malc-c

Change the batteries, they don't last Look for an alternative power supply. From the listing on a retailers website

Any update ?

Just my 2p worth If you have good alignment and can slew to a bright star near the target, then chances are the mount won't be off in the goto. For example if you centre Vega and then slew to the ring nebula it should still be within the FOV as any goto error won't be large enough to make it well outside the FOV. I would put my money on one of two things. Either you've forgotten to refocus through the camera, or you're on target, but you are expecting to see something in live view and the target is just not bright enough to register. Having done your alignment routine, remove the eyepiece and insert / attach the 600D. Place a Bahtinov mask for the scopes focal length on the scope and take a 20s exposure. Adjust focus until the middle line is central and equidistant between the other intersecting lines to get focus. Remove the mask and now select the target. Depending on the target, a 30s exposure might confirm position (such as the bright core of a galaxy), or better still, do a two or three minute exposure which will confirm the target is in the FOV. Once you have the target confirmed proceed with guiding and then run whatever plan you have set in APT / Backyard EOS / NINA or whatever app you use. Good luck

I can't say as I've never used it in anger.... But looking at this website it suggests a built in star atlas / database NINA Sky Atlas Detailed Atlas for over 10000 Deep Sky Objects Advanced filtering to get just the Deep Sky Objects that are relevant for you Altitude charts for each object based on your location

The cable is fine Can't really advise on NINA as I don't use it, but I'm 99% certain that it does need either EQMOD or GSS. Both these provide the control for the telescope. I don't think NINA or APT (or other plate solving apps) has direct telescope control built in, but could be wrong

Firstly you need a dedicated EQDIR cable, not a standard USB/Serial cable, otherwise there is a strong certainty that you'll blow the motor board. If you have the correct EQDIR cable for your scope then yes you can plug it into a hub rather than direct into a USB port on the computer. If the hub is of some distance away form the computer than its advisable to have an active USB cable between the PC and the Hub EQMOD is basically the telescope driver interface, CdC, Nina, PHD2, APT, Backyard Eos etc etc will all communicate via the ASCOM platform with the telescope through EQMOD. An alternative to EQMOD is Green Swamp Server. Does the same thing, just with a few more bells and whistles and has a more up dated interface.

Stu, With the USB cable connected the handset has to be in PC-DIRECT mode in order for the PC software (EQMOD / GSS / INDI drivers) to communicate with the mount. The V5 handset has a built in USB to Serial chip (based on a CH340 chipset so you will need the driver from Skywatchers website). Once the diver has been installed and the handset connected to the PC via the USB cable, and the handset connected to the mount you need to place the handset in to PC-Direct mode. If everything is OK the application on whatever platform should see the handset as a new com port (I've only used a windows platform so can't give you any help with Astroberry)

No worries.... Its all part of being a member of the community. Members on SGL tend to help where possible, and are in general a nice bunch. I have no idea if you know how to test things with a DVM or not, so apologies if my instructions are too basic.

If 12 v is getting to the motor board, then it would suggest that the board is the issue and its not a power supply problem. How old is the mount ? - If its new and features one of the later boards with an ARM processor then this should still be within warranty and it would be worth contacting the retailer. If the scope was purchased second hand then I don't know if the warranty is transferable or not, which could leave you with an expensive repair bill (circa £120 for a new board- if stock is available). If the mount is of some age then chances are it uses Microchip 16F886's and the board can be repaired. You would need to remove the board to confirm which is fitted. This is the new revision of the HEQ5 board and this is what the older revision looks like, processor side up. You could do further checks but that involves removing the power connector PCB, the motor board and the steppers so you can test for the 5v supply to the processors if the board is of the older type. You need to have the steppers connected before powering up so as not to risk damage to the driver chips. With the motors connected to the motor board, the connector board with the switch and ports on connected to the motor board and the power applied set the DVM to 20v and check for 5v on the two pins on the 16F866's Place the black lead to pin 8 and the red lead to pin 20 If you get 5v across those pins then power is reaching the PIC and it would indeed look as if the issue is more with the communications between the handset and the PICs. In which case then the PICs will most probably need replacing and reprogramming. If that's the case then drop me a PM if you want to try a repair.

First thing to check is that the power supply used is able to supply 12v minimum under 2.5amp load. Next you will need to buy, beg, or borrow a test meter (DVM) that can read DC voltage. Un do the two M3 screws that hold the switch and power connector etc housing. Inside is a small PCB that has the LED and a host of connectors fitted. With the DVM set to 20v test the terminals of the 2.1mm power connector with the power connected. Wiggle the plug to make sure its not lose. With one lead on the 0v terminal of the power connector, probe the switch terminal, both sides with the switch operated. If you are getting 12v after the switch then 12v is getting passed the switch and that is not the fault. Remove the covers on the body of the mount to expose the motor board. With the mount in the home position (weights down, with weight bar vertical) stand in front of the mount so the rows of white connectors are facing you. On the right of the board in front of two capacitors (black cylindrical things about 1.5cm tall) is connector J1 which is where the power to the main board comes in from the connector board. This connector has 5 wires connected to it. Reading the wires form left to right, place the red test lead so it makes contact with the metal of the second wire, with the black test lead on the fifth. With the mount powered you should read 12v (or more) on the DVM. This would rule out the normal loose power connector / dodgy switch issues If after proving that the motor board is being powered and you are getting the "no response both axis" message then this would suggest that the serial ports on the two PIC micro controllers are not sending back the handshake to the handset. Basically when connected the handset has no idea what motorboard (or mount) it is connected to, and thus what gear ratios etc the mount uses. So it sends a request to the motorboard for this information, and if it fails to receive it then it displays that "no response" message. You could try using an EQDIR cable and EQMOD to replicate the handset, but chances are EQMOD will display a time out error as it too won't get the response back. In the past this normally meant the purchase of a replacement motor board, but of late we've been able to convert the readily available firmware to a format and be able to program two replacement PIC microcontrollers As detailed in this thread. To date I've repaired around 7 motor boards, mainly for Dobsonian scopes, but also my own HEQ5 board as I thought I had blown them (turned out I didn't need to as it was a faulty EQDIR cable). If after all your testing you still get the "no response both axis" message then drop me a private message if you would like the board looked at

Sounds promising... and for £50 can be bad...be interesting to see what Task manager shows with everything running...

I would have thought that if Rowan Engineering believed there was a market for these they would have already have developed one, especially given the fact its been a good 12 month since Darkframe stopped producing them. If I were faced with the same issue, I would try and find a local machine shop who could drill and tap a couple of holes and add a lump of steel (ali will soon get churned up, even on first use) to the mount. Either that, or try and contact anyone who makes large scale 5" gauge steam engines as they will have the machines and knowhow to knock one up.

Here's my entry - M57 Taken 16th July 2021 Single 800 ISO exposure taken with a modified Canon D400. Explorer 200P / Heq5. Taken from town location (Stevenage). The image is straight out of the camera, unprocessed.

Most of the SW motor boards use the MC2171 buck converter / regulator to provide the 5v line for the PIC micros (which in turn is further regulated by a 7805). This buck converter generates the 33v that is used to drive the steppers, and has a wide operating voltage of 3 - 40v DC. However the filter arrangement for incoming voltage has been designed to accept 12-16v DC. Voltage is not the issue with these mounts, its current. The supply needs to be able to supply 3amp at 12-16v without any voltage drop. 9/10 time when people report poor communications between handset or PC and mount is down to the fact their supply struggles to provide the amps at the voltage, so you get voltage drop.

And take some pictures and attach them to a post so we can see if there is anything missing

^^^ This ^^^ And also throw in a comment about how in frequent it would be due to the very few ideal nights we get to take images, so it would only be the occasional disruption if your next session also woke them. We don't get on with one set of neighbours, and they had a security light which he angled up so it floods our garden too... then they needed to replace the dividing fence, which would mean possible damage to her plants. I offered access from our garden as we're end of terrace, so the job was much quicker, the installer didn't have to bring panels through their house etc.... A few days after there was a nock on the door and she presented us with a pot plant, and also asked if there was anything they could do to return the favour. I mentioned the light and a n hour later he was out there with a ladder and adjusted it so it only lit up his garden.

It will be interesting to see how it performs. Often things run just fine when on paper they don't meet spec....

Well pleased to say that having received the repaired board back for inspection everything was looking OK, although on closer inspection it seemed as if one of the LEDs may have become dethatched as it wasn't quite as secure as I had hoped. Out with the soldering iron and a few moments later the joints were remade. Everything was powered back up and I was so relieved to see the display giving the firmware version and not the "no response both axis" message. The Diodes were then physically secured to the PCB using some infilling PVA, and once cured and tested for a good dozen power cycles, the kit was repacked and returned via next day delivery, which the member graciously covered the cost of. Today I received a PM and pleased to hear he's a happy customer

Personally I will be surprised if it manages to do anything that requires a lot of processing (plate solving, stacking etc) without a struggle. It may manage it, but with just 2GB of DDR3 RAM, some of which no doubt will be used for graphics, and a 1.2GHz processor it may well struggle. We use to use similar PC's for display board (huge TVs) info. Most had Atom processors, and could just about manage taking the data form the telephone system and displaying the data on the TV (normal stuff like calls waiting, calls taken, productivity ratings etc). If it had to multi task it just fell over ! I would suggest that provided there is enough head room and the software doesn't start using the hard drive as a scratch disk then it should be fine for driving the scope, guiding etc. but there could be a demand on that 2GB of RAM that will slow things up. - Keep us posted, as often in the real world things prove out so different form the theory !

Wow, such a open ended question. What specifically are you looking for. What level of information can you digest (sometimes unless you are at the level of the late Stephen Hawkings, a scientific paper might as well be written in Klingon as it's beyond the scope of everyday people). I'm sure if you narrow down your criteria people can offer more targeted replies

No expert, but it's what I would have expected. In an unpowered state it's quite easy to rotate a stepper motor (or servo motors for that matter), so in order to maintain a parked position both the RA/DEC (Alt/Az) motors have to be energised to hold the scope in that position, so all coils are being energised. When slewing, there would be an initial surge in current to cover the torque needed to get the scope moving, and typically both motors are in motion for a period of the slew, . But looking at the graph we're only talking around 100ma - 150ma difference between parked and tracking states... One thing it does show is the need for a decent 3amp or more supply, and why using a 2amp supply could cause issues.

Well we have an X-File case. The last board that I repaired as shown above was packed up and returned the same day it was received, and the following day the owner connected everything up only to get the same "no response both axis" message...A few suggestions vi PMs and we still couldn't get a response.... So I've asked for the kit back so I can take another look.... Hopefully the PICs are not blown again... the ones I ordered back in June won't be in stock until August !

Fingers crossed for the weather to clear so you can try it for real

It may be possible to replace the complete board with one based on the 16F886's https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3446_Skywatcher-Hauptplatine-fuer-Montierung-EQ6-SkyScan-Pro.html As far as I know the EQ6 was only available in one version and thus the gear ratios and steps per worm revolutions will be the same. So it should be possible to drop in a new board for around 170 euro. - I would certainly drop Teleskop express a mail to enquire if that is the case, and then if attempts to fix the board by replacing the caps fails you have a fall back plan

That's really an old board if it has 16F73's... The firmware available form SW is for the 16F886's so it wouldn't be possible to program replacement 73's without the old code. The full schematic for the 16F886 based boards is attached, and it follows that a lot of the layout would be common to other boards that use the same stepper motors etc. Schéma électrique eq6 v1.pdf The caps can look perfectly normal but still be duff. It can take a hell of an inrush current to pop them.... C3, C48 C41 and C14 would be my first choice for replacements, with 50v or 100v rated caps.