Will GOTO Mount ever be out of alignment?

[kamiru]

just to ask from the bros here, will GOTO mount get out of alignment?

[weixing]

Hi,
Err... what do you mean??

If you move or shift the EQ mount, you need to do alignment again. Some GOTO system allow you to save the alignment before power off and if you didn't shift/move the EQ mount, you don't need to do alignment again.

Have a nice day.

[Airconvent]

if you use it alot (a problem practically impossible to achieve in Singapore!), then wear and tear of the gears and parts may result in higher backlash that may not be compensated adequately OR the clutch may become worn out.

Otherwise, everythime you switch on th goto scope, you are performing a new alignment.

[kamiru]

for my scope, i need to point to south for the zero position. Then i can either do a 1 star or a 2 star align. As my window is facing south. Acrux is the only star for my slign. Thus, after every zero position, i will align with Acrux, when i start the align, Acrux is not in the view. And i have manually move it to under my EP view. Is that normal for all GOTO?

Cause i am worried as i am doing a goto operation yesterday and the scope bumped against the window grills and i am not sure whether it is out of alignment as after zero position, the align star could not be under the EP view.

[tungkian]

hmm..using a meade scope? i doubt it'll go out of alignment, since u've gotta align it everytime before you start to use it..

but maybe u shld be aware that meade uses plastic gearings for their goto scopes (ETX, EC series)..so maybe u shld avoid another window grill kissing incident..

[acc]

The clutch is there to prevent damage to the gears should the scope's movement be blocked. That's why never over tighten the clutch. Once the clutch slips, u need to do a re-alignment.

As for during initial alignment, it is rare that the alignment stars will be in the ep fov, so use the controller to fine-tune the scope's pointing.