Dr. Clay's supercharge service - anyone ever use it?

Take nothing for granted Frank, make sure they understand whats going on before the scope leaves the country.

Always good advice Dave!

On the other hand, I may not yet send it.
I spent a few hours on the net tonight digging out every and anything to
do with his supercharge and other ETX 'fixes'.
After reading a huge amount of them I felt confident I could tackle the
major problems myself.

So I basically took the ETX apart.
:shock:
(you know that kind of 'out of body' feeling you get when you take
something apart and look around you at all the bits...ahhh! what am I doing?!)
Well, I got that in spades tonight!

Long story short,
It wasn't so bad.
It's all back together and running better than it ever was.

I've all the gears and clutches cleaned & reconditioned.
The difference is unbelievable!
Tracking and goto are 100% every time.

Basically the ETX is an excellent scope let down by cheep assembly
and a bad manual.

Dr. Clays site gives you the basics of what every ETX used shouldn't have to but still should do to get the best out of the instrument.

Have many spare screws and parts were left over after the re-assembly?

You're a brave man Frank, a very brave man !!!
I didnt notice any mushroom clouds in the Shannon direction yesterday, had I known before hand, I would have evacuated to Nenagh :lol:

Seriously, I'm glad it worked out, I also took apart my 12" years ago and solved alot of issues by doing this.
Did you take the mirror out and have a go at fixing the mirror flop ?

Have many spare screws and parts were left over after the re-assembly?

Funny that, the don't have a huge number of screws!?

You're a brave man Frank, a very brave man !!!
I didnt notice any mushroom clouds in the Shannon direction yesterday, had I known before hand, I would have evacuated to Nenagh :lol:

A wise precaution!

Seriously, I'm glad it worked out, I also took apart my 12" years ago and solved alot of issues by doing this.

I had a bit of practice with the LXD75 remember?
Anyway, there really isn't much to these scopes.
As long as you make sure the base & OTA is level, true and at perfect right angles in re-assembly &
you pretty much put it back the way you got it the optical encoders are
not going to be hugely out. and anyway, thats what the 3 star alignment
process is for during set up.
The Level North Technology feature is another great saver on these.
No fiddling around with compass and levels in the dark during set-up.

Did you take the mirror out and have a go at fixing the mirror flop ?

No way!
I'll leave that for another night when I go mad again.
(near a full moon?)

All these scopes really need double checking on arrival & a 12month pit stop after that.
Most of the future problems come from poor assembly,
too much/little grease on the cogs, wires left hanging loose,
and a few internal screws that come slightly loose
from the vibration of the motors etc...

What can I say,
the ETX,
the perfect 'hobbyist' scope.