malc-c

Do you have a DVM to see what voltage is coming out of the supply (what are you using to power the mount?). Have you confirmed that the port settings for the EQDIR cable are set to 9600 as mentioned.

Good point... If the power supply is dropping out that too would cause the reported issues

Presumably this EQDIR cable is the same one you've used in the past. So its and RJ45 connector at one end that replaces the handset with the other end being a USB-A type plug that connects direct to the PC. In device manager does the cable get assigned a COM port without any exclamation marks or warnings. If it installs correctly if you co into the properties for the port ensure its set yo 9600 baud speed. Then open EQMODs Toolbox utility. Ensure the "driver" set up is pointing to the same port number and is set to the same baud rate as that shown in device manager. Once confirmed click the option to connect. If everything is in order EQMOD will be launched and with the speed settings set to 4 you should be able to move the mount using the NSWE buttons on screen. If this works then select to option in toolbox to disconnect and shut EQMOD down. This proves the hardware and "driver" (EQMOD) is fully functional and it's something between NINA and ASCOM that is causing the disconnection. If the tool box utility can't establish a connection even though device manager is showing no issues with the associated COM port, then the problem may be an issue with the motor board. One other thing to do is to use the handset (if you still have it) to confirm communications. If you plug in the handset and get a "No response" message for either or both axis then this would suggest that the PICs on the main board, or blocking diodes on the TX /RX lines have blown.

Looks good. Thankfully Synta provided us with nice amount of slack in the cables that makes this sort of thing easy. If you're interested in how the belt modification came about have a read of this thread - The main issue we had back then when using off the shelf pulleys was that the mod could not be used with the handset as the stock gear ratio could not be maintained. Then along came Dave at Rowan Engineering who could CNC a one piece motor pinion and axis pulley that overcame this issue and the one where boring out the motor pulley caused it to separate. I still use my origin 4:1 belt conversion on my HEQ5 as it's observatory based and works fine with EQMOD, and has held up nicely over the past 11 years.

I modified my HEQ5 to bely drive long before the Rowan kit came to market and in the course of testing various pulley combinations never removed the motor from the board. You are only fitting a belt, and there is enough slack on the wires from the steppers to be able to undo and remove the gearing to fit the pulleys without disconnecting them. If you really need to remove them, it shouldn't be a problem as the connector can be released using a small flat head screwdriver to open the connector slightly so that the "catch" on the JST connector clears the housing.

There are various apps such as Macrim Reflect that have options to clone drives, so if you have an existing PC it can be cloned to the new one. Granted you may have to reactivate windows as the hardware will have changed, but it's one way that saves a lot of time...

No worries, sorry can't do more.

Yes, those two pads are not connected to anything so you are OK. They are just the last to pins on port B (RB6 and RB7) that also double up as Program Clock and Data. Well done on sourcing the PICs. Good luck with the programming.

I think that's concrete proof they've blown (literally!) - Not sure how things are for supply down under, but my normal wholesaler has been showing them as back order only with no date for fulfilment. The only place I've found them in stock is a listing on e-bay where the guy is selling them at the ridiculous price of £26.99 ea, compared to the £5 I was paying pre-covid. !!

To verify the board is fried, plug the handset into the port on the motorboard and power up the board. If the handset displays "no response both axis" or similar and fails to then advance through the set up routine then yes that confirms the UARTs on the PIC, or the diodes have been blown. If it functions as expected then the board hasn't been fried, and suggests an settings issue when you tried used the USB cable and handset in PC-DIRECT mode between the computer and mount.

Using the handset in PC-DIRECT mode to act as the interface between computer and mount may be the safest alternative to a wi-fi dongle. A direct physical connection using an EQDIR cable could put you back to square one again

Steve, the board is an old MC003 with the 16F886's, which run their serial UART at 9600 I've given the OP as much info and assistance on programming replacements and swapping them out as I can. The cost to send the board and handset halfway around the world in both directions would make the repair a tad prohibitive. I could program a couple of PICs and send them to Andrea but as there is some discrepancy over the version of firmware this board uses (having been asked to put 2.09 on one board recently) and if that turns out to be wrong there is no way to revert back without going through the same process again.

Alan, from reading may post on the EQMOD users group Chris originally wrote EQMOD as a means of controlling his EQ6, and then through popular requests the HEQ5 ratios were added. He's often stated to people who aske about using it with AZ mounts that "the clue is in the name" ie EQMOD. I think the reason it lists some AZ mounts is that they gave options to be used in either ALT/AZ or EQ configuration, so when used as an EQ mount EQMOD works as it would with any of the other supported EQ mounts. As Chris and you have stated, goto's and tracking will be off, as tracking only drives one axis, the software is presuming the "AZ" axis is angled to the latitude of the location and not at 90 degrees straight up. However a lot of this may be in vein as a few days ago I received a PM from the OP stating that they appear to have blown the PICs on the using a DIY EQMOD cable and were seeking advice on how to replace them. I have no idea if they had used a standard RS232 adapter that would have applied +/- 12v into the PICs or if it was something else that damaged the PICs.. The OP seems to have some experience in soldering and I've given them some advice on how to go about programming and replacing the PICs (logistics prevents me offering to do it for them) so hopefully one the mount is back up and working they might want to take a look at the SynScan wi-fi adapter which list Dobsonian synscan mounts under the compatibility list

EQDIR cables were originally intended for use with EQ mounts (hence their name). Whilst it is possible to make one for a Dob, you have to be really careful that you don't end up frying the motor board (which as you know requires the replacement of the PIC micros). The MC003 motor board has a 6 pin RJ11 socket, it only uses the four inner terminals, but with two shorted which go to the PICs RX and TX pins via two diodes and a few pull up resistors, with one pin connected to RA4 on both PICs, which can only be used as some form of trigger to manage the directional flow of serial signals, because otherwise with the TX and RX pins connected at the connector all that would happen if a FTDI 5v TTL serial adapter was connected would be an echo back to the PC of whatever is sent. This was discussed on page 8 of the lengthy, but detailed thread repairing a blown motor board - Most of the board I've repaired have been down to people trying to connect their Dobs to a computer which results in popped diodes or burnt out UARTs in the PICs. You can see this shorting of pins on the two images of the MC003 on that same page. Top left of the first image below the silk screen R1 you can see the thick track linking the two. This line is pulled high by R3, and then gets routed to the two PICs va D2 and D3 on the TX lines. Now I'm not saying it's not possible to connect a Dob with an MC003 or MC004 board to a computer, but it's not something that has been in built by design, probably as an ALT/AZ mount is not one that someone would really use for imaging due to tracking and field rotation issues. If you do manage to take an FTDI - 232- 5V cable and terminate it with an RJ11 and manage to get it to work without blowing the board then please let us know.

I did a round trip of 476 miles in one day to pic up the HEQ5, ST80 and QHY5 camera from a fellow SGL member. We met at a roadside diner, had a coffee and a chat, and then he set up the rig in the carpark and demonstrated the rig working. Money was exchanged, hands shook and it was loaded into my car. It was a long day, especially as I chose to drive up there sensibly to get the best fuel economy given my car is a 2.5ltr 5 cly Volvo, but worth it in the end.

Personally I have no idea. If all the electronics are in the base, and the XT10G has the same means of connecting to the mount (and the axis point are the same) then I can's see why not. It would be no different to fitting a different OTA to an HEQ5 or similar. All the drive train is in the mount / base and the firmware in the controller for the base would relate to it so in theory it should work. Maybe drop FLO (in the UK) or your nearest telescope main dealer an e-mail asking that question. Chances are the may have both scopes in stock so could confirm the swapping of OTAs works

On paper yes. The HEQ5 has higher microsteps and superior stepper motors, so under perfect ideal controlled lab conditions the HEQ5 would provide better tracking and thus rounder stars. In practice you personally may not notice any benefit. Naturally the HEQ5 will outperform the EQ3 in stability and load carrying, and it has been for sometime classed as the "entry level" mount for serious imaging rigs. Given current conditions post Covid, prices for new equipment is rocketing, but also a lot of people are selling up or upgrading their mounts so you will often find them listed for sale in the classified section, which for a decent condition HEQ5 can be anywhere between £600 and £800 depending if it has the Rowan bely modification. One other factor, what OTA are you going to be using. On a windy evening even an HEQ5 will struggle with an 200P unless it's inside an observatory and shielded form the wind. Here's my HEQ5 + 200P on the max weight limit for the mount

Just a small update. I receive the board this morning and have replaced the old PICs with two new ones programmed with the 2.09 firmware that the OP was attempting to load in place of the 2.14. Regretfully I was not able to test the repair as I was sent just the PCB, but that was as much my fault as the OPs... Fingers crossed that it resolves the issue and hasn't made it any worse.

The observatory is looking great, and very well engineered. OT, on the subject of the LMA, when going to those shows the one thing that really stood out was the commentary, which if I recall was Dave Bishop of DB sound. He was like the Murry Walker of RC ! - it would be the curse of something when he would say "OK now ladies and gents, boys and girls, now watch this as they do ..... " only for it not to do whatever they was supposed to do !! - His comments about the residents of the old care home at the back of Northwheeled loving the sound the pulse jets of ghost squadron (are they still going ?) buzzing them at 200+ MPH. - Fond memories. Not been involved in the hobby since around 2003. Is Dave still doing the circuit these days ?

My understanding is that it has always been the "prime" focus point. This may explain how the optics are related to the human eye when we look through a scope. As you can see the objective image is at the focus point of the objective which if a piece of card is placed at that point would produce a small focused image.

Looking good. I don't know what it is but most of the builds seem to occur when there is unusual period of hot weather. I started building mine in April to avoid the hot weather of the summer, but we had around three days of really hot weather whilst I was constructing the frame !! But 35c is dangerous, so please take care Seeing the size of those planes I'm guessing you were a member of the LMA? - Been a long while since I went to a model air display, but do remember seeing a large bomber (possibly B17) at several events back in the late 90's and 00's.

If you google the message you'll find that its some message related to the calculation based on calculated discrepancies between the axis - Here's one explanation I found. And another, more detailed on Cloudynights forum So basically the message can be ignored

there ya go Download the latest from the button on the right

Googling the subject I came across this thread on the APT forum

For anyone else following this thread, we've been having some PM discussion and @Blackwolf277 is going to send me his MC board for me to either reprogram the PICs on board, or replace them with newly programmed PICs if ISCP fails. There are lots of logistics to sort out as we are 4397 miles apart according to google ! which might delay things, but fingers crossed, placing the 2.09 firmware on the micros will resolve the issue. If it doesn't then at least it will remove that form the equations and the OP can investigate other possible causes such as encoders etc... but I'm fairly confident the 2.09 firmware will resolve the issue.