malc-c

If it helps, the run from my router to the observatory uses standard cat 5 cable with a cable length around 55-60 feet. It runs through the wall, up and over a gate, then along the bottom of a fence before spanning the 18" to the observatory, where it passed through the side wall and gets plugged straight into the NIC card. It's not in any ducting, just clipped using normal cleats or cable staples. In the 8 years it's been installed I've never had a network issue related to the cable. No loss of signal, deterioration or degradation of the cable and as all you are doing os remote desktopping into the observatory PC to kick things off and saving images to the remote PCs hard drive, there is very little data transmission. I've even had it save the raw subs to a network share on a networked hard drive ( 2TB SATA drive in a caddy connected via USB to the rear "server" port on the router) and not experienced any issues - The network is a standard 1Gb speed. IMO there is no real need to look at solid core cat6 for such projects, I doubt that you would make full use of the rated data transmission speeds cat6 solid core offers.

Current regulations for outbuildings, which an observatory is classified as:

A video on youtube https://youtu.be/wDCEjwQNmTE

I knew what I meant... just dyslexic fingers !! But don't forget that the data you linked to on the EQMOD site is for the sysnscan pro version of the mount... Not the basic RA drive... If you look at the gearing on the synscan upgrade you'll see the cog on the motor is a lot smaller and connects to a split gear arrangement to give the presion.

Looking at the gearing on the RA drive I would beg to differ... As far as I'm aware (and Jesper can confirm) the gear shown in the image above fits on the end of the worm shaft and engages directly with the gear on the motor. There is no way the worm turns 5 times to one of the motor. I use a 4:1 ratio between the motor and worm drive on my belt driven HEQ5, and the motor pulley is tiny compared to the one on the worm shaft (15t motor and 60t worm)

Jesper, I personally don't think guiding is the answer. I'm sure Olly or Vlaiv will correct me, but I think the PE is due to the the choice of drive you have. I feel they are designed to provide an aid to visual observation so that the target simply stays in the field of view for a given eyepiece, and thus precision isn't that important. Any backlash that creates a PE wouldn't be noticeable to the naked eye. IMO the pro goto upgrade would give you a lot more options, and with the microstepping employed with the NEMA motors the PE should be less noticeable, and what is detected can be compensated for as you can train the handset to record the PE and then use that data to compensate for the error. If you then opt for using the mount with an EQDIR cable you could then recoup some of the cost by selling the handset. EQMOD and and EQDIR cable would make guiding a lot more simple as there would be no need for any ST4 connections. Anyway, that's my take.

You could say that... My claim to fame is that I was the first to convert an HEQ5 to belt drive back in 2011 As detailed here with an article appearing in the April 2012's edition of Astronomy Now magazine. The problem was that the conversion required the owner to use EQMOD as it didn't maintain the stock ratio as the small motor pinion would separate. Dave from Rowan engineering solved this by CNC'ing the motor pulley from one solid block of metal. He was also better placed to evolve my prototype and turn it into a commercial enterprise.... the rest is history !! I did blow the original motor board... but now have the experience to repair them, but other than that the mount has been excellent. The HEQ5 design is a decent mount, and back when I got this (10 years ago !!) there wasn't as many options to choose from. You either had the EQ5, HEQ5 and EQ6 to choose from. If you wanted to image but didn't have the need for the weigh capability of the EQ6 then the HEQ5 was the only option. Today there are so many alternatives in this category of mount

Olly, Looking at how corse the teeth are on the basic RA drive, could it be that the backlash between the cogs will cause this effect when the scope is in a set position

You are also experiencing the issues of imaging on a budget. Don't get me wrong, the 150pds and EQ5 is a capable system, but with just the basic motor drive you are limited to getting that full potential. It's also why on any given time when people ask about getting into imaging the HEQ5 is the most recommended and proven mount as an entry point. However lets see if there is anything we can suggest to get you up and running with the equipment you have. But you will be needing to spend some cash - Imaging isn't cheap I was going to suggest you convert the finder into a guide scope. However, unlike the 200P, the 150PDS comes with a 6 x 30 rather than a 9 x 50. This makes attaching a camera to convert the scope a tad difficult. It is possible to purchase a SW 9 x 50 finder, complete with convector and an ZWO 120MM guide camera from Rother Valley Optics for £185 RVO Finder Guider Package The camera has an ST4 port and a USB port, so there are two options for guiding, but if your single RA motor drive is this one Then you won't be able to use the ST4 option as that hand controller has no ST4 port or guiding options (at least not without a lot of DIY modifying). So you will need to upgrade the handset. Personally I would suggest going the whole hog and getting the goto option as it has better motors, and provides you with the option of using a PC/Laptop and control the guiding using EQMOD and software. But that is an additional £299. So the other option is to get the enhanced dual axis motor kit for £120. This has an additional motor for the DEC (needed for auto guiding) and a new handset that has an ST4 port, which allows you to connect the handset to your computer via a suitable adaptor ( £54 from FLO ST4 - USB ). So to use off the shelf commercial means you're looking at around £360 as a minimum. You may be able to save a little by purchasing second hand, but to be honest I doubt that these items come up for sale that often. What will this give you. A dual axis PC driven auto guided mount... PHD2 guiding software, ASCOM platform, planetarium software such as Stellarium and CdC, and APT ( https://www.astrophotography.app/ ) is all free, although it's worth paying the 18 euro for the full version of APT. Are you still going to have issues... yeah, even those with more capable equipment have off days, but what you will have will be a foundation that should give you acceptable results

Don't know why.... typing "450d sensor specs" into google gives you the information you seek Max resolution 4272 x 2848 Effective pixels 12 megapixels Sensor size APS-C (22.2 x 14.8 mm) Sensor type CMOS

The AZ-EQ5GT on paper is the better spec'd mount. It has a 15kg payload capacity in EQ mode compared to the 13kg load of the HEQ5, and has the option of being used in alt/az mode (although if you are replacing an existing EQ mount this may not be important). It's already belt driven, so if you wanted to convert the HEQ5 there is an additional cost. I can't vouch for its performance as I've never used one, but having owned an HEQ5 for the past 8 years or more can't fault it. Tough decision

Could be any or a combination of the above. Also be a balance or CofG issue, precision of the motors and gearing or a limitation of the mount. Two minutes unguided, even with a good polar alignment may be on the limit of the mount, especially if the centre of gravity is off, or the scope out of balance... Only thing to do is re-balance the scope and set the CoG correctly and repeat what you did with the same target. If you get the same result then adjust the backlash on both axis to remove the slop but not bind the gearing, and try again. If after testing and adjusting everything you still have issues then it just might be the case that the existing setup isn't ideal for unguided imaging. It might be a case that you need the higher precision steppers used in the pro goto version of the EQ5 as the current drive motors are more suited for visual tracking rather than imaging?

Looking at the first video the sound matches one revolution of the worm drive. Either the worm need re-meshing or the end float bearing is loose. One further possibility is balance and CG since you fitted the new OTA. It looks a tad top heavy so the CG may be out. It's an old video, but the concept of balancing and setting the C0G correctly is covered in Dions video https://youtu.be/hGduG2jB9ec

Unless you are using a self centreing adapter or a Hotech laser that self centres and locks into place then you will always be chasing your tail as relying on the normal locking thumbscrew will push the laser off centre.... Visually collimation is a lot more forgiving, but for imaging it helps to have it as near perfect as possible

Well if it's other skills that relate to the astronomy hobby, mine would be soldering, coding, programming, fabrication, woodworking, and bricklaying. Soldering, Coding and Programming - I learnt to solder to high specification as an apprentice at BAe many moons ago. It's come in handy as along with coding and programming I've fixed five dead skywatcher motor boards for SGL members by removing the two microcontrollers, modifying the downloadable firmware and reprogramming two new micros, which were then soldering on the original PCBs... Fabrication - My main claim to fame was to be the first to modify an HEQ5 to belt drive, which naturally needed fabrication of spacers and adjustments to the motor housing (it was also featured in Astronomy Now !) - Rowan Astronomy overcame the one major issue I had which was maintaining the stock ratio, and the rest is history. Woodworking, Bricklaying - Building my observatory. It sits on a four course dwarf wall - never laid a brick in my life before, but with the help of the guy next door, and a tool called a bricky I got the wall finished. The rest was framework and cladding in T&G. So yeah, I think we learn a lot of news skills, or apply ones we use in daily life to the hobby.

Rapha, Using an Arduino to control stepper motors is well documented and all the library files for the more common drivers such as the A4988 are well proven. Without knowing how to write a line of code you can download examples, program a nano or uno and breadboard the driver and stepper and have it running. However the difficulty comes to modify or write the code you need get the stepper to rotate the required number of microsteps to make the RA axis rotate through its gearing to counteract the Earth's rotation. Coding in Arduino isn't difficult, just a bit quirky at times. But all is not lost... you're not the first person who wants to use an Arduino to control a telescope... and a google will through up lots of examples and similar projects, and the code is freely available. It may be a simple case of downloading one and the changing the variables to match that which suits your mount.

Uhmmm to me it looks more like residual flux or something catching the light.... If it's the PIC micro and it has blown then all is not lost as we know a guy who might be able to sort that out, don't we

Looking at the image, there is not a lot of meat on the tag that would normally be protruding through the PCB. I know a lot of people replace the power connector with a more sturdy two pin connector, but if the mount is still inside the warranty period you wouldn't want to do that just yet. Reflow the solder joints for now.... hopefully that was all it was that caused the loss of power.

Which could suggest that the issue is with SkySafari rather than the wifi dongle itself....

I'm no expert, but it's something like 2m to the eves and 2.5m to the ridge if within 2m of a boundary such as a fence - I doubt it will be a problem with the Pulsar as I'm sure they wouldn't build something that would (in a normal installation) breach planning regs as it would restrict sales.

You might be better off contacting a dealer such as FLO or RVO or even the importers OVL directly, it will save someone having to remove theirs from their scope and produce a drawing for you

Hi Paul, My advice would be to have a couple of electricians give you a quote (when covid restrictions permit) for running any main power to the observatory. There are certain standards that may need to be followed and the cable may need terminating on its own RCD/ESD at the consumer unit. Whilst most DIY's would probably use the armoured cable like an external extension cable and lay it on top of the ground it might not be acceptable in the eyes of your household insurance company. The Armoured cable will need terminating in a suitable IP66 rated box at either end, and then you can run whatever spurs / ring you want. Unless you are running a few 3kw heaters, normal 2.5mm cross section armoured should be fine. Again, they would be best place to confirm what you can and cannot do legally / or safely. You can get external CAT6 cable for network, which can be run above ground. If you intend to bury it then again, seek advice as there might well be certain requirements such as laying plastic tape identifying what cables are below. It's not really for you, more for the next person who owns the house and may have builders in... the last thing they want it to come across a cable that they have no idea what it is. It's also worth checking out your local planning regulations are. There are certain regulations regarding the maximum height of an outbuilding within XX meters of a boundary fence etc. It's quite possible that the observatory doesn't comply or your location isn't applicable, and I'm sure Pulsar will advise you if any of their products require planning permission for a given location.

Are you able to use the Synscan app to connect to the wifi adaptor and control the mount from your phone

The combined current draw when slewing will be around 1.9A - Ideally a 12v 3A supply is needed to provide enough overhead.

In a nutshell, to run EQMOD you need a PC running windows and the ASCOM platform along with a planetarium program that supports telescope control such as CdC or Stalarium. To control a synscan enabled telescope, if the PC has a standard Com port, you can connect the supplied serial cable between the PC and the handset and place the handset into PC-Direct mode. However as most modern computers don't have the D9 serial ports these days, either a USB to serial convertor is needed, or better still, do away with the handset and use an EQDIR cable based in an FTDI chipset. This cable connects to the mount where the handset is normally connected and then plugs into a USB port, either directly or via a hub to the PC. There is also a very active group should you run into an issue related with EQMOD EQMOD Group