malc-c

Looks like the ferrite beads have done their job and blown, hopefully saving the board. The fact that the LCD displays menu options would suggest that the handset is OK, but the components that deal with the communications between the mount and handset have been damaged, so can't talk to the mount, hence the "no response" message Not promising anything, but I've fixed a few motor boards for members of the forum, and willing to take a look to see if cleaning up and replacing the ferrite beads can bring the controller back to life for you. If you're interested drop me a PM and I'll give you some details.

Ed, as others have said, in order to advise you what you may be doing wrong you need to provide a link to the raw images (not JPEGs) so people can download, check them and then try and process them. This way they can give you advice on what software to use in order to make the task easy for you. You mentioned the camera and scope, but didn't mention if you have taken darks and bias exposures too. If you have shot these, then again, place them on the same upload (google drive was mentioned, dropbox is another option.) My experience is that processing is a dark magic artform... but I'm sure given access to the files these processing wizards will advise you best.

Not much point in you reading the long thread as it deals just with motor board repairs. If the mount is functional then it does indeed look as if the hand controller is dead. If you remove the hand controller from the mount and connect a USB cable to the USB port on the handset, does this cause the LCD back light to light up, or the controller to boot. If you get nothing with just the USB cable connected between the handset and computer then it would suggest that something on the power rails have gone. The problem now is do you send it to a specialist repair centre who go down to component level and try an effect a repair, or simply purchase a replacement and be more careful with your wiring. The problem with a repair is that the chances of the shop having a donor unit to swap over an damaged parts is slim, and you would still be charged even if it was deemed no repair possible.

That's a shame. Back to the council then. From your photos it seem you are in quite a remote location which begs the question do they need to fit such a powerful light, or have the lamps spaced so frequently. Maybe that offending lamp could be placed on a timer as well as a sensor, so it gets turned off at a time that allows you to use the observatory but also provide safe lighting for residents? Maybe invite the chap you dealt with at the council to attend a site visit so he / she can see for themselves the problem the light pollution causes, and hopefully come up with a solution that's amicable to all parties

I thought I had... there are plenty of digital panel meters that measure DC current and are powered by battery or have significant low current draw that they can be powered from the same DC source they are measuring. My point was that the Prologic meter is a nice piece of kit, looks the part, and if you want to get that finicky on setup then it will do the job. But like most things, cheaper alternatives still exist. Now they may be of a lesser quality, lack the refinement or have little or no aftersales service compared to the Prologic device, but that may be why the Prologic device is priced at such. I use a £20 BEVA digital multimeter when working on electronics projects, it reads voltages or measures current just as good as a Fluke costing five times as much. You may also find that there are digital multimeters in poundland that do the same as my meter, but will lack some of the protection built in, which in the case of Fluke, is why they cost so much more. The other thing is that these tools and their usage depends on the individuals needs. If you are mobile then having something that aids balance, and does so in a timely fashion is an excellent tool to have. If you have a permanent set up in an observatory then these things, like a polemaster are just a one off use as once set there is no need to use them again unless the mount or scope is accidently moved, so the investment in such tools becomes questionable. As I stated, I'm not knocking the Prologic device. There are lots of things that dictate the selling price, not always profit margins. Now if they had taken a £4 module, added a couple of leads and stuck it in a cheap plastic box and sold it for £80 because it had an astro theme then that would be taking the P**s....

When you plug the handset in to the synscan unit, with 12v powering the synscan unit, does the handset LCD illuminate and give any message such as "no response both axis" ? - If so it the synscan unit that is more likely to have the issue. Have a read of this long thread which covers repairs of several synscan motor board, and the same would apply to your unit. As the Synscan unit lacks a built in USB port it will have the older 16F886's and full details on how to program replacements are contained within this thread. I'm guessing you are not in the UK as you mentioned $$ for the cost of the replacement?

Johnathon, that's quite an encouraging post for all those who are still awaiting communication from HOUK on either their order fulfilment or refund. I don't think that you need to go into details, but it would be helpful if some indication as to the cause or reasons customers have experienced a poor quality of service. It may even help as some customers may be more sympathetic when (if ??) they receive that phone call. It's also good news that he's had the decency to confirm the website will be taken down to prevent further orders that he obviously is not in a position to fulfil. What sort of timeline has it been for you, and when are you having your observatory installed ?

Wow, sounds like a quick turn around

I agree. Same goes for me. Not knocking the product, but just pointing out that there are lots of cheaper alternatives that do the same thing.

Thanks Steve, That's why I opted to go down the servo route, I hated the clunk of solenoids, especially if you fire several at once ! - I can't take full credit for the design. It's based on a MERG offering, although I refined it somewhat and added a few features. The idea was to make them available through mail order, but it seemed that even at £5 each plus a servo based on a box of 10 inc post and packing people complained at the price, and so I never bothered. I also made my own PCB controller that uses an Arduino Nano and the PCA9685 to control 16 servos. The board can be programmed so that each channel can be used either as a point motor, or for quadrant semaphore signals, including random bounce when the signal arm falls. The end points and speed is fully programmable for each servo, so you get a very realistic movement of a signal, point or level crossing barriers. It's like a combined servo controller and mimic panel board from Megapoints - The prototype can be seen below I've attached the individual components I obtained (mount, rack and pinion) so feel free to get some made up if you wish Servo Mount ten up (1).stl

Result.... post up a picture of the printed item when you receive it

Right, in that case I personally can't see a problem, a decent USB3 cable (over 3m I would use an active cable) between camera hub and pc and then plug the EQDir cable and guide camera into the USB2 ports on the camera

That's true, but once you have used this "tool" to set up the balance its removed and put away, it doesn't remain attached to the mount. My guess is that the unit featured in the video is something that they developed, possibly using their own PCB to fit the shiny case and drive a standard 4 digit display. But by reinventing the wheel it's just an expensive ammeter.

Just done a google search and found this they state no set up or minimum order fee. It seems as if they have a hub of independent companies offering the service "Craftcloud is your 3D printing service marketplace.". The only thing is that with one off items the cost could still be £20 or £30 even if in real terms it uses £2 worth of materials and doesn't take a lot of machine time.

If you are using EQMOD or GSServer to control the mount then USB2 is fine. There is not a lot of traffic between the mount and computer. I had to google the camera as I've not seen a camera with a USB hub inside. So in theory you can use a long USB3 cable between the PC and the camera, then have your EQDIR cable plugged into one of the USB ports on the ASI533, with your guide camera connected to the other. But that then leaves you with nowhere to plug your filter wheel in, so you would still need another USB cable between that and the PC. You technically have three devices and two ports whichever combination you want. Personally I would have the guide camera and filter wheel plugged into the ports on the ASI533 and then use a decent active USB 3 cable from the ASI533 to the PC and connect the mount via its own USB2 active extension cable to the PC. The large amount of data coming down from both cameras will make use of the USB3 specs.

Or under a fiver for one with 4 digit accuracy

Three quid will get you one of these off E-bay Measures 0-999mA, or 0- 10A (or higher) - so very well suited to measuring the typical current draw of the steppers used in most synscan mounts.

Nice one Paul, Like you I have a back issue that makes opening the observatory a difficult and sometimes painful experience - which has meant the scope is gathering dust as its not been used much since it happened. I've thought of motorising the roof, but haven't yet found a suitable option that can handle the weight of my roof and not cost the earth. Never considered garage door systems... neat, and its remote operated...nice !

Is the part something you can sell if you only wanted one off. - If not then ignore my posts - they too have a set price which would make a one off expensive !

You can upload the stl file to that website I suggested and they will give you an instant quote. It's cheaper to have individuals than making a spur frame with lots attached as that gets treated as one piece.

I used 3dprintUK to print off some point motor mounts for model railways this time last year The process used was SLS with Nylon as the product, and the resolution as you can see is very good. They have a minimum order value, so depending how you reduce the footprint means the unit price drops as you get more pieces for that amount. Eco production (about two to three weeks turn around ) came in at £55 including postage and VAT and gave me 21 units which is more than enough for my intended layout. A faster service is available but the price increases. Hope that helps

The issue is that when the SLS was conceived the idea of having boosters that return and can be reused after a dust down a month later was just a pipe dream. Since the project was signed off both Blue Origin and Space X have proved the ability to launch a rocket and have it return to a platform, land safely and after a short period of time be used again on the next flight. I think Space X has reached double figures for one of its boosters which it has now retired. By todays standards the SLS is very wasteful. Yes it's "recycling" shuttle technology but it is so dated and hasn't been adapted as technology advanced over that time. I think the pace at which Space X has been developing its starship program, which will also take over the falcon 9 launch vehicle to launch yet bigger starlink satellites frightened someone which is why the project has been delayed for so long by the recent environmental impact report... with organisations lobbying more and more objections thus postponing the first orbital flight of starship. Mind you, I would love to be able to watch either or both SLS and Starship take flight....

You sure its a bees nest and not a wasps nest ?

19v will blow the board. If you are lucky you will have just damaged the regulation in the PSU rails, worst case, you've blown the micro-controllers on the board and they would need replacing with reprogrammed ones. Does the synscan unit the motors plug into have a USB port or does it just have the two RJ ports for the handset and ST4 cable ? - If its the latter I can take a look and see if the board is repairable. The process is documented in this lengthy thread, but I've managed to resurrect several synscan board over the past two years. If the synscan is one of the modern boards with a USB port then regretfully I don't have the ability to reprogram an ARM processor used in these new boards. If the board is one of the older designs and want me to take a look drop me a PM

Correct, yes its the LDAS observatory, built over the winter/spring of 1992/3 an opened on 21st August 1993 by the late Iain Nicholson who was our president for several years. My claim to fame is that I personally laid the foundations single handed. None of the normal team could get the day off work, so it was down to me to supervise the delivery of the concrete, and I had to use a shovel to move it around with the only good arm as the other was in plaster as I had broken it a few weeks before ! - It would have been a simple job if the driver managed to get the concrete in the footings rather than spilling it over the sides !!