help with Focus Cube Zero

FocusCube v1 & v2, Zero, Motor Focus Kit (Universal or Zero)
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funkysandman
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Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:01 pm

help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by funkysandman »

Hi, I have the Focus Cube Zero set up with my EdgeHD 8 SCT.
I've noticed it starting to slip and struggle when turning the knob clockwise. Everything is tight and it was working pretty good previously. It seems to have lots of torque and holds it's position after receiving a command but then lets go after some time and moves freely. My auto-focusing routing with Nina was working great but now it goes off into a wild goose chase having trouble making any progress in the positive direction (clockwise). Any ideas?
funkysandman
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:01 pm

Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by funkysandman »

tonight the cube zero is failing.. it refuses to turn the focus knob in either direction. It's -13C -maybe that's impacting its performance as well. At this point it is behaving as if it does not have enough torque and it just kind of buzzes. When I remove the belt it seems to spin fine.
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Evans
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Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by Evans »

Try to lower the max speed to 200 steps for higher torque.
funkysandman
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:01 pm

Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by funkysandman »

tried all the speeds... it was defaulted to low vibration speed...maybe I need a different gear ratio?
funkysandman
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:01 pm

Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by funkysandman »

good news.. I didn't realize at first that the custom speed was available for this cube. I set it to 50 and it seems to work! I put it back to 200 and it slips. For my needs the speed (50) is fine
funkysandman
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:01 pm

Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by funkysandman »

update:

still struggling with erratic response from the cube zero... I've reduced the speed to 10 then 5 and still having trouble getting consistent results.
has anyone swapped out the cube pulley for a smaller one to help with torque? I'm getting frustrated losing lots of shots due to auto focus routines failing
funkysandman
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:01 pm

Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by funkysandman »

another update:

I've replaced the 40 tooth pulley on the motor side with a 30 tooth version and modified the bracket holes to allow a little more distance to take up the slack.
Hopefully this ratio works better- it appears to be working for now. I'll be testing it out on the tomorrow night to see if the auto-focus routines start to work again. Tomorrow is expected to be clear and drop to -26C - should be good test conditions.
funkysandman
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:01 pm

Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by funkysandman »

did some tests with the 30 tooth pulley which seems to help. With speed at 50 things were still unreliable (going out 250 then reverse 250 was not landing in same starting spot).

Decided to bring the speed down to 3 - very slow but this seems to allow reliable results with the +250 /-250 test.

I'm not sure if the motor is simply not powerful enough or there's something wrong with mine.
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Evans
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Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by Evans »

We have discovered that there is different and variable mechanical stiffness of focus axis on same Celestron telescopes. For this purpose we suggest to use a larger pulley and belt.
If you still encounter issues contact (support@pegasusastro.com) to better understand your issue with your telescope.
AdonisBradley
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Joined: Sat May 28, 2022 3:48 am

Re: help with Focus Cube Zero

Post by AdonisBradley »

Try to lower the max speed to 200 steps for higher torque.



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