Avalon Instruments EVO-ZERO User manual

EVO-zero
Belt Drive System
Compact Equatorial Mount
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Version 1.0.2 May 2022
All the pictures and contents here included are property of Avalon Instruments. The contents cannot be
reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any way, including the internet, without the written
permission of Avalon Instruments.

SAFETY STANDARDS AND WARNINGS
Read the manual carefully before installing and using the mount
To make the document easier to read in the field, we recommend that you to copy
all documentation files from the supplied USB flash drive to a smartphone or, even
better, to a computer or tablet
Use the power cable supplied with the mount or else a 12V- 3A stabilized power
supply as suggested in the manual
Make sure that the power cable is connected correctly and securely to the power
socket
Do not bend, pull or press the cable as this may damage it
For any assistance or repairs, please contact only the manufacturer
Be sure to remove the power supply at the end of an observing or imaging session
or before performing cleaning or maintenance When removing from a power
outlet, pull on the plug, not the cable
This mount is intended for use exclusively by adults Do not allow it to be used by
children under 12 or by people with impaired mental faculties
Operate the mount only as indicated in the manual
Modifying or altering the characteristics of the mount in any way will void the
manufacturer’s limited warranty
Never modify the tension of the belts (governed by a dedicated screw) These are set
in the factory and any unauthorized change will void the manufacturer’s limited
warranty
After using the mount, avoid storing it in areas exposed to sunlight or in wet places
IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF LUBRICANT, SPRY, LIQUID OR
OIL ON THE BELT DRIVE SYSTEM !!!
Any use of lubricants will void the manufacturer’s limited warranty
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IMPORTANT NOTE: THE EVO-ZERO IS A CLUTCHLESS MOUNT WITH A
SAFETY BRAKE SYSTEM THAT MUST BE DISABLED IN ORDER TO ALLOW
THE MOUNT START WORKING
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Summary
SAFETY STANDARDS AND WARNINGS.............................................................................................2
Technical Specifications..............................................................................................................................5
Foreword......................................................................................................................................................
1. Packing Content.......................................................................................................................................7
2 Mount Description....................................................................................................................................8
3. Initial EVO-zero Setting........................................................................................................................11
1.1 T-pod Mounting...............................................................................................................................11
3.2 Installing the Mount on the Tripod..................................................................................................13
3.4 Latitude range settings.....................................................................................................................13
3.3 StarGo and EVO-zero cabling connections.....................................................................................18
4 Telescope Balancing Operations............................................................................................................22
5. EVO-zero Alignment in Equatorial Mode.............................................................................................22
5.2 Azimuth adjustment.........................................................................................................................23
5.3 EVO-zero Polar Alignment.............................................................................................................24
5.3.1 Polar Kit (optional) Installation................................................................................................24
5.3.2. Polar alignment with a Polarscope..........................................................................................24
5.3.4 External Programs for Finding Polar Position..........................................................................27
5.3.4 More modern and precise approaches to Polar Alignment.......................................................28
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Technical Specifications
Type Equatorial/Alt Az mount
Weight 4, Kg
Load Capacity Also without counterweights or with a small counterweight on
depending on the setup specs
Transmission Belt Drive System composed by four stage reducer with pulleys
and timing belts.
Construction
material
Anodized aluminum, machined from single blocks with high
precision CNC machines
Goto system Avalon StarGO GOTO System - Wi-Fi
Counterweight bar W = 1 mm / L = 235 mm
Counterweight 3 kg
Mounting Saddle Vixen style
Warranty 2 years from the purchase date, extended to 5 years for the
transmission system
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Foreword
This manual describes the mounting, operation and correct setup of the EVO-zero single arm
mount, including the proper installation of a suitable optical tube.
Please read this manual carefully to guarantee that you can use the EVO-zero mount in
complete safety and with the maximum satisfaction.
The instructions related to the StarGO control system and related software are described in
separate Instruction Manuals:
Avalon Instruments - StarGO Control System
Both the above manuals are included in the flash drive supplied with the mount.
The design and the configuration of the mount can be subject to modifications without prior
notice, based on design decisions leading to continuous improvements and on the suggestions
of mount owners.
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1 Packing Content
Open the box and take out all the contents. Remove all the components from the small
cardboard box and from the mount bag side pocket, and place them on a clean, flat surface.
Component List
•Mount Head
•StarGo Controller
•StarGO Keypad
•3 kg Counterweight
•Counterweight rod
•Mount transport bag
•RA/DEC Motor’s connecting cable
•Brake Safety System connecting cable
•Power supply
•Allen wrench
•USB cable
•Azimuth adjustment pin
•3/8” Mount fixing knob
•USB flash drive with manuals and software
Package picture
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2 Mount Description
The EVO-zero is a compact mount for travelling astronomy and light setup with a payload up to
13 kg, also without counterweights or with a small counterweight on depending on the setup
specs
The following drawing show the EVO-zero mount dimensional characteristics.
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The EVO-zero was developed on the basis of:
•Belt Drive System improved (more rigidity)
•Computer aided design (CAD)
•High quality manufacturing with digital control 5 axes CNC machines (CNC + CAM)
•Absolute quality materials: Anodized aluminium from milled mono-bloc, stainless steel
components and screws, brass components, techno-polymers
The EVO-zero is mainly designed for astro-imaging with medium-short length tubes (such as
SC-Maksutov, RC up to -8″ aperture and 13 kg weight, according to the tube length).
It is possible to use the EVO-zero even with refractors (400-500 mm), with a piggyback.
Thanks to the Belt Drive System improved with more rigidity and double belt tensioner per
axis, with telescopes within the mount payload capability, it is only required to fix the telescope
on the top vixen clamp without perform a fine balancing adjustment.
The use of pulleys and timing belts has allowed to obtain several advantages: a really steady
motion without play (no backlash) and sudden peaks, factors of paramount relevance for long
guided exposures and during high magnification visual observations. These features are of
particular relevance especially for the declination axis motor that can now quickly reverse the
motion without breaks to recover the plays. The timing belts used in the EVO-zero have the
structure made of special material with steel strands to avoid any deformation.
It is important to underline that in the gear-worm systems the motion transmission has only one
tangent point of contact, any errors on each of the two components will, sooner or later, result
into a tracking errors. On the contrary, in the pulley-timing belt system, no direct contact occurs
between the pulley and the motion is transmitted by the belt engaging from 50% to 90% of the
girth surface. Consequently any error, eventually present, is averaged among the cogs,
moreover soft, greatly reducing the tracking error.
No wearing effects since no relevant frictions occur. In fact, all the pulleys and the axes rotate
on roller bearings that allow to reduce the total friction almost to zero.
Another significant advantage of very low frictions is that the risks of motor slipping during
GOTO operation is virtually null. On the contrary, it is well known the difficulty to regulate the
coupling between gear and worm in the conventional mounts. If the coupling is tight the motors
can stuck with consequent loss of the position, if the coupling is too loose the plays increase.
On the other hands, the absence of significant play in the EVO-zero makes the initial calibration
of guiding CCD quick and easy.
Since there are no gears, there is no need of periodical lubrication of the internal components
and therefore the maintenance is extremely reduced and limited to the external cleaning.
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3 Initial EVO-zero Setting
The EVO-zero has been designed for the T-pod 70 but is also compatible with the T-pod 90, so,
in the next paragraphs will be described the operations required to fix this mount on one of
them.
The operations described here require the EVO-zero to be firmly set on the T-Pod tripod.
Therefore the first portion of this chapter will describe the operation needed to set up the tripod
and install the mount on it.
However, the EVO-zero is also compatible with photographic tripods that allow the use of 3/8”
fixing knob.
1.1 T-pod Mounting
The T-pod 70/90 setup is very simple. The operations to perform are the following:
•Place the T-Pod tripod head up with the legs on the ground. After loosening the knobs on
the legs, adjust their length to the desired height.
•Pull the legs outward by extending the three tie-rods until they click in fully opened
position.
•By using the EVO-zero with a T-pod 90 or a T-pod 70, it will be possible to assemble
the StarGo controller on one of the tripod legs thanks to the matching holespacing as
described on the sequenced pictures below.
We suggest to perform this operation before to put the mount on the tripod, in order to operate
in a more safe and secure situation.
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Adjustment of the tripod height will depend on the type of telescope to be used with the
mount. A Newtonian optical tube will require a minimum height because its eyepiece is
placed at the distal end of the tube, close to eye height for a person of average stature. If
the telescope is a refractor or a Schmidt-Cassegrain, the eyepiece is on the proximal end
of the OTA and viewing will be more comfortable if the tripod is at its full height. Use
the bubble level to adjust the length of each leg to put tripod head in an approximate
horizontal position.
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Firmly tighten the knobs on each leg to set the leg lengths and the height of the tripod
head.
Install the Azimuth adjustment pin as seen in the illustration.
3 2 Installing the Mount on the Tripod
The EVO-zero can be operated within a latitude range from about 0° to about 90° in both
Equatorial and Alt/Az configurations. To facilitate packing it is shipped with a latitude setting
of 0°. Therefore the first operation to be performed is to set the latitude range and scale for the
location where the mount will be used. The same operations must be performed when the
mount is moved to a site with latitude outside the range originally set.
3 4 Latitude range settings
The EVO-zero latitude range are subdivided into 5 sub-intervals as follows to be adjusted
before to use the mount.
First interval 0° --- °
Second interval 5° --- 27°
Third interval 2 ° --- 48°
Fourth interval 47° --- 9°
Fifth interval 8° --- 90°
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The illustrations below shows how to perform the raw and fine latitude adjustment.
Remove the latitude range blocking screw
Loose both the latitude blocking knobs placed on the left and right base mount sides.
Move the mount base as long as the raw latitude
as achieved, matching the latitude arrow
indicator with the corresponding user
observatory location latitude degree.
Put back the latitude blocking screw without firmly
tightening.
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Now is possible to perform a fine latitude
adjustment by using the latitude settings knob on
the mount rear side.
When a fine latitude adjustment has been set, it is
possible to firmly tight the latitude blocking screw.
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When this operation has been completed, by
using the mount fixing knob from the T-pod
bottom head side, it is possible to fix the mount
on the tripod.
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The Azimuth adjustment is performed with the two Azimuth adjustment knobs circled in yellow
in the image below. The fine adjustment procedure is explained in the 5.2 section.
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3 3 StarGo and EVO-zero cabling connections
Once the mount has been installed on the tripod, it is necessary to connect the electrical cables
from the StarGO controller to the mount.
The StarGO is provided with two RJ11 female connectors for DEC and RA motors and a
female plug for the Brake Safety System power cable.
IMPORTANT NOTE: the first cable to be connected must be the Safety Brake System
power cable
This is a very important and fundamental operation. The EVO-zero is a clutchless mount and
Avalon, in order to prevent accidentally collision due to sudden and unexpected power loss,
specifically designed a Brake Safety System that immediately block the RA axis in case of
power loss.
So, if the Brake Safety System is not powered on, the mount cannot move on the RA axis.
This system must be powered as shown in the picture below, with the cable provided and from
the StarGo controller.
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The provided cable set is provided with two RJ11, 4 pin cables and one power cable for the
Safety Brake System.
The two RJ11 cables should be connected to the StarGO and DEC connector in one side and to
the RA and DEC motors in the other side as shown on the picture below.
Below are the operations to perform these connections:
1. Insert the RJ11 male connectors into the corresponding receptacles on the top of the
StarGO box, as indicated in the picture below.
2. Connect the opposite ends of the RJ11 cables in their respective RA and DEC
receptacles on the mount. The white cable should be connected from the StarGo RA
connector plug to the EVO-zero RA Motor cable connector, whereas the black cable
should be connected from the StarGo DEC plug connector to the EVO-zero mount DEC
plug connector.
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Now that the latitude has been adjusted, the mount has been placed on the T-pod and cabling has been
performed it is possible to put the telescope on the mount,
The EVO-zero, as previously said, is a clutchless mount, furthermore, thanks to the Belt Drive system
improved in its rigidity, with setup within the mount paiload capability, it is possible to work even if a
fine balancement has not been performed.
Suggestion on the unbalancement supported by the mount and the counterweights required for the
payload range are available in the Telescope Balancing Operations section.
Below are shown some sample setup that can help the user to have an idea about the possible
configurations that can be set up with this mount.
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