malc-c

Payload, precision and price are the three main differences. Options for fitting a commercially (Rowan) produced belt drive exist for HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts. EQ5 has no such option, although people have done DIY conversions. The advantages of belt driven mount are only really applicable if you intend to use the scope for imaging where backlash / vibration makes a real difference. You don't mention the scope you are considering, which could impacted how good the mount will perform, and really makes your questions difficult to answer. An eq5 pro goto mount is a very capable mount providing you match it to a payload that remains within its specifications, which is the same for any mount on the market

To be honest I think you are worrying over nothing. The structure is not permeant and would be classes as an outbuilding. And if the people either side of you reported it to the council and an inspector came out I don't think they would issue you with an order to take it down over a few centimetres. If it did require planning permission on that technicality chances are it would be retrospective. If you are really, really bothered then remove and relay the base so its at ground level rather than proud so that it sits less than 2.5m

It was a long time ago when I built my observatory, but I seem to remember that there were two height restrictions for outbuildings within a certain distance from a boundary. One to the eves and the other to a ridge. I believe the max height without planning permission is 2.5m to the ridge if its within 2m of a boundary fence, so you should be OK, but don't take my word as different councils may interpret the rules differently. I would give your local planning office a call for verification. I can't see it being a problem as these rules tend to be there to prevent people building unlawful two story extensions or huge conservatories on their houses. You could also argue that this, like a shed, is not a permeant structure, which may not need to comply.

Looks like your mount has done some mileage. If it's more likely to be a loose wire ( or corrosion looking at the condition of the mount) then you probably need to remove covers and check the wiring. If it uses a DIN type socket then moisture over the years may be causing poor connectivity. DIN sockets are cheap and easy to replace, just make notes of what wires go to which pins, or if in doubt cut, tin and solder one wire at a time.

Dog wanted out for a wee at 6am, booted the PC up and noted the launch was in hold... with some comment about a bit of sealer... was confident it was going to be another scrub, but no, it finally got off the launch pad. Impressive launch, but shame that in the 21st century they couldn't have fitted cameras with downlinks to give us the same sort of images we get from Falcon 9 and SpaceX launches.

One of the things I found out back in 2011 when I started using my 200P for imaging was that stars had unusual diffraction spikes because the 200P is primary designed for visual use. In addition to mirror clips, unsilvered flats on the secondary mirror's minor axis where it had been clamped in the process also introduced a large fifth spike. I ended up purchasing an over sized mirror from Orion Optics that matched the dimensions of the secondary on the 200PDS, which was fully silvered and resolved the problem. This resulted in a hybrid as it still had the same distance between main and secondary mirrors (the PDS is shorter) but a larger secondary than the stock 200P. I tried to find pictures from the time, but as they have been removed from the hosting websites they are no longer available. Your images don't seem to show this artefact (it's slightly noticeable in the left hand image in Onikkinen's post, just after the bottom spike), but for me it was very prominent

That's great, many thanks - you have an incoming PM

A few years back it was quite easy to suggest a mount and scope combo as there were really just four or five models to choose from, with significant gains at each step. These days there are far more options to choose from, which makes suggesting something harder. Also the phrase "astro photography" is to general, as it one end of the spectrum is using a mobile phone's camera to snap what the eyepiece is displaying, right up to dedicated cameras costing more than a second hand Volvo ! With a budget of $750 you are going to be limited towards the entry level for equipment. Also when it comes to imaging the mount is more important than the scope that sits on it is. You really want stability for fainter galaxies and other deep sky targets. Therefore you would normally go for a mount that is the next size up than you would when visually observing, so rather than put a 6" reflector on an EQ3, you would stick it on an EQ5. Rather than stick an 8" reflector on an EQ5 you would use an HEQ5, or even an EQ6. Regardless of mount, it has to be driven if you want to image deep space targets, so that means a goto option. So new you are looking at £600+ for an EQ5 goto, which won't leave much for all the other equipment. As others have said, for planetary work a large aperture and a long focal length is required. Most of the large detailed images of Jupiter's clouds structure you often see here and in magazines is often taken through a 12" or larger SCT. Whilst the same scope could be used for DSO's it requires adaptors to reduce the focal length, because to gather the data of faint targets you need a fast scope which has a short focal length. You see where this is going... no one scope fits all... Have a read through other posts like yours - you'll soon see that imaging is an expensive aspect of astronomy. To get the clear shots of galaxies and planets you may need to increase your budget three fold. An alternative is to look at using a tracking mount and a DSLR camera with a standard 50mm lense and a 200mm zoom lens. You would be able to produce some stunning wide field views of the night sky, and possibly very acceptable moon and larger planetary images, although again, like scopes, camera lenses can be budget or high end with a wide price range. Read through the forum... this sort of question comes up very frequently, so you may find useful info that can help you.

I see you asked the same question on Cloudy Nights forum. Other suggestions when googling the topic seem to result when the filter wheel has been over tightened, or as suggested on the other forum, used an different USB lead to the filter wheel, or confirming the option has been selected. I can't really assist as I don't have / use an Asiair box

I have a dinosaur of a PC in the observatory (Pentium core duo, 8gb of DDR3 ram and two mechanical HDD, one for operating system and the other for data.) It still runs windows 10 and contains ASCOM, EQMod, CdC, PHD2 and APT for handling the Canon 400D. Once the scope is powered and the PC booted to desktop I use this PC directly to target a start and check for focus using a mask. When I'm happy its all running I then go down to the house and remote into the observatory PC using a remote desktop connection. Once I've connected I then select the target, frame the shot, establish guiding and then use APT to run the imaging plan. When it's time to close up the observatory I park the scope, and then walk up to the observatory and cover the scope to take the darks. The roof is closed and after locking the observatory up and returned to the lounge I set off the darks plan in APT which also has the option to shut the PC down once it's completed. When I'm happy it running the plan I close the RDC and power off the PC in the lounge. The following day I copy the folder containing all the RAW images on the observatory PC to my lounge PC for processing (the lounge PC being a Ryzen based machine with 16GB of DDR4, an Nvme drive, and SSD drives for storage). This process helps in two ways. First the lounge PC is far more capable of processing the images, stacking them and then stretching them etc, and secondly means that I am not working on originals, so should I screw up whilst processing the images I haven't lost the originals. It may not be the best way of working, but it suits me.

Granted that the thread can get a little complicated and geeky at times, but basically it covers converting the downloadable firmware into a HEX file that can then be loaded into a PIC micro to replace the damaged ones on the main board. Even though a few members have sent me their kit for repair, a few members have a programmer and have successfully done the procedure to give their scope a new lease of life. It's well worth trying and even if you have to buy a programmer it could still work out cheaper than the cost of a new replacement board. I'm also on the scrounge for any damaged boards that would otherwise end up in the bin, with a view of attempting a repair which, if successful can then be sold on to other SGL members for a small amount to cover parts, time and PPH. Operating on an exchange bases to keep the momentum going, this could help people in the current situation where money is tight.

You must have missed This thread 😉 Page 4 onwards becomes interesting

What chip blew its top ? - can you upload a picture of the main board - it may be repairable rather than shelling out £150+ for a new one

If you use street view it's easy enough to find They are in Retford Road, although the pin placed them in the housing estate in Forest Rise. Google map pins are often out by a few yards !

My mount was second hand when I purchased it in 2011, so the bolts were the old soft metal. I can't vouch for new mounts. My mount is also permanently set up in an observatory so (in theory) doesn't need PA on such a regular bases compared to someone who sets up each session. You can obtain the ratcheted bolts a lot cheaper if you shop around, buying from a hardware supplier rather than a "dedicated" astro supplier or e-bay. it does make fine adjustments a lot easier.

Most of us with HEQ5's remove the soft adjustment bolts and fit aftermarket ones The one with the red button uses a ratchet mechanism so it doesn't foul the rest of the mount.

They have some experience of custom builds looking at the images on their website. Fingers crossed that they can offer you something that fits yours and the landlords requirements within your extended budget. At least it will include the erection of the building leaving you to just install the scope and start using it straight away.

Just stumbled across this video released yesterday - amazing !

The modified plastic shed sitting on the plastic base would be an option. However Argos currently list Keter Factor Apex Garden Storage Shed 6 x 6ft for £770.00. The interlocking base used in the video (same supplier) is £75. The track (again from the same supplier) is sold as two 1.5m lengths for £41.15 as you need to buy two packs., adding a further £82.30. This leaves around £73 of the OP's budget to purchase the wheels, additional timber for the ROR, gravel and other misc items. Granted the observatory would fit a lot of the requirements and keep his landlord happy. It would also make observing / imaging sessions a lot easier as the complete kit can be left secured in the shed, but I feel the OP would need a budget of around £1500 to replicate the observatory in that video. It also requires a little bit of DIY to build the ROR support, and to strengthen the structure, something that the OP has said is not his strong point (even though I've encouraged him to do). If he / she is confident enough to do that framework etc then this could be the ideal solution to a semi permanent observatory that won't have too devastating impact on the garden

That crawler has done more miles in the past couple of months than it did in whole decade of the 1970's !! - especially if they wheel it back to the assembly building once more due to yet another storm !

Personally I would correct the coma first, should improve the star shape, especially round the edges

Pleased to hear you guys have had a positive outcome. Brownie point to Celestron as well for them to recognise a bug in the firmware and hopefully an update will be made available for others to download. "Maybe I have managed to help a number of people beyond just myself" - by documenting your experience here and the result you most certainly have done as both you and the rest of the community can link to this thread or instruct those affected to update their handset firmware.

Simple way to rule out the motor is to swap the motors over and connect the RA motor to the DEC output. If the RA motor sounds the same when connected to the DEC output then it would rule out the DEC motor being faulty. This could be confirmed by connecting the DEC motor to the RA connection and seeing if the motor sounds normal. If this proves to be the case then the problem could either be a lose wire in the DIN plug / socket or, if the wiring checks out OK, the synscan controller, most probably one of the L293 drivers has failed. If you have ruled out all the connection points and the leads prove to be Ok (the use of a DVM can help here, or simply swap the cables over to see if the fault follows) and the fault looks to be the Synscan box then if your synscan box is of the older version without a USB port then it's quite easy to remove and replace the L293 using a dremel to cut the legs from the package, and a soldering iron and some decent flux to remove the rest of each leg from the board.

Personally given the current cost of building materials and the time for a builder to construct something that you will be pushed to have a working ROR observatory for under a grand. A quick google of a standard 7' x 5' shed is around half your budget and that excludes any base that would be required to sit it on. The average hourly rate for a self employed builder is around £35-£40, so it would only take a day, day and a half to use up the balance of your budget. If you are looking for a company that specialises in construction custom observatories avoid Home Observatories UK (HOUK) - there is a thread running where several customers have resorted to court action in order to recover their deposits and waiting over a year with no communications. A dome from Pulsar is outside your budget unless you can find one secondhand on e-bay or Astro buy and sel. One alternative is to buy a tool storage shed for around £300 and modify the floor so that it can fit around a pier base and place the shed on wheels and use some angle profile aluminium as tracks so the whole thing rolls back to leave the scope ready for use. Whatever option you end up going with there will be an impact on the garden. Any shed will need a level base. Any tracks need a firm foundation, and even paving slabs placed on the grass will soon kill the grass underneath. I would get any agreement with the landlord in writing so you have a safety net, and any remedial work needed to restore the garden should you leave is also agreed. This will prevent any upset when what they visualise happening is totally different to what you are explaining. Lastly, DIY is not that difficult. You are only screwing bits of wood together to make frames and then cladding them with shiplap or similar. Doing things yourself will save a lot of money and you'll get exactly what you are looking for.

Not sure if this is similar to the issue I had as detailed in this thread mainly as you have a different focuser which could be intruding into the optical path where I used the stock focuser