malc-c

@michael8554 Michael, the OP states So he has no other option than to use ST-4 ports. @vlaiv is normally the expert on PHD2 graphs, hopefully he'll chime in with some suggestions

That's one exceptional landlord you have. Here's some images taken at the time when I was building my observatory. - 6" plastic pipe concreted into a block approx 1m x 1m x 1m - reinforced with rebar down the middle, and filled with a strong mix of concrete. Custom made pier head fitted with J shaped threaded rod sunk into the concrete. - Still rock solid after 10 years

Only comment... I would suggest a USB - B type connector rather than a small C type - this is more robust IMO

You can use Badder Solar film (gives a blueish tinge to the white light image) to make a full aperture solar filter to fit any scope (John has already mentioned this as I'm typing)

I might suggest the moderators merge this thread with the other one I linked to as the two are quite related. Part of the problem is that these older boards have been sort of "discontinued" and replaced with a new design as the OP in the thread I linked to found out. A lot of the newer synscan are ARM processor based as well so you have to buy a complete unit rather than just one MC003 or 004 board. There are also two variations of drive depending on the scope / mount. DC motors with encoders (mainly dobsonians) and stepper motors (without encoders) - If you do end up designing your own version of these boards, and add better protection against things like inserting the wrong lead in the wrong socket I'm sure there would be a market for it... once the chips shortage has been resolved....

The idea of a pier is to be as solid as possible to provide a stable and secure base for the mount. Thus it either needs to be something like the Altair which can be bolted to a concrete base or slab, or something that is concreted into the ground. You could draw up a design based on the Altair and see how much a local machine shop would charge to make it, or use the old tried, trusted and cheap method of sinking a length of 6" plastic drain pipe into the ground and fill it and the hole it sits in with concrete. However as you are in rented accommodation I would discuss what you want to do and why, and ask permission and gain consent from your landlord first (ideally in writing). I'm sure if you agree to return the area to the same state as it is in now prior to any work then you should get an agreement if your landlord is reasonable.

Hence why I asked for more info.... rather than jumping in with both feed 😉

Drop me a PM with the email address used . If it was to the micro-heli.co.uk address then that might explain it as that was closed 12-18 months ago... and I've not used skype for years.....

EQMOD is showing its age a little now, but is still supported by an active user group and on the whole works out of the box, and is simple to use. GSServer was mainly developed to work with the EQ8, but as it used the Synta protocol naturally works with all Skywatcher goto EQ mounts. It's GUI is more polished and like EQMOD is supported by an active user group. Both do the job of taking commands form other applications and sending them to the mount well. There is plenty of websites, books and videos to help you understand the basics and if you have any specific questions just post them on the forum.

Basic polar alignment isn't really that difficult. Think of it as a clock face, and all that is needed is to place Polaris at the "time" it is in its rotation around the NCP. Maybe this site might help you ?

Sounds like you know what you're doing... I used 1N4148's as a replacement on a few boards that had blown diodes. Not sure how you blew your board, but a while back I came across this isolated EQDIR cable... you might be able to take some of the ideas covered there and use it in your new design. Looking forward to your project, which I hope you will document on the forum? Haven't seen any e-mail, possibly send it as a PM...

I park my HEQ5 in a custom position in the observatory to ensure clearance from the roof. It's done using EQMODs custom park position. You start in the default home position, power on the mount and establish a connection with EQMOD. Un park the mount in EQMOD and then using the NSWE buttons and the rate set to 4, move the mount to a position you want. In my case this is with the weight bar and scope horizontal. Then with EQMOD expanded (click the spanner button) in the Park/Unpark box click the P+ button to launch a new window with the definable park options. In the top dropdown box select the first undefined placement and overtype it with New Park or whatever you want to call it. Do the same for the Unpark position and then calling it unpark new (or whateve) click the SET button in both boxes and now close the window. To test, in the park / unpark section select park to home in the park mode and unpark in the unpark mode. To the left click the park to home button should move the scope back to the default home position. Unpark the mount If you now change the option in the Park mode and unpark mode dropdown lists to your new entry, the description in the button under park status will show name you have defined. Click the park button and the mount should now park in the position you defined. You can now use that as the normal parking position, so open up the observatory, power up the mount, connect the software, unpark the scope and slew to a target, image, then click the park button and the mount will park itself in the custom position once again. Now I don't use NINA so can't comment on its use (I believe it may have a direct connection option rather than use EQMOD ?) - I use Cartes du Ciel with EQMOD and so custom parking works for me

There is no official schematics for Synta control boards, and the ones that have been reverse engineered still have bugs in them and tend to be for the HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts. Have a read of this thread which covers repairs of synta motor boards, and how to convert the firmware binaries into loadable HEX files and reprogram the two 16F886's. To save you time you could try the converted file attached. Best way to remove the PIC microcontrollers if you don't have a hot air station is to use a dremel with a cutting disk and very carefully cut the legs where they enter the package. Once the package has dropped away the legs can be carefully removed using a suitable tipped soldering iron, taking care not to lift the tracks. You will need a PIC programmer like the PicKit2 or above, and an 28 pin SOIC adapter to allow the chip to be programmed. I use a simple SOIC to DIP adapter and a cloths peg to hold the chip in place Good luck in sourcing the microcontrollers... when I last tried to get a pair the leadtime from my normal UK suppler was 22 months ! Hope that helps..... MC003_V0214_A.hex

David, can you give is some more information on your current scope and mount, and define cheap in terms of a real budget. This way it will stop people recommending a path which is way out of your price range, or suitability with the kit you have

Maybe I miss-phrased that. What I was meaning was in regard to the statement made about recommending large megapixel cameras as a priority over the mount. The nearest lightweight dedicated CCD astro camera I can see around the same price as an HEQ5 is the ASI 1600MM - with 16mp 4/3 sensor. Now I would be more disappointed if having spent £950 on a camera it gave me poor results because I was advised to get an EQ3 mount to take a 150p and guidescope rather than a rock solid HEQ5. As you informed me above, a cheap D400 or 450 (I really wished I had picked up the 450 for its live view, but hey ho !) would give a reasonable pixel count and scale, leaving more money for other equipment like the mount.

Again related to the issue of so many variables, we're comparing apples to oranges as you can image a target with a 500mm telephoto lens, or bolt a camera to a 1m focal length f5 200P reflector... or a 1m focal length f8 Evostar... A lot of the time the targets, portability and how the newbie intends to image is not forthcoming Personally if using a 200m reflector or 120mm refractor then the HEQ5 is the minimum requirement mount wise.

And I think that really wraps up the thread... We've been generalising things, where in reality it's really down to each individual case. I've had times in my life where the income was good and thought nothing about spending £600 on quality tongue and groove shiplap to cover the observatory, but now in my current circumstances watch every penny...

One thing that would stand out if people followed the advice and purchased an HEQ5 as the entry mount for an AP setup and then realised they could achieve the results with a cheaper lower spec's mount and could downsize to something else, then surely there would be a high number of listings in the classified section for "nearly new" HEQ5's ... I've just scanned through 12 pages on the SGL for sale section and there is not one HEQ5 listed. Several EQ5's and a couple of EQ3's, but no HEQ5's or EQ6's. Maybe that might be due to most people who spend around a grand or more on a mount look on it as a long term investment ?

But I can't see that being the case... There's not much point buying a huge mega pixel camera that weighs a few kg and then attaching it to a mount that lacks the fine accuracy and precision to take advantage of that pixels/ mm count the sensor will offer.

And for £955 or less....

Interestingly, looking at the first 10 threads in the DSO imaging section that state the equipment used your statement is spot on. With two HEQ5's being used, half used the EQ6, and one with an EQ8 class mount retailing close to $5000. Only one was taken with a tracker type mount which retails around $3800.... Looking at the pricing, in that list the HEQ5 is the cheapest which would place that at the bottom of the list, making it the "entry level" mount. Also a lot of these images were your more popular targets such as M31, M42 and IC434... which most of those looking to get into imaging will be familiar with and likely to make their first targets. Here's the list

Hey, if its working and it's going to be encased, no one will know or care what the board looks like... Quite and neat job, and top marks for using heat shrink 👍

Ahhh the holy grail .... one scope fits all (and for just £300 !)

Some sound words of wisdom there.... and probably says what I've been trying to say throughout this thread... that a definition, or in what context do we start labelling things such as "serious" and "deep sky imaging!. Part of the problem is that we all have subjective opinions... Ady recons I'm in that elite group of HEQ5 owner... where as I personally don't consider myself an elitist at all. For me when I opted to try imaging as my skys were too polluted for visual at the time, and explained what I wanted to achieve I was advised by more than one person on here to go for the HEQ5... and even though my imaging sessions are when ever the whim takes me, haven't looked back as it's given me the results that I'm happy with, and without too much hair pulling.

I don't think that anyone who owns an HEQ5 will consider themselves as being an elitist..... Its hardly at the top end of the mounts available on the market !