summary of the install
10:10 Test night
14:19 The PHD2 RMS results
14:45 Is it worth it?
#astrophotography #rowan #guiding - Věda a technologie
Congratulations Ollie! Very happy for you and loved hearing your mount sound sooooo sweet!
Cheers Andy it sure does sound a lot better I no longer have to cringe when it starts and stops.🤣
Nice video that Ollie. It was good to see how that's done. Sometimes things look more complicated than what they actually are. Glad it worked out for you!
Thanks Ben yes this was all fairly straightforward in the end.
Good result Ollie! Well worth doing the upgrade, nicely explained. We just all need some clear skies now, so frustrating!
Thanks Simon. You're not wrong about clear skies I managed this test last night for a little while but hard to get any consistent clear spells right now.
What a massive improvement Ollie! I thought I was the only one that liked the sounds of their mounts moving, I love that sound!
Cheers Joe. Ha lol I'm not sure my partner understood why my smile was so big when just using the controller to move the mount around. I'm like "listen to that". 🤣.
Hey Ollie! - super glad to see that the install went well and that you are now getting great guiding!! - when the flattener arrives you'll be totally set for your coming winter season :) can't wait!
Hey Luke. Thanks man yes I was very happy to see some consistent guiding at last and yes just that flattener now. Hopefully some clear weather soon, sounds like we're all having clouds now. Cheers mate.
Great upgrade Ollie, just did mine a couple weeks ago, and yes, love the sound as well.
Nice one Luke yes it's awesome no more crunching sound !
Thanks for the video Ollie, looks like the belt mod is definitely worth it. Clear skies
Cheers Russell I think you're on an EQ6 so I guess you're ok?
Nice one Ollie. Great to see the improvements it gave
Hey sure is, nice to see some tangible improvements 👍
Nice result. Congrats!
My great breakthrough on RMS, was the multy-star guiding. (with belted EQ-6 and 250/1200)
Cheers Zoltan I've certainly found multi-star has helped a bit too.👍
Good to see the improvements. I added a cheap svbony 2x barlow to my 30mm guide scope and it dropped the total error from ~0.9 to a consistent ~0.6 on a gem28. Might be something to try as well
Interesting
I like the bit where you said, it didn’t look right so I took a look at the manual... 😂 that was me all over when I first got the QHYCCD Polemaster and did a video on that. 🙈 I’m pleased for you that it all worked out for you.
Cheers Mark yes I had a few moments looking at that manual. It felt commonsense they would go on the same way but the belts mean everything comes out further. Cheers mate. Just need those clear skies now.🙏
Grats on a successful upgrade. :)
Thanks DSO 👍
Thanks Ollie. I’ve got a new astro-rig and setup coming down the pipe 😉 but once it comes in I plan on doing this belt mod upgrade. Been looking at this for some time. Astro baby, guys out of the UK, some folks stateside here too.
My error tends to be quite reasonable (0.8 to 1.4), but I’m curious to see if I can improve. Particularly on the other side of the meridian where my H-EQ5 Pro also tends to struggle a bit. Cheers!
Hi There yes I'd also thought about this one for quite a while but also my guiding was probably a bit worse than yours too. I must say I was amazed at the improvement, makes me wonder if I had something a bit more fundamental wrong with how mine was. Good luck with the new rig.👍
There's something satisfying about doing mods yourself. Especially when they go well!
Hey Dave sure is, always a little concern when you switch it all back on.🤞
Glad to see the upgrade went smoothly. Hopefully clear skies will appear soon.
Thanks Logan yes hopefully would be nice to use it all now.
Hi Ollie. Nice upgrade which I am sure will return great results for you, well done. You should look to run PEC training and also make sure you run a guide assistant as these will all help.
Hey Glenn yes very pleased with the results on my early test. Just need some clear weather to actually use it. I've run the guide assistant but PEC training is on the list. Cheers👍
I fitted the belt drive mod from Rowan a few years ago the best thing I ever did. The tracking is far better than before. The only problem I found was that my scope is on a pillar outside and I did the mod in the middle of winter. Kept dropping the allen keys out of cold fingers !
Hey Peter yes I could hardly believe the improvement for myself glad to hear yours worked out too. I can imagine trying to do it with the mount in situ with all those small gears and screws in winter to be a right pain ! Thanks for watching 👍
Congratulation. Good luck.
Thanks
Great Video!! Congrats on your Belt Upgrade!! Does The Belt Upgrade Makes Any Diffrence in the Sound of the Mount Slewing ? Interesting Demo!! Clear Skies!
It's certainly a little quiter and much quieter when stopping as you don't get that drinking sound. Thanks DSH, hopefully get some clear skies soon to actually use it.
Nice one mate
Thanks Ergio
You should always put your counterweight on before you attach your ota, to stop it potentially flipping if your clutches are loose.
Of course Dave, but occasionally setting up each night you can forget like I did here, main thing is going slow.
Thank You for sharing Ollie! I upgraded my HEQ5 today , have you had any problems since you did the modification.
Hey Tam no problems at all but my guiding has improved a lot. Now I can always keep it around 1 sec or below pretty much.
Hey there. Out of interest did you ever try (pre-belt mod) running with your PA 2 to 3 arc minutes out. I have an unmodded HEQ5 Pro and found this gets me under 0.5 RMS due to keeping the gears engaged in one direction thus avoiding backlash.
Didn't try that one interesting thought
I would guess if you're seeing such asymmetry with the guiding on different sides of the meridian, your mount may not like being perfectly balanced. There is the old rule about trying to be "east heavy". The easiest way to effect this is after finding perfect RA balance, hang a small bean bag type of weight on the east side of RA axis (you will need to change the location to the other side after a flip). This means that as the mount rotates towards the west, it is doing some work again a little weight so the gears stay meshed. Give that a try and see if the asymmetry is reduced.
Thanks Douglas I am finding now I can normally sit around 0.6 to 1 arc sec so much better. I do normally have it slightly counterweight heavy these days.
I belt modded my HEQ5 pro some time back and having followed some advise from my friend "Astrobloke I rarely go beyond 0.6, I have found balance is quite critical but being pier mounted rarely have to polar align...
Hey David yes the belt mod is very worthwhile and yes also adjusting the axis as well you're quite right that you can get the total RMS like this. Thanks for watching Dave 👍
@@AstroSoundscape You are welcome, my next move is a "Hypertune" (through an engineering friend) and a Geoptik Saddle ahead of the return of dark skies...
I've got the Geoptik saddle head on my AZ EQ6, it's very well made 👍
I have 2 HEQ5s and I was considering doing the mods on them but I was curious about one thing. Do the belts wear out on them, and if so, can you just order replacement belts?
Hey Dexter in all honesty that's not really something I've thought about or heard of to be honest, but I'm sure you must be able to get replacement belts as many of the mounts run like this. I think it would be a long time before you needed to consider replacements.
Thanks for sharing! what is the size of the pinion gear removal tool? 3mm or 4mm? they have both over there at the site but do not specify which one is one...
No worries. You should be able to take off the cover and measure the width of the shaft on which the gear is attached.
@@AstroSoundscape I asked because I live in the U.S. and the kit's factory is in the UK. Shipping is not overnight... I would not opened up my unit then measure the diameter of the axle, then purchase the kit, then wait for the kit to arrive... That's not how I proceed with mods. That's why I asked since you have done it already. To my advantage when I chose arbitrarily and then checked my "cart" it showed the 3 mm is for HEQ5...
@@ele4853 ok now worries I was trying to make the point that each Heq5Pro can be different so when I bought mine they told you on the website to measure it yourself, how else would you know the width? It's just a cover plate.
Couldn't find a follow up. How well has this kit worked? Tracking accuracy? Happy with it?
Yes it's been well worth it, guides very consistently anywhere from 0.5 - 0.7
Your tracking rate is a partial reflection on your power alignment, I drift alignment is phd more accurate?
I polar align using Sharpcap which uses plate solving very accurate.👍
My HEQ5Pro does 0.8 Total RMS stock.
Thinking about buying a new HEQ5 instead of the EQ6-R after seeing your video. I want a lighter mount and won't need the higher payload capacity of the EQ6-R. However, I'm wondering if the manufacturer is going to take all these belt drive conversions to heart and come out with an improved belt-drive HEQ5. Has anyone heard anything along those lines? If a new model had the same price, I'd jump right in. Otherwise, adding the conversion kit starts to bring the price of a HEQ5 close to a EQ6-R.
I haven't heard about a belt driven version of this. If you really don't need the extra payload I'd probably stick to the HEQ5 Pro it really is a super mount.👍The only reason I've got a AZ-EQ6 now is for the payload capacity.
Nice vid, but in my opinion it would be good to have no background music when you are trying to demonstrate how quiet the slewing is. I’ve had a rowan mod on my heq5pro, and it still sounds a bit noisy at the start and end of a slew. I was trying to hear if yours did the same for comparison, but the background music swamped it.
Agreed. Great tutorial though!
I'll bear in mind for future vids 👍
Thanks for sharing your experience, however. The background droning ‘sound’ really interferes with the narration and would be better without it. Greetings from Tasmania Australia-Southern Cross Observatory-42 South. Clear skies.
Thanks Shevill, no worries.
Close the music,please.
Close the music? As in remove it?
@@AstroSoundscape When you are talking there should be no music.
Polar i said polar
The background music ruined this …. Especially if you want viewers to listen before and after sounds to get an idea …thumbs down