Overcoming Planewave Slewing Quirk

[George Iwaszek]

Thanks, Eric, for sharing the information. I agree, as awkward as the L-500 mounted on the PW wedge appears, "splendid" is the perfect descriptor for tracking performance. I have a guider attached that I never use either and until this issue with CCW movement resulting in overcurrent, the mount has tracked very well.

I think Bill Dean has stepped away from support. The tech that I am working with on this issue, Caleb Ballentine, has been very helpful, but it appears that Planewave believes a repair the RA axis assembly is the next step. Having taken apart the system when I converted from alt-az to equatorial, I would rather not perform that work and incur the downtime. I am very anxious to check other options before repairs; your suggestions to check the dovetail and the UPS are most welcome.

The last time I worked with Bill, he recommended a USB conditioning device for the mount. This was around the time when the main board in the mount failed and had to be replaced.

Unrelated to this: what part of town is home for you in Albuquerque? I lived there for 25 years in the NE Heights (Tramway and Montgomery) until I moved to Colorado in 2012. I just met someone here in Colorado who lived on Albuquerque on the West Side. Apparently, he would look across the valley with binoculars and spot the TI dome I had in my backyard!

George

[Eric Dose]

My USB transmission problems pretty much went away when I ran all my rig's USB except the camera though an ruggedized industrial USB port (StarTech). It has optical isolation, well-powered ports, and is very insensitive to the cold. It has never failed in 7 years out in miserable conditions. I suppose it's acting as a conditioner of sorts. Recommended.