My telescope mount decided to fail during the Orion Nebula that night

I set up my Celestron AVX mount last Saturday night out near Lake Chelan, got everything aligned perfectly, and then about 20 minutes into capturing M42 the whole thing just stopped tracking. Turns out the declination clutch slipped because I forgot to tighten it all the way after balancing. I spent the next hour trying to salvage the session with short exposures before the moon came up. Has anyone else had a clutch issue ruin a good imaging night?

3 comments

3 Comments

eric_knight723d ago

Keep a small hex wrench taped to the tripod leg so you can check the clutch screws without hunting for tools in the dark. I started marking the exact tightness with a tiny paint dot after my own AVX slipped on the Andromeda Galaxy last fall. That simple fix saved me from repeating the mistake and lost a lot fewer subs.

leo_fisher23d ago

My buddy Mike had his AVX saddle plate slip right in the middle of a 3-minute sub on M31 a couple years back, totally ruined his whole sequence. He ended up throwing a strip of grip tape on the clutch knobs so his fingers could feel the exact tension without even looking. Now I've got a little bag of zip-ties and a mini wrench clipped to my tripod leg using a carabiner, it's been a lifesaver more than once. Do you find the paint dot holds up through weather changes, or does it fade after a few cold nights out?

wendyg4323d ago

Used to think marking things was overkill, but after one freezing night where everything felt loose and I couldn't tell what was tight, I get it now. The paint dot honestly holds up fine through cold and damp as long as you give it a good dry time before heading out. Grip tape on the knobs sounds smart too, might have to steal that idea for my CGEM.