malc-c

wow, resurrecting a 6 year old post !! Under your EQMOD folder you should have a gamepad monitor application - you could see if that's detecting the gampad Can you run the EQASCOM toolbox from the EQMOD/EQASCOM folder and configure the gampad

I must admit the felt I've used has held up, just my ignorance in thinking the way I folded and overlapped the felt at the edge of the boards would be enough. If I had used this flashing material with a belt and braces approach then the OSB may have been fine. If I ever need to re-felt the roof again, I may look at using the MDPM rubber. Maybe for those who are at the design stage should take on board the true amount of pitch required to ensure proper water run off. The fall on my roof was at the calculated minimum, but having it dropped by 2" wouldn't have caused me much of a problem in reality as I'm not a tall person.

We'll almost 7 years since starting the build I've had to undertake my first repair to the warm room roof. The other week whilst getting something from the observatory I noticed that the inside rear corner wall had water marks running down it, and the internal plywood at the edge where it joined the wall was darkening and wet. I got the steps out and went up onto the roof to find standing water in a small shallow in that area. I couldn't do anything about it then given the snow and rain that we were having. Today the weather was decent enough to lift the felt and have a look at where the leak was coming from. I was shocked to see that the OSB under the felt was wet and falling apart. The area was about 8" wide by 18" long from the rear edge. The wood wasn't rotten or black, but you could break it easily with your hands. Considering the roof was fine (I stand on it whilst cutting a hedge) last Autumn, the damage occurred rapidly over the winter. It seems the water had got in between the folds in the felt at the end of the side panel, and then as the wetness was drawn up by the wood, it sagged causing the water to remain rather than run off (one of the pitfalls of having a shallow pitch). Having removed all the old damp wood I cut a strip of timber from an old draw front I had laying around and made it fit the hole as tightly as I could. This was then screwed into the frame and then covered with 150mm wide self adhesive flashing obtained from B&Q. This was quite pliable and could be moulded around the side panel and under the tracks for the roll off roof. I used several strips to cover the area and make a good seal. The felt was then re-laid and the track refitted. For good measure a further strip of the flashing material was applied over the fold of the felt to ensure no water could seep back up. It probably hasn't cured the standing water issue, but at least the water can't now (hopefully) get back in. So word of warning to anyone who is planning or constructing their own observatory. In hindsight I wished I had used 18mm exterior grade marine ply for the roof as it would have stood up to the water a lot better than the OSB and would have made the repair a lot easier. But then given this is the only issue I've had with the observatory in seven years I guess it's testimony to the construction methods used and I shouldn't complain. Some commercial sheds don't last this long

I started this post five years ago (almost to the day) and pleased to say that my annual maintenance this year, like the last, consisted of a coat of preserve and the addition of a couple of galvanised nails to provide a better attachment of one small section of shiplap on the roof where the constant movement over the years and the expansion / contraction due to heat and cold had made a small gap between it and the frame. That was it for another year ! It's pleasing to find that something I've built has withstood temperatures from -12c to 35c (in the shade), 18" of snow, gallons of rain and hail the size of baked beans, and winds up to 62mph yet still looks as good as the day it was completed

Martin, thanks for the comments. Looking forward to seeing your build.

Fantastic construction... really solid. Keep the updates coming...

These days with cat6 cabling it's less of a problem.

Well the FTDI 232r -5v cable supplied to a UK address is the same price as a Hi-tec Astro cable from Rothervalley Optics. When these first came out they were upwards of £50 so it was worth making your own, but now there's hardly much point in a DIY option if obtaining the genuine FTDI cable.

There is also a large blob of solder on the pins of the chip itself, which looks like it's shorting a couple of pins, so you may of been stuffed before you even unpacked the thing from the jiffy bag !

The PL2303HX chipset has 3.3v TTL level I/O, not 5v. Some pins are pulled high to the 5v USB lines via internal pull-ups, which might explain why you are getting different voltage levels on different pins, although if it is connecte dto the mount, you will get nearly 5v on RX line as the mount will be sending TTL signals at 5v levels. The EQMOD site recommends using FTDI chipset at 5v TTL levels, and whilst these may well be 10x the price of the e-bay listing direct from FTDI, they work well and are well supported by FTDI if you ever experience an issue. Spending £15 on a decent cable is nothing when you have a mount costing £700 or more, and I personally wouldn't risk damage to the motor board by using something from HK at less than a quid.

Can't agree more !! WOW... makes a change to see the traditional cubic meter foundation above ground than below !! One thing for sure, that mount ain't gonna have any stability issues !

Nice find.. I personally prefer not to rely on a mechanical connection, but for those who want a quick way of making an EQDirect cable, that's a great suggestion

Yes the EQDirect cable that suits the HEQ5 will work with the EQ5

I think it's in relation to what that part is. Buying a cheap eyepiece will still give you a view of a target same as an expensive one. OK the expensive one will give you a better view, but neither will pose the risk of damage to the scope. However the price difference has a factor into what item you get. A genuine FTDI cable can be had for £10, whilst the cheap far eastern cloans are just a few quid. For the sake of the few quid difference it's well worth getting a geniune part. It's nice to see that HitecAstro have reduced their prices on such cables. They used to be £40 - £60, now they are a more realistic £28, but then again they use the prolific chip and not an FTDI, which has been know in the past to have issues with driver compatibility. Astronomiser uses FTDI, and have products competivley priced http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/eqdir.htm and state If you really want to save money, but use a genine part that you know won't brick the mount - yes, using cheap cloans can result in the product it is used with becoming a non functional door stop ! - then purchase a cable direct from FTDI for £16 and an RJ45 plug (or network cable) and you'll have an EQDirect cable for less than £20.

Seriously, these mounts are upwards of £700, the EQ8 being a few grand. Purchese a genuine FTDI cable from the manufactures. I wouldn't (didn't) risk using what can only be cloan chips costing a couple of quid off e-bay. Drivers up to windows 10 are available http://www.ftdichip.com/FTDrivers.htm Alternatively, if in doubt, spend £40 - £60 and purchase one of the commercially made EQDirect cables that will have a warranty, and if things go pearshapped you can have some course of redress. It depends on your confidence. Personally using genuine FTDI chips I have no worries with the DIY cable I made and use with my HEQ5, which has been fine for the passed three years

Thanks for the reply. Having the scope permenatly mounted in the observatory makes it a tad awkward to het visual on land based targets, but I'll try it out once I've resolved the issue I'm getting with Python, but that will be after I fix the observatory PC which crashed on me this afternoon !

Gonzo has just referred me to this thread as I'm searching for a simple way to fine tune my polar alignment. It seems straight forward but I have a few questions. Can this be used with a DSLR conneted to a reflector, or do you need to attach the camera directly to the mount in place of the telescope.If it can be used through the scope, what orientation must the scoe be. I've seen an image which shows a DSLR camera parallel to the tube, but also horizontal, ie standing infront of the OTA the focusre is at the 9 O'clock position. Mine is at the 8 O'clock position due to getting the balance right - will this have an effect on the results when plate solving images ?Is there any documentation to suggest how much to turn the adjustments - seen the 20 down, 6 right type numbers, but what do they mean ?is there a link to the latest build and other software requirements ?

Matt, It's difficult to say when, basically because tasco were a group of companies, one of which was toys and hobbies. So there was an overlap between the toy scope with plastic lenses and push pull focusing, that would still give you an image of the moon, and then the general telescopes which whilst featuring glass lenses, came on the same flimsy table top mount and required a baffle behind the lens to reduce the aberration. I ended up being the Product manager (more in title than having any clout) and spent many an hour replying to letters where folk had purchased a toy scope and expected it to perform line an EDS80 ! When you moved up to the 3TR, 11TR and 9T these scopes performed optically very well, although they were let down by their eyepieces. I borrowed an 11TR from the showroom one weekend, and was loaned a decent 20mm eyepiece. The views I had of Saturn were fantastic, until you breathed near the tube and the mount would wobble ! One of the thing you need to take into consideration was back in the late 70's and early 80's there was no real alternative. You either purchased a celestron, vixen or had someone like superscopes make a scope to your own specification, all of which were outside the realms of a christmas pressy for the kids. I later purchased a Vixen 102 non fluorite and had the battery driven RA axis - cost in 1986 - £1200. In todays money that's like spending £4K on an LX10 or SW Esprit. At the time the 11TR retailed for around the £250 - £350 mark if I recall (given it was some time ago )

I worked for Tasco between 1981 and 1987 when it was a family run firm based in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, with the distribution centred in Newbury. The higher end scopes like the 11TR etc had reasonably good optics, but rather flimsy mounts. The clock drives for the 11TR were mains driven, which given the amount of dew that forms on equipment is quite scary !! The thing was that Tasco started to cater for all markets, including the toy market, and then got a reputation for making poor scopes with plastic lenses, or cheap glass lenses that required a baffle and thus effectively reduced the aperture by 50%. Where Tasco succeeded though was that these scopes introduced kids to telescopes and the basics of astronomy, and once they started looking up would move on to the 3TR or 11TR, both of which were good optically for a commercially mass produced scope However Tasco were producing expensive amateur scopes with apertures of 8" and above, and on suitable driven mounts, and I did try and persuade management to import a few of these scope for the serious astronomer, but it never happened. I have fond memories of my time working in the small offices in Welwyn, and was (and still am) proud of my association with Tasco. It's also nice to know that all these decades on, other SGL members recall good experiences with tasco scopes too.

Well I've finally taken the plunge and made a start on my observatory (see my previous ramblings on this thread http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-observatories/137615-observatory-planning-permission-granted.html ) Sun 24/4/11 The first thing I needed to do was to move the 7 x 5 shed that was in the top corner of the plot. My 17 year old son did his usual vanishing act so I took on the task single handed. The contents were duly emptied onto the lawn and the the shed levered up on to the patio. Using the tried and tested method of using rollers (old broom handles) I rolled the shed to it's new position. Yes my back is aching today and I've found muscles that I've not used in years... but I had little choice. Anyway, after an hour or so of leveling and bracing the shed was nice and stable in it's new position. Everything was then placed back in the shed, and the security light re-positioned as the shed now blocked it ! The last thing to do was to reinstall the weather station sensors, which also had it's batteries replaced whilst I was at it Mon 25/4/11 I struck lucky in a couple of ways today. The first is that my next door neighbor (John) works in the civil engineering department for a council and has loads of experience in building, paving and the like, so I've tapped his expertise in what I need to do for the base and footings etc. No sooner had I shown him the plot he asked if I needed the large flag stones that formed the base for the old shed. As he offered to help me with the build if I get stuck I offered them to him. So the slabs were lifted and some of the lawn edging dug up to allow a clear path for the footings to be dug. The second bit of luck was that he let slip that one of my other neighbors (Steve) is landscaping his garden this week and is having a mini digger delivered in the morning, and as John will be helping Steve, said that they would use that to dig the foundation footings for the base as the ground would be like rock ! - RESULT Once the slabs had been removed from the plot John vanished muttering something about being "back in a mo" and promptly returned with some stakes, string and a spray can. Next thing I knew was that I was told to "hold this" and he began measuring out the plot, making the grass with white paint. He made it look so easy.. so now the 16' x 7' plot has been marked up ready for the digging to commence. All that was left for me to do was to move the compost heap, and tidy up the rest of the plot. I'm hoping to pain the fences tomorrow / Wednesday and get some prices on readymix... just happens that my wife minds a child (she's a professional child minder) who's father sells concrete for a living... Guess who I'll be phoning soon then Looking back I think I've done OK in the past two days... Hopefully I'll update this thread later this week with more pictures of the build, but for now thanks for looking