malc-c

I hope you have deep pockets then..... Pulsar are recognised as being the company to turn to for domed home observatories. There are two variants, 2.2m and 2.7m. A 2.2m full height dome (ie the the dome and the circular walled section) is £3495. The motorised drive for the dome is an additional £1295, and if you want to automate that fully and include the shutter drive, add on another £1295, so a shade over £6000. Add to that the cost of the base, and pier and I doubt you would see much change from £7K if you include the cost of having electricity supplied (last thing you want is the laptop to shut down due to low battery !). If you wanted a larger 2.7m model, add another £1300 to the cost. https://www.pulsarastro.com/pulsar-22m-full-height-dome-13-p.asp For an off the shelf and installed ROR observatory you're looking for around £4100 for an 8' x 8' (approx 2.4m x 2.4m) which includes 2 days labour for installation but exclude delivery. The cost of a suitable concrete base should also be added to the cost, along with the provisions for the electrics. So again, probably not much change out of £5.5 - £6K if you include the optional electric roof, internal wall cladding, flooring and any coloured roof tiles. https://www.homeobservatoryuk.com/?p=home Just want to add, that I'm in no way endorsing any of the above, and can not vouch for their suitability. Just started the task of researching your options for you

This is on the assumption that the microcontrollers have not been damaged and the handset can establish communications with them in the first place.. As the OP had a new mainboard replaced then in theory there should be no problem with the board, so if when the handset is connected to a PC via the correct cable and the firmware loader application manages to communicate with the mainboard through the handset then there is a chance that reloading the firmware would work. If however the handset is faulty it still may not see the motor board and thus the OP won't be able to try this.

Personally given the shortage of astro gear I would be spending an afternoon on the phone ringing round making enquiries rather than relying on someone monitoring a mailbox.

There are plenty of DIY observatory builds, from simple shed conversions, domes, through to custom designed and purpose built buildings. Spend a few days / weeks browsing through them to see what was involved, the pitfalls and the pros and cons. No one design fits all. Also compare costs. Sometimes a custom self build might give you more observatory than an off the shelf option. I would suggest visiting one of the manufacturer / resellers, but with Covid and recent restrictions that would rule out such activities, especially if you are in the new T4 zone ! Also consider how you might end up operating the observatory. Initially I built a "warm" room which worked fine, but now, having opened up the observatory, just remote desktop into the PC in the observatory from the main PC in the lounge and do all my imaging from the warmth of the living room. A webcam allows me to keep an eye on the scopes orientation. I would not be able to do this with a dome unless the dome was motorised as I would be running up the garden frequently to move the dome to maintain that open section of sky. If you have neighbors close to your house then try and predict a "what if" future proofing into the location of the observatory and its design. When I built my observatory we had an elderly couple living next door who seldom went out after dark, and would retire to bed before 10pm. They moved out to a care home and the council have the house to a new couple.... the garden is full of fairy lights and there is a 300w flood light that often gets triggered by their cats which can naturally spoil imaging. If I have the dropdown side of the observatory in the up position it gives me some degree of shielding, but limits the southerly view.

Wow, that is different...and uses an ARM Cortex processor rather than a Microchip PIC. It was also listed a good £20 cheaper than the boards listed at Rothervalley / FLO etc I would have to do some research to check compatibility as there is only one firmware file for the HEQ5 on the Skywatcher website and that's for an 16F886. I wouldn't try and upload any firmware to the new board just in case... if it ain't broke don't fix it Drop me a PM when you are able to send on the Old board and I'll sort out a payment to cover the cost of P&P etc.

Having repaired four SW goto motor boards I think what's happened is that the upgrade has corrupted the code in the micro-controller, and now it's impossible to reload the original firmware back. However, if you have already had a new main board swapped out then that would / should have resolved the problem. I would have thought that Synta would have standardise the parts used in their mounts and the fact that the firmware version for the XT10g is listed as the 209 version, the same for the SW flexitube and standard Dobs would suggest that the MC boards are indeed the same. The only thing that they didn't replace was the handset.... so it could be that the handset is the issue. As mentioned, I've repaired four motor control boards (as documented here https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/351363-any-ideas-on-repairing-a-slightly-blown-motor-board/ ) but as you have already tried a replacement board, flashing two more PICs and replacing them probably won't resolve the issue. I would be inclined to see if the handset is functional, especially if you are intending to build an Arduino based controller that still requires the handset to be used (I'm not familiar with any arduino unit that has the database coded into it). Most Synta mounts use stepper motors, NEMA 12 and 17 are common. Just remove one and check the dimensions or any markings

So getting the non goto version and purchase the GOTO upgrade for £322 would be one possible way

Not helped by 1900 containers being lost at sea when the ship ran into a storm.... wonder how many SW scopes are now at the bottom of the sea !

Another possibility https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/sky-watcher-explorer-150p-parabolic-newtonian-reflector-telescope.html Doesn't say out of stock and you can add one to the basket, but I would call them and place the order (assuming its in stock)

One listed on e-bay - but at an inflated price - £789 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-Explorer-150P-EQ3-Pro-Newtonian-Reflector-Telescope-10912-202-UK/333159587227?epid=654066667&hash=item4d91dbdd9b:g:iQwAAOSwNjJde5N1

You beat me to it... I was just googling around to see if anywhere else had them... seems most places are totally out of stock of SW scopes at the moment !

Stu, Where have you tried ? Rother Valley show limited stock https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-explorer-150p-eq3-pro-goto-telescope.html so might be worth a call

Can you upload pictures of your original board and the new replacement ? As far as I was aware the HEQ5 mainboard has remained pretty consistent in design. This is what Microglobe are showing on their site which looks like a standard HEQ5 board to me

It does indeed seem to point to a blown WIFI board. The PIC micros on the motorboard have their UART pins connected to individual TX and RX lines which via a resistor and couple of diodes connect to two pins on the RJ connector where the handset plugs in. The UARTS on the PICs are 5v TTL logic, and used standard comport settings, which is why you can plug in EQDIR cables, BT serial and wireless serial ports. If any of these were connected at the time then whatever blew the PICs serial ports could just as easily blown the serial port on that device. It might have been that device that caused the problem and originally blew the HEQ5 board. The fact you have plugged it into a known working board and nothing happens would suggest that the wifi module is faulty, unless Synta have changed the speed of the communications form the default 9600 baud rate to one of the other settings. If you are able to configure the wi-fil adapter and change the baud rate you could try all of the settings, starting with 115K baud. If that fails then it would seem damage to the wifi module resulted at the same time as the original motorboard. If you still have the original faulty HEQ5 motor board I am still interested in taking it off your hands as per the PM.

Hey, chin up, we have all had times like these. When I was trying to resolve the issue with my 200P a lot of folk thought it was collimation issues that was the cause. So I stripped the OTA completely, and then refitted everything back as follows. The focuser was removed and refitted. A sheet of paper was placed inside the tube and the distance from the centre of the focuser to the edge of the OTA was transcribed to the paper so a parallel line to the edge of the OTA was made Using the Hotech laser, the focuser was tightened down so that the dot of the laser hit the line on the paper. My focuser had small thin wavy washers along with a normal washer that was placed between the OTA and the focuser. Once these were compressed all the way down it was just a matter of backing them off slightly until the laser was on the line, but still meant the focuser was firmly fitted The secondary mirror was removed from the spider, and the spider was refitted, ensuring the central boss is equidistant on all veins. You can use a digital caliper to do this, or simply use a strip of card and mark off the distance of each side and then if the boss needs moving, move it half the distance between the two lines. With the boss centred, a length of threaded rod was placed through it and held firm by two nuts either side. With the Hoteck back in the focuser, the three collimation screws are adjusted until the rod intersects the laser beam. This has effectively performed a basic collimation and squared up the focuser to the centre of the OTA Carefully remove the rod and refit the secondary, ensuring that the mirror is fitted squarely so the major axis is in the same line that the rod was in when fitted. Looking through the focuser with a cheshire collimator in place, the secondary should look circular. Once your happy, tighten up the central screw to secure the mirror to the boss. On the mirror cell, unscrew the collimation screws and then refit the primary mirror and the cell back into the tube Refit the Hotech (or use your collimation aid of choice) and perform the final collimation. You should find that the collimation is close already. On the next clear night perform your start test to fine tune the collimation Now if you are still getting the strange spikes you can rule out collimation as being the issue. Hope the above helps.

Most SW secondaries have flat unsilvered areas at the edge on the minor axis, possibly due to where they are held in the silvering process. It's more of an issue when imaging with non PDS versions as the problem causes stars to have additional spikes (I'm speaking from personal experience). On a PDS the issue shouldn't cause any such problems, and if you are getting good results then no need to worry

The HEQ5 will handle a 200P / ST80 / DSLR without issue - But if your were not sheltered from the wind as I am in the observatory something like this acts like a huge sail !

It does sound similar to the "both axis no response" message that faulty dobsonian boards give, so it would seem to be that the two PICs have been blown. I've reprogrammed and replaced the 16F886's on four motor boards used in got dobsonians and this has managed to get those boards back up and running, so an HEQ5 shouldn't be any different. As I said, if you want me to take a look and have a go at repairing your board then drop me a PM I'm not a business, just happen to have an interest in electronics and programming PIC micros / arduinos etc, and confident with a soldering iron Or purchase a new replacement motorboard for £119 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-replacement-motherboard-for-heq5-pro.html If you do purchase new, don't bin the faulty board, drop me a PM

If that's the case then that is more repairable than the handset. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/351363-any-ideas-on-repairing-a-slightly-blown-motor-board/ I would need to confirm that the PIC micro on the motor board is a 16f886 If so and you want me to take a look drop me a PM

What was the exact message you got ?

Yes, handsets are available from all leading retailers https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-synscan-v5-handset.html - £150 One is listed in the classifieds https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/367628-synscan-v5-hand-controller/ - £100 If you do end up getting a replacement, don't bin your old one - drop me a PM

LOL... I wondered what that glowing signal in the sky was !! To the OP - it sounds like you have blown the main motor control board. The message you are getting could be one of two things, but in both cases it means replacing components on the board. The most probably cause is that you have in some way blown the two PICs micros on the controller. I've fixed four motor boards for dobsonian scopes, but never tried replacing the PICs and programming them on an HEQ5. If you want me to take a look at the board drop me a PM and we can discuss this further

I wasn't going to comment anymore on this thread.... but.... Have you ever thought why people buy an EQ8 or spend £3K on a RCT and as much again on a CCD camera.? Well there are several reasons, but the main one is to make things easy to get the results that they want under the conditions they have. Agreed we all have budgets, but we need to understand the limitations of what can be achieved within that budget. When I got my scope my budget was £800 ish - I was looking at C6 on an EQ mount, but when I visited a showroom and discovered the noise in made slewing, and how unsuitable it would be for DSO imaging, I looked at the 200P / EQ5. It still came in at around that maximum, but after the initial use soon discovered my goal of imaging was pushing the mount to its limit. It was also pushing me to my limits as it became so frustrating fine tuning the set up to get anything worth processing. I then bit the bullet and sold my EQ5 at a loss and purchased an HEQ5. It was a lot more substantial and because it required less tweaking I found I was enjoying my imaging sessions. But then I bolted on an ST80 and guide camera, and whilst it still worked, the weight was on the cusp of what the mount could manage. So the person who invested in a £2000 mount had the foresight to save money in the long run by buying a mount that should cater for all their needs as and when their financial situation is such that they want or need to upgrade the equipment that sits on it they don't have to upgrade the mount as well. There have been stacks of posts where people manage to take acceptable images using cheap equipment that most would have thought would not be possible... but the learning curve and hoops they have had to jump through to get it often would make people give up. Trying to get precision tracking from an EQ3 is not for the faint hearted If the OP is happy to stick their Iphone to a 130 pds on an EQ3 and take a shot through the skylight and is happy with the result then that's all that matters. But as I've already mentioned if they want to get images of a better standard then they may struggle when they upgrade the camera, and then either get fed up with the results as the equipment is under performing, or feel miffed that they now have to spend more money upgrading kit soon after getting it. There is no real answer here - I see images taken by my friends through kit costing 10K or more. I've tried imaging the same target with my set up. I get results, but in comparison they are nowhere near as good as my friends, but for the equipment used the results are OK, and more importantly I was happy with them. Granted we all have nights that it all falls into place or falls apart... but so long as we enjoy what we do, and we are pleased with the results, and accept what we get with the constraints of what we use then that is what counts.

This may be clutching at straws, but to see if its the LCD rather than the micro controller that's packed up you might be able to connect the handset to a PC via PC-Direct cable,(be that USB or serial) and run the SW Firmware uploader application and see if it reports the firmware version of the handset. If it does then it would suggest the handset is running but the display is faulty. If it reports that the handset can't be detected then it would seem that the firmware in the handset has become corrupted or some component has failed. Now depending on the micro used (hopefully a Microchip brand) it may be possible to reflash it with the firmware. However if the PIC has become fried it would need replacing with a blank one before being flashed. I've repaired four motor control boards by replacing the micro-controllers and flashing them with new firmware, but never tried the same method on a hand controller before.

I agree with Peter, we need to know what your overall goal is. What mount to you intend to use the handset and GT1 with. At £350 for the box and two stepper motors it might be cheaper to purchase any Skywatcher goto upgrade that doesn't need to be programmed with configuration data ?