dx_ron wrote: Finally got clear sky for an evening. Lots of moon, so I don't even feel bad about having to spend it testing guiding. I started pointed east, within a half-hour of the meridian near the zenith. Ran GA twice and got 2490ms and 2775ms backlash. Not great, but it can probably guide OK with that.
But then I moved to the west, pointing at M45. Ran GA and got >21000ms. Tried various settings for the tension knob, but always >19000ms. So it looks like adjusting the dec mesh is my weekend project.

I think I have a decent idea what is supposed to happen. I will check the hinge tightness. But in terms of the mesh, it is basically: loosen the 3 hex screws along the hinge, lower the worm onto the ring gear. It should seat itself and in doing so move the hinge into the correct position. Then you just tighten the 3 hex screws to hold it there. I understand the part about moving the gears to find where it still binds and then re-doing the mesh there. Guess I'm just looking for confirmation that my view of how "adjusting the mesh" works is correct.

Did you watch the Paul Chasse ZEQ25 videos? I'm not sure what it is about putting a spacer between the tension screw and the hinge during the re-mesh accomplishes. My best guess is that it evens out the pressure along the hinge a bit. Did you do anything like that?



Thanks for this report! I have seen the same thing repeatedly, guiding accuracy on the same target shifting dramatically after the meridian flip. It can only be mechanical. I have not done much imaging over the last two months for personal reasons, but on the two occasions I did I thought I had that problem pretty much gotten down to a minimum.

I did not know about the ZEQ25 videos. Can you post the link?

Best, Jo

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