malc-c

Well I have a confession to make... In the course of messing about trying to repair a dead HEQ5 board that a member kindly donated after they had purchased a replacement I blew my own.... well sorta... I actually blew the EQDIR cable which gave the time out message in EQMOD... but thought it was the PICs that had been blown, so removed the (perfectly good) PICs and replaced them with newly programmed ones... naturally I still got the same time out message with EQMOD as the fault was the cable and not the mount. Unfortunately in my testing I left a hairline bridge of solder between two legs on one of the PICs which did then burn it out ! It wasn't until I started to test the individual components (EQDIR cable, small connection PCB with wire harness, and the the MBC) did I realise my mistake.... So now I'm waiting for delivery of another bag of 16F886's and an FTDI cable to make a new EQDIR cable..... As a post note, the original board I was sent to play with was totally blown... Replacing the PICs on it had no effect (and yes after testing I was still able to use my own MBC OK - It wasn't until I incorrectly bypassed an Inductor that I blew my EQDIR cable !!) I'll let you know how I get on -

Then add the cost of the EQ5 pro goto kit ( £330) as it is just a manual mount and you end up paying more than the new warrantied EQ3 pro goto Plus So you have the additional cost to purchase a new weight, as without it the mount is useless ! Not the best referral Jim

There seems to be a lot of posts where people are experiencing connectivity via usb when using laptops. My hunch would be to the current draw, and that the internal USB may be shared from the same internal chipset so can't provide the full 500mA or 900mA depending on the version of USB used. A powered HUB would possibly be the way forward, or try a different PC / Laptop to confirm that the issue is with the laptop

Needs a device driver. The chipset the EQDIR uses according to FLOs website is FTDI 232R chipset - Drives can be found at the link below https://ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers/

As mentioned the only commercial goto option you have is to replace your EQ2 mount with the EQ3 pro goto https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-eq3-pro-goto-mount-tripod.html for around £420

missing edit button - and no option to insert an image into the main body of a post Ignore me - just found the edit option on the right from the three dots !!!!

The ability to edit post has gone - only multi and single quote options - no edit button

Stu, with all due respects you tell us one thing but do another... You state its a Uno not a Mega that you are using, then vice versa... your mention DHT11, the code has the library and uses the DHT commands... but then you state you are using a thermistor... you ask about humidity which relates to the DHT, but you have stated you ain't using... So how the hell can we advise you when none of us actually have an idea of exactly what sensors you are using and on what platform.... Pin assignments change from platform to platform.... so telling you to use one pin is meaningless when you are no longer using that platform. I2C needs two pull up resistors og 4.7k min, one on the clock the other on the data lines. I would also suggest googling and reading up on how the DHT sensor sends its data packets, and you will get some idea of the timing which may delay the loop.

Welcome to the world of Arduino.... I think that is more logical... at the start of the loop you read the sensors, then read the clock and then display them on the screen, then loop round again. I also noted that the code has the DTH connected to pin 0, which is not a digital input, its part of the serial port... it might be better moving it two pins above to pin 2 and change the int tempPin = 0; to int tempPin = 2;

Yeah, looking at it and having a rethink, that would be quite an obstruction if it were the secondary

I think he's using the I2C bus for both devices rather than "rs232"... And in reality whilst the serial uses the RS232 protocol, it's not a true RS232 as it used TTL levels for the data bits where true RS232 swings +/- through 12v (although the range is +/- 3 to 25v depending on the distance).

Ahhhh that would explain the confusion, do you mean Arduino Uno - No idea what a Arduino Uninin is. Yes the I2C serial is a BUS type protocol. Two wires CLOCK (SCL) and DATA (SDA) run out from the micro and are pulled high buy two resistors between 4.7K and 10K. Each device with an I2C port is connected to the BUS via the two SCL and SDA lines. As you have the real time clock module running and its displaying the time on the LCD, both connected to the I2C bus then that part is working. If you have the DHT11 connected to PIN2 (digital) and have a standalone bit of code that successfully sends the results to the serial monitor, but then fails when you run the combined code, then it would suggest the issue is with the way the combined code is executed, or writen. Can you copy and paste the complete code into Notebook and attach that to a reply and I'll take a look.... I'm not an expert, but something may be obvious as sometimes what looks logical doesn't always follow when it comes to Arduinos C++

Apparently another SGL member (and my local society's newsletters editor ) got Photo of the Month with his image of M110

I've seen images where people have made an external mount from a 6" drain pipe, to bricks pillars and then covered the mount with anything from thick garden refuse bags to upturned plastic dustbins. Not sure how well the stock tripod would fair if left outside as the screws are probably cheap steel rather than stainless.

I was thinking the darker circle was an out of focused secondary ??

Hi, I'm no Arduino expert, but have some experience with the sensors and displays having designed and built this (with some help on the code) The DHT11 isn't really a serial device, it's a one wire device, in other words data travels down one wire, sometimes in both directions, often just in one, so data is sent from the device to the processor. Other temperature sensors such as the DS18B20 use the same process, but the protocols (the way the data is sent) is different between the two one wire devices. If you are using the same pin in the code for the DHT11 and serial connection then it will conflict. Move the DHT data wire to a different pin, change the code to reflect that change and you should be OK

It's about the same physical size, but that is where the similarity ends... Dual core 32bit ARM processor running at 133Mhz.... compared to the Nano's 20mHz 8bit AVR.... no comparison. But does it directly support the Arduino C++ language, I don't think it does.

Really? - I've labeled them just for reference - nothing to do with orientation etc. Clearly, if anything the secondary is low and needs to be moved upwards towards N slightly to make it more central

Setting up Place the mount on the tripod so that the spigot that pokes up from the top of the tripod is between the two horizontal adjustment screws and then secure the mount to the tripod by fitting / tightening the bolt from the tripod head into the base of the mount. Release the altitude adjustment bolts that run at 90 degrees to the two horizontal adjustment screws and tilt the mount upwards until the angle indicated on the mount is the same degree as your latitude and then finger tighten the two altitude adjustment bolts until they become tight against the mount. Fit the weight bar, and add the counterweights, pushing them all the way up the bar to the mount and tighten the securing bolts. If not already fitted add the dovetail and telescope rings, and then add the telescope tube assembly, placing the tube evenly in the rings. Release the counterweight securing nut and slide the weight halfway along the bar Now rather than type up 1000’s words, I would suggest you watch this set of videos. They are quite old, but really very helpful. Here it explains how to balance the scope Once you have the scope balanced then you can set up you can then polar align the mount when you get a clear night and can sight polaris. Again, rather than repeat what’s already been written, have a read of Astro-baby’s excellent website http://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/simple-polar-alignment/ If you are unsure of the parts mentioned, such as the securing bolts then consult the documentation that came with the scope and mount. If you didn’t receive the manual it can be downloaded from their global support website, eg https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/upfiles/en_download_caty01316546576.pdf

A better picture might help, but looking at what you've provided I would agree that it's still in need of a little tweaking to get the secondary more central.

IMO that board had been repaired as was not an original. All the boards I've repaired in this way have never had the PICs glued to the boards. As soon as the legs had been cut the package fell off the PCB. I tend to use RS components for the PICs. Granted they are not as cheap as Ali Express, but then RS will have paid duty and VAT on them, and naturally are in business to make a little profit. But they are still reasonably priced at Just under £2 each, and there is more piece of mind buying from them as they are quick to resolve any issues with shortages / delivery / or faulty products. And for account customers deliver next day. Glad to hear you managed to sort out the HEQ5 boards. It's very rewarding and satisfying when you manage to give something a new lease of life and save some money in the process too

Granted FTDI had issues with counterfeit chips, but it's only recently we've seen the equivalent of an EQDIR interface built into the goto systems, so it would have made better sense to use a chipset that is current with wide driver support.

On the power supply side, the inductor and or the two smoothing capacitors below J1 connector often pop. Replacing the inductor with a resettable 2A fuse can resolve that issue, as does replacing the two capacitors. When it comes to a mount that has power but the handset is displaying "no response both axis" this indicates that the two PIC microcontrollers have been blown. It is possible to replace them, but you also need to convert the downloadable firmware file to a HEX format and then reprogram two new blank 16F886's. It's doable (I've repaired 5 goto dobsonian's with MC004 / 3 boards this way) but you need access to a PIC programmer in order to do so

Have you installed the driver for the chipset used in the shoestring cable on the NUC ? - The drivers are located here http://www.store.shoestringastronomy.com/downloads.htm

Why SW opted for prolific chipset rather than FTDI I don't know. A lot of windows support for the prolific chipsets were dropped years back.