malc-c

Yup, as I feared, the LCD is unique to that product - found these images of the internals of Mead handsets and the connector is non standard for an off the shelf component http://staff.washington.edu/seymour/astro/guts2.html

Googling the images it seems that the handset used a 2 line x 16 character LCD. However whilst that may well be standard the interface to the PCB may well be propriety, meaning that a standard off the shelf 2x16 LCD can't be fitted. I would also advise against plugging in a Synscan handset - it is more probable that the pin outs are different on the connector and damage could result. The communications protocol will be different too so it wouldn't do much.

Well there is always the backup of the backups My workflow uses a shared network drive (1TB) as the default backup drive. Macrim Reflect runs on all PCs, with backup plans that back up / copy important documents and files to that shared drive. I also back up the most important files to dropbox, but only the really critical files as space is limited. I then have a backup that mirrors the shared drive to the NAS. So in effect I have two restore solutions, the NAS if the shared drive fails, or the shared drive if the NAS running the RAID fails. When imaging, the raw images are saved to the observatory PC. Whilst I have macrim running to image the machine on a regular basis, I use SyncToy to monitor the folder where APT saves the images to and copy them to a folder on the shared drive (and thus to the NAS). It does this in real time, so should the observatory PC have a hard drive problem it can be reimaged quickly and I haven't lost any images other than the one that may have been in the process of saving to the disk at the time of failure. Imaging drives is another thing - I recently messed about with NINA on the Observatory only to find it didn't support my old Canon DSLR, and then uninstalling caused other issues. So it was a simple case to run the rescue media from a USB drive and apply the previous drive image to the PC. 20 minutes and I was back to how things were before I messed about. Again, these images (compressed) are stored on both the shared drive and the NAS. With random ad hock images stored on flash drives as a back up mainly as one or two PCs don't really change much in terms of applications installed. As you say, it's all well and good having all these system, but you also need to be diligent when it comes to deleting anything from the machines.... chances are its the one folder you thought wasn't important and this one that is never backed up

Basically what you are doing by mirroring one drive to the other is essentially a RAID, but with out the advantages a RAID system has to offer. Trust me, RAID is a must, especially if the NAS supports hot swapping. I got my old Netgear NAS off e-bay for around £50 with two 1TB drives, which I later discovered were cheap ones and not really suited to 27/7 running when one failed nine months later. I didn't lose any data as the drives were mirrored, although I had lost redundancy until I got a replacement. I bought a pair of more reliable drives which arrived next day. This is where the advantage of RAID comes in as it was a simple case of insert the first drive and let the NAS rebuild the array across the first new drive, and then when complete, pull the remaining old drive out and insert the second new drive in its place and let it rebuild the array once more - Took around a day or so and didn't need any other intervention, I just left it to do its thing.

Personally I would suggest investing in a NAS drive. I picked up one a few years back like this one and use Macrim Reflect to back up files / folders / dives to it. The drives are run in RAID so mirror each other and if one ever fails juts plug in a replacement and the raid is rebuilt with no loss of data. To be honest, if you just accidently erased the files, the data is still there, just not indexed, and most disk management systems will still mark the sectors on the disc as having data when new applications are installed unless the disk is very tight on space. Most recovery tools are run on a different machine with the effected disk connected as a secondary drive. However, if you have since retaken the images then it a case of closed gate and bolted horse.... But moving forward no doubt you have learned a lesson here and will now look at a more robust data storage option

I think it was more a problem with limitations of the language EQMOD was written in (VB I believe) that held EQMOD developing into something with a nice glossy GUI...

I must admit I'm amazed at the patience of people on here, paying upwards of £2K and waiting a year for a product after the order was placed.... I would have already gone bald having pulled my hair out in this time. I'm sure most of those customers would be more than understanding about staffing issues or cash flow if they had been informed, which as has been discussed wouldn't take that amount of time or resources to do, and communication with customers is all part and parcel of running a business. Good luck with recovery of your deposit... sadly I feel that more and more customers will be going down the court route.

This may mean more to you than me... But it suggests that the underlaying hardware protocols are functioning in that the USB chipset is detected and dealt with by the OS. But as the communications is handled by "the driver" and this is where you are getting the issue, then that is where I would look. Google is full of similar issues where direct connection with a handset works, but when used with a Pi and EQDIR cables it fails, example here Maybe the issue is USB3... does the Pi have USB2 ports.

At least through this testing you've proved what does work and identified what doesn't. Maybe Wim is on to something if there is an issue with having hubs plugged into to Pi's or NUC's. Maybe neither can handle so many USB devices and its a power issue, I don't know as I've never messed about with Pi's before. Or it could be driver related. Again, not familiar with how things work on INDI etc, but as far as I know EQMOD (official) isn't LINIX based, so presume there is some "translation" between it/Ekos/ and INDI or something. I did come across an old thread on an INDI forum where someone had produced EQMOD for Linux... but that seemed to have the same issues you are experiencing. Being a Windows fanboy I can't really help... but the common issue here is the two small "computers" and linux OS being the problem

I feel for you... this is totally nuts ! I also noticed I mis quoted - the Rock64 belongs to Wimvb... apologies for that. You've mentioned you're going back to windows - clutching at straws, but see if GSS results in the same coms issue. The only other suggestion is to try a standard laptop rather than mini PCs or pi's... maybe these smaller devices drop connections as their power distribution is such that they simply can't maintain the connection? - What happens if you connect the handset and place that in PC-Direct mode, and then connect the handset to the pi or mini PC (presumably via USB if its a modern handset).

So you have tried two motor boards, both of which work fine with the handset, but not when you use an ARM based single board "computer" on which you are running LINUX, and INDI and the software that runs on it won't connect with the com ports. This suggest that the Rock64 may be the issue here, but the only real way to test that would be to remove it from the equation and either use another platform, such as a pi4 or laptop, either running linux or as suggested, windows and see if the issue goes away. If it does then it would suggest that the Rock64 either has a hardware fault, or so some subs system issue. Other than that - have no other suggestions

The problem with recommending equipment is that everyone will have differing opinions and budgets. It also depends on what exactly you are expecting to get in terms of results. Often people lurk on forums or see nice detailed images of galaxies and expect to get the same on kit costing a few hundred quid... and the get disappointed when they see the results they get, and the scope then sits in the cupboard gathering dust. So here are some basics things to consider. Whilst is is possible to use an ALT AZ mount you will soon find that its limitation in not being able to rotate along the same axis as the Earth will impact the images as it shortens the exposure times before "field rotation" is noticeable. Therefore an EQ mount is really the tool for the job if you are serious and want decent images. Unless you are spending a huge sum of money on a mount it will need to be guided to keep those images of faint targets nice and sharp. That means the mount needs to be motorised and be able to handle a decent payload that includes the guide camera and guide scope or OAG. Planets need high magnification, that means long focal lengths. Longer focal lengths means less resolution, so you need aperture as well. That's why some of the images seen in magazines are taken through 12" or more catadioptric telescopes which provide excellent resolution at that high magnification. You'll still be able to take a picture on an ST102, but all you'll get is a small bright disk. On the other side of the coin, deep sky stuff is best suited to large aperture, fast scopes with short focal lengths. A 6" reflector is really IMO the entry point for imaging DSO's. So, you can see that with either a large refractor or reflector, plus all the guiding gubbings a decent mount is needed, which is why a lot of people recommend an HEQ5. But an Explorer 150P on an EQ5 goto is possibly what I would consider as being the minimum entry level DSO imaging rig. We mentioned guiding. In order to get those really nice images it requires lots and lots of multiple images all stacked together. In order to do that you need to automate the process, so that involves some form of computer running the software (most is free or just a few ££ pa subscription) to drive the mount, guide it, and operate the camera. You can do the process manually, but it's far simpler to let the computer take control. It does this by tracking the movement of a star, and then sends small correcting pulses inn the opposite direction to compensate. But there are other aspects of astrophotography - Wide field. - Get a decent tracking mount for under £400 and bolt your existing camera to it. Use anything form 38mm to 300mm lenses and take some images of the milky way, constellations or larger galaxies and nebula.... The biggest thing to consider when getting into imaging is budget. - Do you have deep pockets ? - You never really get satisfied, and can easily be drawn in. A good friend of mine who has had several images published on the cover of Astronomy Now and other leading publications dipped his toe into imaging with a digital SLR on a explorer 200P on and HEQ5 mount.... He now has an EQ8, with a dual mounted scope, in a purpose built observatory with a camera that cost more than my second hand Volvo V70 when I purchased it when the car was just 7 years old... but seeing the quality of the images he gets, and those of others that are in that league you need that level of equipment. So have a real long think of what subjects really interest you, what sort of results are you looking at achieving (plenty of examples on the forum so you can see what's possible with what type of kit), and work out a budget. Then with a narrower selection of kit available people could comment further. But also accept that we all have our own opinions, and you will often get confliction advice. That's not to say the advice is wrong, but simply because we all do things differently, have different budgets, different expectations and none of us can test drive all the equipment as a result, we can only pass on what we've experienced, or how we went about things.

Before you install the new board, try the old board that works with the handset but not EQMOD with GSServer... There is a setting in GSServer for using the full voltage for the motors which EQMOD doesn't have. Trust me, if there was a real issue with the motor board the handset wouldn't work either EDIT - You'll need to test with a windows machine as GSServer is windows only, but it will prove if the issue is unique to EQMOD - the setting to enable is full current

There's already been a lot of discussion and good suggestions, but here's my 2p worth Automation - This comes in several levels. - A fully automated set up would have a weather monitor so in the event of cloud cover it pauses the imaging run, if it remains cloudy or if it detects rain it will then end the session, park the scope, close the observatory up and shut the mount and PC down. A basic system is using a computer of some description to replace the handset and control the mount, and naturally you can have any combination between the two. If you have the funds, land and ability to construct a typical roll off roof observatory and have the mount permanently mounted then this is the way to go. It can house all the equipment and means you can be up and running in less than 10 minutes. Put the observatory PC on your home network via a hard wired connection (Cat5 is fine). This allows you to remote desktop into the observatory PC from your PC in the comfort of your lounge. The HEQ5 is really the default entry level imaging mount and has been proven for decades. A Windows PC running ASCOM and EQMOD was for years the traditional set up for mount control via a hard wired EQDIR cable. I would recommend a hard wired connection over wifi anytime... so many posts on here where wifi mounts or modules have dropped connections... not what you want at 2am mid way through a session. These days, there are NUC PC's, Pis, and dedicated (and expensive) astro computers that run windows or linux platforms , giving you various options for levels of control.

Personally, wired set up every time. I have a cat 5 cable running to the observatory which also has mains power. I have a windows PC in the warm room (now becoming more store room !) used for controlling the scope via an hard wired EQDIR cable. Having the observatory PC on the network allows me to connect to it from the main PC in the house via remote desktop connection if I want to run an imaging session without getting cold

Its a nice application, and the development team are active via a google group. - The 3D scope tool showing the scope orientation is a nice touch. The basics that EQMOD/EQASCOM does, GSServer can do - just in a nice new modern GUI - but think on, Chris and the team developed EQMOD well over a decade ago, and whilst it still gets tweaked to incorporate individuals requests, to rewrite the application in a more modern language to give it a more polished look would be a very large task, especially when the guys behind GSS have already done essentially that.

You're comparing apples to oranges... The Star Adventure is a photographic platform. The HEQ5 is a telescope mount. The Star Adventure is designed to be highly portable, mainly for use with DSLR cameras and something like a 50-200mm telephoto or a 38mm wide angle lens, totalling no more than 5kg. The HEQ5 can handle large scopes and equipment up to twice that. And as mentioned the HEQ5 is fully goto . But the HEQ5 is heavy and not really something you could really consider "grab and go". Is the HEQ5 worth the extra - depends on what you want to do now or in the future. If you see yourself typically bolting on a DSLR or a small MAK and taking it to a dark site in the back of the car, and want no more then no as the Star Adventurer would suit your needs. If on the other hand you want to image from the comfort of your back garden then yes, the HEQ5 is well worth 3x the expense. The HEQ5 also offers full goto, which can also lead to a fully computer controlled set up, and whilst it can accept DSLR cameras, it can take large scopes up to 200m f5 reflector or large refractors, along with guide scopes etc if your went down that road later. The HEQ5 probably also has a better resale value should your circumstances change and you need to upgrade or sell it as they are very much sought after.

You have more control options with Skywatcher mounts than Celestron under a windows platform. The method of control is varied and complicated, from using a small laptop or NUC PC running windows, through to raspberry Pi's or dedicated astro-PCs running linux, all of which can be found on the forum. Most people typically use their existing laptop, install EQMOD, ASCOM, PHD2 and a planetarium application of choice. Connection to the mount is normally via an EQDIR cable, although newer versions of their mounts have that built in so only require a USB cable. Personally, having originally purchased an EQ5 and then got into imaging with a basic guidescope and DSLR camera (ie at the entry level), I soon realised that I needed to upgrade the mount so picked up a second hand HEQ5. This was then belt modified (DIY which then led to the Rowan Kit being produced) which was a game changer. One less technical thing, it may have changed by now, but most celestron VX's were known as coffee grinders due to the sound they made when slewing... If you live in an area where your neighbours are light sleepers it might be worth considering if your nightly imaging sessions could result in fall out ?

Deleted - the reference to Isaac Newton threw me ! - Not a refletor

Paul... I hope by USB to serial you mean an dedicated EQDIR cable form a respected astro kit supplier like the one Julian has linked to- If not then you risk blowing the motor board. If you have proved that the issue is with the hand controllers and not the motorboard then try contacting the retailer if the mount is within warranty.

Communication issues are often related to poor power supply. The mount will draw around 2 - 2.5 amps at 12v when slewing. If the power supply is not able to maintain 12v when that current is drawn then the mount will drop out and could stop responding. Another cause could be a brake in communications, so describing how you connect the laptop to the mount will help. If using a direct EQDIR cable, please state the make. Also is the laptop under battery power or are you running it of the mains?. Finally, are you using any long USB cables between the laptop to a hub, if so what type (active or passive) and their length. This information is really the minimum information we need to try and rule out possible areas of investigation

Have a read of Gary Honis's web site here covers all aspects of modifying Canon cameras I did my 400D a few years back - it's not difficult, but you need good eyesight or use magnifiers, and take your time

Not going to advise on specific kit for budget, but just repeat the information that is often given for anyone getting into imaging. Imaging is primary about the mount. It's no good having superb optics if the mount is subject to wobble and not stable. Ideally it also needs a fair amount of precision, and for these two reasons mounts such as the HEQ5, and EQ6 form the entry point when it comes to mounts. Yes you can use EQ3 / EQ5 and may people have done, but having used an EQ5 and then got into imaging I soon needed to replace the EQ5 with a second hand HEQ5 for us with my 200P. The HEQ5 / EQ6 mounts have a very capable payload which makes it more suitable for a wide range of telescopes, plus the weight of guide scopes and cameras. The advice continued with the scope. What subjects interest you. Wide field, planetary, or deep sky? There are overlaps and you can use most scopes to cover most things, but you won't get the results. Turn an f5 200mm newt on Jupiter and you'll get a small disk in the image, use a 200mm f10 cat and you'll see a lot of detail. But to use the cat for DSO adapters have to be used and it won't perform as well as the newt. You will get better results when you use an appropriate scope for the targets you want to photograph. Long focal lengths and large apertures are ideal for planetary, short focal lengths and large apertures for DSOs are the norm. Turning this example around, I used the 200p with two 2x barlow lenses and a webcam to image Jupiter a good few years back. It was messy, grainy after processing, but it gave me a fairly decent image of the belts and spot, al be it dark and lacking a lot of contrast. Granted camera choice may have improved things, and using a dedicated astro camera might have improved things. I agree with Vlaiv, a newt is not ideal for visual, but with the use of tube rings it is not that big a problem. You can make a ring to prevent the tube dropping for around £10 form a band clamp, felt, and the capping from plastic trunking. But again, are you buying this rig for visual or imaging.

From a remote control support point of view Skywatcher Mounts have more options, being supported by EQMOD/EQASCOM and GSServer on PC's (other hardware is available). PC control of Celestron mounts is doable, but Skywatcher seem to have cornered the market.

Its and old video -but it covers balancing the scope in all axis and getting the CofG right