malc-c

I'm sure if you searched or browsed through the forum you'll find similar posts discussing the virtues of either

Watching the video it doesn't seem to be the teeth on the belt interfering with itself as the amount the motor and axis pully moves is less than the distance between two teeth. To me it sounds as if the stepper motor is cogging. You've stated you have remove dthe belt and the knocking sound goes away, which could suggest it's a belt issue. Have you confirmed that the RA axis is free enough and not binding. Watching the video it seems as if the larger pulley is moving, but then cogs back, without showing signs of slipping, so it could be binding thats the issue Ok seems you're already on that when our posts crossed

INDI website

Do you mean QHY5 III 462 ? - Have searched through current and archived cameras on the QHY website and can't find any reference to a 492 variant.

Possibly may need to uninstall and re-install APT as it seems to be calling up a second instance of EQMOD which as the first has command of the com port, will report an comms error. One other possibility is that its a permissions issue under windows when you remote in. Does the same issue occur if you sit at the observatory PC or do you get the same issue regardless if you are using the PC in your study and remoting in to the pc controlling the scope.

From reading up on the guide camera it seems to use its own dedicated software for guiding In practice the camera looks like an original QHY5 camera so in theory should be comparable with PHD2. One thing you haven't mentioned is how you are connecting the mount to the MAC. I'm not familiar with your mount, but assume it has either a USB port or some kind of serial connection. Must admit, reading up on imaging on a MAC it seems a lot of people, if their MAC supports it, run a windows platform with ASCOM rather than messing about with INDI. It's doable but requires a lot more work as someone put it. I would brake down each step rather than trying to get it to work as a whole. Connect the mount to the MAC and establish communications. Once you have control of the mount, then get the camera working via the USB port with whatever software it came with. Then install PHD2 and see if you can connect to the camera, then the mount. I would try this method first before connecting the mount to the camera via and ST4 port. I did find this quote from another forum on an old thread Maybe you are missing a component for the INDI platform ? (I'm a windows user so have no idea !)

Having used both mounts - go for the HEQ5. By the time you've added a guidescope, cameras and associated cabling the EQ5 will be on the weight limit. The HEQ5 also has better stepper motors giving you more precision when tracking / guiding

What strikes me about this build is that whilst the design is nothing out of the ordinary, its just a roll off roof design, its the attention to detail the OP has put in that makes it so interesting. The neoprene and circular wooden rings being a prime example. The fit and finish of each part is to a very high, and this build stands out as being one of the most professional looking DIY observatory we've seen for ages.

Whats the connectivity issue ? - It could be totally unrelated to firmware.

Impossible to tell as newer mount are fitted with a newer revision of motor board and people have mentioned that the noise the motors make compared to the older boards is very different. To confirm if your mount is belt drive just remove the 6 small screws that cover the stepper motor and lift the cover off.

Current Skywatcher firmware is available from their global website here - but there no version 3.20, suggesting it's being archived. Is there a specific reason you are looking for an older firmware version which appears to have received a lot of updates in quick succession to overcome runaway issues as per this post

Very strange. Glad to hear you have resolved the issue. I'm going to post a message on the EQMOD user group siting this thread as I know Chris Shillito still frequents this forum and might be able to shed so light on what the cause may be - could be a bug that they are not aware of...

Dan, welcome to the forum. Normally the first response would be a power issue, but given the power unit used I don't think that is the cause of the slews failing. I can't agree with your conclusion that the issue is EQMOD. You've stated that using a different PC, but using the same USB cable and same versions of software with copied INI files it all works fine, but when using the NUC it starts misbehaving. This to me would suggest that the issue is with the NUC as this is the odd one out. That's not to say a physical issue, it could be an admin rights or something else with the software or how it was installed. However there have been similar posts on the EQMOD user group with communication issues between NINA and EQMOD (or the ASCOM platform), but I can't recall if or how the issue was recovered. You mention CdC - what happens if you launch CdC on the NUC, connect the the scope via the Telscope > Connect Telescope menu option (having first set CdC's telscope settings to ASCOM) and then from the parked position right click a star and select slew to target (making sure the target is going to be in apart of the sky that is currently visible at the moment). If the mount slews correctly to multiple targets and then reparks when you select the option in EQMOD to park then the problem could be with NINA or NINA's handling of the connected devices on the ASCOM platform.

The function of a fuse is to blow in the event the device it's protecting draws too much current than the rating of the fuse. Having a quick blow fuse means that there is less chance of damage to the device compared to a standard or slow blow fuse. From my quick research session it would seem that the voltage makes no difference, and using a 5A 30mm 240v rated fuse on 12v. Where is does differ is in the wattage rating, being 1200w on mains voltage and 60w with a 12v system. Amps are Amps

It will be a thermal resettable fuse (PCT) type device that looks like a large disk capacitor. Excessive current causes it to heat up which brakes the connection internally. Then as it cools the connection is remade. I'm no expert when it comes to fuses, but I would have thought that there may be a difference in the voltage ratings. Given these cables are designed to power things via a car cigarette lighter socket and thus run at 12v you would have thought they would be fused with a standard 12v automotive 5A blade fuse rather than a 20mm glass mains fuse.

@MAKARON are you based in the UK? If you are then I'm willing to take a look at the kit (I should be able to repair the damaged wire as I have a crimpling kit with lots of inserts, that at least one size must fit !). I can't do anything should the issue turn out to be with the main processor or driver chips, but if its something else that is within my ability I'll give it a go. Drop me a PM and we'll sort out the logistics

Typically the motors on an EQ5 draw around 1Amp when slewing, so the new PSU will have plenty of headroom and well up to the job of powering the EQ5. As Julian has mentioned, the fact it blew in the cable from the psu to the mount would suggest that the excessive load would be between the PSU and the mount, but then as you were able to use the old supply for the rest of the night would suggest that the synscan unit / handset is fine. If I had to make a guess as to what happened I would say that the fuse is a quick blow fuse, and at some part the slew produced a current surge that momentarily exceeded the 5A fuse rating and it popped. Now it could also be that the fuse had a wide tolerance and the current it would pop at was below 5A or that the fuse was duff. Now you could replace the fuse with a standard 5A fuse and it will be fine, but it it keeps popping fuses then further investigation to measure the actual current draw would be worth undertaking.

AO3404 N - Channel MOSFET - You may find it hard to locate one in the UK as they are no longer manufactured but there will still be places like Aliexpress that have stock - but it should be easy enough to find an equivalent 30v 5A part with a 31mOhm Rds But I would try and find out what caused it to blow before fitting the replacement board

You're a decimal place out - 96w. (amps x volts - 8a x 12v = 96w) Battery ratings such as 40A/h means if you draw 1 amp it would (in theory) last 40 hours. A 2 amp draw would run the battery down in 20 hours.... so an 8amp would drain the battery in 5 hours. In reality it would be quicker as voltage also drops off and its very difficult to totally drain a battery to 0 amps and volts. You're estimation of 2-3 hours is probably sound.

The problem is that three people could all measure the current draw, and get three different results unless they have the same weight of scope & kit hanging off it. Often it's better to go by the manufactures technical specs listed on the retailers website. The EQ6-R on FLO's site states 11-16v @ 4 Amps. Now if in reality the actual current draw is less because the load is no where near the 20kg the mount can shift, and you have a supply rated at 4 amps or above then you should have no issues with the mount dropping out mid slew. Another factor is most devices will list their power consumption / rating so you can always do a little maths to workout the current draw and take that as a ball park figure. David's comments on battery chemistry is also important. Some will hold charge almost right to the end and then drop off sharply, whilst others start to lose charge slowly from the start, so are un able to maintain the current draw even though the voltage is still showing 12v (Ni-Mh and Ni-Cad being tow examples). Also temperature affects things too, with cold weather reducing battery performance dramatically compared to a warm summers night. I have a 12v 60w (5A) mains power block in the observatory for the HEQ5, and have never had an issue with the mount. I also use the same power supply for powering the D400 via an 8.5v linear regulator stepping the 12v down.

Steve, have you measured the current drawn from an EQ6 or even your HEQ5 or was the 800mA a guess ? I say that because when I tested the draw of an EQ5 with the 200P the smaller motors drew 1.96 Amps when slewing, but the initial torque to get moving was more at a round 2.45 Amp if I recall (was some time ago as I've had the HEQ5 for a decade now. I would hesitate a guess that the larger steppers in the EQ6 is likely to draw more, especially when the extra torque to get the mount moving is needed.

If the mount has a USB - B socket like that shown above you can use a normal USB A to B cable as the mount has a the TTL serial to USB chip set built in. The only difference being that it used the Prolific driver and needs the virtual com port in device manager set to 115200 baud

Your mount will typically draw around 2.5 to 3 amps when slewing, probably around an amp when tracking. I would agree with the above post, 7-10 amps total draw in total. If your van is 12v system then just rig up a distribution box and connect it to the battery in the van. Even if the van engine was running, most alternators put out 13 - 14v which is still fine for the mount.

Based on Synta's normal approach, if the mount requires details of where it is, normally the long / lat co-ordinates are in degrees / hours and minutes and not a digital equivalent. Time should be entered in as UT or GMT and select the option to use daylight saving of +1 hour

The 200P really excels at nice bright views of star clusters and brighter DSO's. It's a fast scope having an f5 focal ratio, so not best suited for high magnification views of planets. Using a webcam and stacking the stock 2x barlow with an revelation barlow I was able to get this result back in 2011. Another night and slightly better seeing But it was a fair bit of hard work and visually the image was very dark when viewed with a low power eyepiece as the scope was effectively an 20cm f20 scope.