AstroEQ for EQ mounts

[JemC]

Not sure if this is of any help, but have you looked on the FAQ section at Astroeq, there is some thing in there about motors going wrong way

http://www.astroeq.co.uk/tutorials.php?link=/doku/doku.php?id=config

worth a try I suppose

Regards

[TCWORLD]

Just FYI, at the request of the Admins, I moved AstroEQ support here: http://astroeq.co.uk/forum/.

@pianorealm, For the HEQ5 you have to wire the motors to RJ11 connectors (same sort as on the EQ5). Assuming these are the motors with the RA having 6 wires and the DEC having 4, I do have a wiring diagram that I can dig out over Christmas. The only thing about the HEQ5 is that I was never able to find a reliable source for the gear ratios of the non-goto version. So if you have the motors and want to count the teeth in the gearbox...

@GigiG, you can use a clone, but some of them use weird USB-Serial ICs. The Arduino schematic is here: http://astroeq.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=13.0.

@David, that sounds very weird. I'm not entirely sure why it would track the right way but slew the wrong way. You could try starting with a fresh EQMOD.ini file (make a backup copy of the existing one, then delete the original, EQMOD will make a fresh one next time it is opened) - it's possible something in that got corrupted.

[The_PSY3NTIST]

Thanks Tom I'll give that a try it is very odd! It's only the RA axis though the dec is spot on when I rotate it round to where it should have gone. Tracking is great too until I try using Guiding. It's been a night of much frustration lol. I reset cdc config and setup ASTROEQ using the config tool incase anything had gone corrupt there but didn't think to look for eqmod reset. I'm all warm in the house now so will try tomorrow if we get a clear patch. Cheers

[PaulE54]

Hi, I wonder if I could ask some advice please? I am new to astrophotography, I have a bare EQ5 tripod and mount and have ordered an AstroEQ, cables and PSU from Tom. The NEMA14 stepper motors Tom recommends are on a slow boat from eastern china (estimated delivery early Jan), and I'm making good progress on the motor brackets. I have ordered the pulleys and belts as in the AstroEQ faq from BeltingOnline, who have just rung me back with a problem. They're out of stock of the 15 tooth pulleys and won't have any more for 14 weeks (an even slower boat from China - thats end of March!). The 40 tooth pulleys and the belts are fine. They have ample stock of the 16 tooth pulleys. Looking at their website, the 15 tooth pulley has the diameters dp and de of 9.70 and 9.19 respectively, and the 16 tooth pulley has dp and de of 10.35 and 9.84 respectively. Measurements in mm so thats around 0.65mm greater diameter, which is 2mm greater circumference approx.

I know that AstroEQ allows me to enter the gearing ratio from the pulley numbers of teeth, so if I go for the 16 tooth pulley I could enter 40/16 = 2.5 rather than the normal 40/15  = 2.667.

However I have a couple of other worries - will the increased motor pulley diameter cause the belts to be too tight - somewhere on this monster thread someone posted a link to a belt length calculator, should I have a look at that?

Is this somehow a "bad" ratio for AstroEQ for some reason I haven't thought of....

All input very gratefully received.

Thanks

Paul

[TCWORLD]

Using the 16T pulley shouldn't be an issue mechanically, the brackets were designed so that there is some adjustment in them - increasing the small pulley by one tooth should still be possible with the same belt lengths, the motors will sit slightly closer to the frame. The only thing it does is reduce the resolution of the mount, but by only 0.01 arcseconds, so not exactly an amount worth worrying about.

Alternatively you could ask them if it is possible to bore the 14T pulley out to 5mm shaft (and if they have any).

[admin]

Just FYI, at the request of the Admins, I moved AstroEQ support here: http://astroeq.co.uk/forum/.

This thread is six months old and Tom now has his own AstroEQ customer support forum so can we respectfully request AstroEQ customers to post their support enquiries there and not here at SGL. 

Thank-you