What's your name? Introduce yourself to IFAS!

Welcome along Woody.

woody wrote:

Have a 9.25" SCT and would like to get to use it more. (small kids and long work days mean not a lot of time at night to get out apart from sleep)

Nice scope,
I hear ya with regards to time constraints...
forget sleep! Especially 'round this time of year.
:silly:

woody wrote:

Would love to get into photoastronomy.

Lots of guys here are experts and very willing to help out newcomers
get into that kind of stuff...

Hi All,

Being cruising these forms for a couple months now even asked a few questions so I said it was about time to introduce myself. I'm 27 from cork married with 2 kids and a refrigeration & air-conditioning engineer by trade. I now specialize in controls and currently work for a Cork company, that manufacturer specialized air conditioning equipment, writing software for programmable controllers.

Interests besides astronomy are photography and anything to do with fiddling with computers and such including programming.

Always had an interest in astronomy but it was only recently that I thought of learning what I was actually looking up at at night time. On advice from here forwent getting a telescope to start with and got a pair of 10 X 50 binos good advice and can now pick out some of the constellations and have seen some of the easier stuff through them. Also got a loan of a Meade ETX 90 which is a goto scope but the Alz tracking doesn't work so can only really get it pointed at the planets and at low magnification. Trying to point it with anymore accuracy is impossible. Hoping to get 8inch Dob around Christmas time(money gods willing). At the moment just waiting for mid september when the first meedting if Cork Astronomy Club is so I can join up there.

Well thats me summed up so I guess thanks for reading and I'll see you on the forms.

John.

Hey John - welcome aboard/to the madhouse! Photography and computers - you're in the perfect place... Lots of that here for sure.

Good luck with the Cork lads and hope you thoroughly enjoy it down there. And even more luck on the Money Gods being kind to you. If you get stuck though, I'm sure there'd be a few offers from the Cork lads to let you have a go at their kit...

Cheers
Dave

Welcome John

Do you know if the Alt failed or has it always been dodgy?
If latter then could be the clutch not engaging properly.
My ETX 70 was problematical. I'd really have to overtighten to get te ALT to move under motor but used to jerk and stick then. The Az was always fine. Now ETX 90 might be similar mechanisms being reasonably close in size.

I unscrewed both large plastic ALT nuts and removed the two circular plates. Cleaned the surfaces and then applied lithium grease to contact areas (I bought a small tube - from Halfords I think) then recombined and system worked far better - didn't have to overtighten though did need occassional reapplication. I note you say "loaned" so I'd get the buy in of the owner before doing the above.

Again - welcome.

Mark

Oh - when I say contact areas I mean the telescope facing sides of the discs - not between the discs and large black knobs.

Mark

Cheers lads!
Hi Mark,

Ya I thought about opening it up to have a look the only problem is the base which houses to Alz motor and bearings is in a sealed housing and can't find any way to access it. I'm sure it is something simple as I can hear the motor turning and it had just being acting like you described below jerking and then sticking but Meade have made it impossible to access!! This scope could well be a 70 too can't remember if he said 70 or 90 and it's not written anywhere on the scope itself.

John.