JamesF

Well with regards to Quatermass' and my own issues, and those of others, I think you have to be a bit masochistic to persist with the EQ5! I know the move upwards is costly, but then when handsets are £100 a go.....

Yes, it would help if there were spare handsets available, or if they were a little better engineered to start with. I guess it wouldn't be hard to solder a 6V regulator across the wires in the box oneself given the skill with a soldering iron. I don't know if a simple bridge rectifier might also be incorporated to protect against reversed-polarity connections -- it's not something I've thought of before.

James

Quarter mass I thought you ended up getting an HEQ5?

I thought so too, but in the light of Mark's comments in this thread I assumed I must have been mistaken. I'm sure there was someone who had a guided EQ5 who eventually caved in and bought a HEQ5 in the last year or so though.

James

I have more motors and battery packs then I need now why on earth don't sky watcher sell spare parts for these kits it would certainly be a big help. If your out in the damp and cold every night imaging you need to know that your kit is not going to let you down and these control pads are simply not up to the job in my opinion.

Stick the motors in the classifieds? Someone might want a spare or two, or to replace a DEC motor with a broken connector (seems to be a common failing) and it would help offset the cost of a new handset if that's the way it has to be. Otherwise perhaps the AstroEQ mod is the way to go for the future?

James

I'd hazard a guess that the software writers in the main don't consider it a very high priority to support multiple cameras. I imagine that people using multi-camera systems aren't that large a proportion of their customers yet, so potentially it's a load of work just to support a few users who they might make more money from if they bought two licences anyhow. I'm struggling to find a compelling reason there

James

I attacked it with a hammer and chisel

Gina!!

James

Indeed it is. You barely notice it's there.

James

Well, the dichloroethane arrived today but I'm not going to touch it until I get the protective goggles and mask. The fact that it is a carcinogen agent is freaking me out a bit!

No need to get freaked out. There are probably lots of things that you come into contact with that can be carcinogenic in the right circumstances and you may not even think twice about them. Use a bit of common sense and I'm sure you'll be fine.

James

I feel a bit wary of applying epoxy resin to the gold wires - I think I'd be happier staying well away from them.

You could perhaps mix up some epoxy and apply it by dribbling it onto the wires with a syringe thereby avoiding touching them? No idea if it's just too viscous for that, but Araldite is supplied in syringes so it may work.

James

Re-reading the ice in space thread I think the OP there used T2.5 pulleys if I've understood it correctly.

James

Looks like HPC don't do a 47 tooth MXL pulley either, but they do a 47 tooth T2.5 which may well do the job.

James

There's a link to an ice in space thread earlier on:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=60667

which is probably worth a read. There's a posting there suggesting that the place to get the pulleys is HPC Gears in the UK because the Australian supplier does't supply that size. It is quite unusual to have a 47 tooth gear in my experience, so the number of suppliers may well be limited.

James

There remains a BIG problem with a filter wheel of spacing - I can only just about get enough with CCD cameras with 13mm back focus so a Canon EOS would need a lot more stripping down than I've done as yet. An alternative might be a combined EOS camera and filter wheel in the same casing.

Would fitting an EOS bayonet fitting straight to the back of the filter wheel get you anywhere, Gina, or is that still not close enough?

James

Is there a mains power adapter with the cigarette style connector on the end for use with a power pack in the field. Last time my battery died without me realising before an hour, had to do darks the night after

I'm not aware of one. I usually have a couple of batteries with me just in case.

Could be worth asking the question in the camera discussion section?

James

Thanks for the info!! I need to look into "how to mod a DSLR". Is it difficult?

Depends what mods you want to do I think. Removing the IR filter and replacing it with a clear filter is quite common and a few people have done that themselves though it does involve taking the camera apart. I've done nothing to mine however. It's absolutely stock.

James

Great thread! Am now officially bent on buying a Canon DSLR body...

What cables do I need?

I believe if you buy anything from the 450D on then only those that come with the camera. The only cable I use is the (supplied I believe -- my camera was second hand) USB cable between the camera and laptop. Other things that may be useful along the way are a programmable remote release (about £15 from Amazon) and a mains power connector (a fake battery that connects to a transformer), but they can wait.

If you can still find one, the 450D is a good choice. If you want something newer or want to buy new then the 1100D may well be the one to go for. People are quite successful with other cameras in the range however.

James

This ratio is a pure non sense. A 9 teeth gear on a 30+ transfer gear interfere a lot and the teeth shall be rectified. This is quite a costly and difficult operation to do it properly. That is why the PE of the HEQ5 is so erratic in the gear mesh period.

Then why would an engineer have designed it in such a way?

James

Those do look very nice.

I wonder why they chose such an awkward ratio when the mount was designed? I assume there must be a good reason for it. Perhaps so the same teeth in the gears rarely meet?

James

I've seen the spacers you supplied with your kits . I'll look in to that method also, but I'm not sure if it will be possible to get it laser cut

thick enough to make the cover clear the pulleys...

Cut it half the thickness and use two, perhaps?

James

I find myself wondering now if you have created a completely unique item. The smallest T2.5 pulleys I can find online have ten teeth

James

I'm just trying to work out if I can make these pulleys on a lathe without access to a milling machine

Given a suitable divider I reckon it might be possible, if I mount the divider and a chuck in the place of the toolpost with the cutting tool in the main chuck, then use the cross slide and top slide to advance the workpiece.

James

That does look very neat

James

Malc, I couldn't agree more mate, the noise mine used to make when the slews started and stopped, were truly awful. It would make anyone with any level of mechanical experience wince.

Certainly causes me to have a sharp intake of breath the first time I use it of an evening. If it were any worse I'd probably get corpses stopping by to complain.

James

It's interesting to note that the Avalon mount takes this belt drive a stage further. These Italian mounts in essence use the EQ6 electrics (inc the synscan handset and steppers) but with a direct drive belt system. The PE and tracking accuracy quoted is extremely good, but then the mount cost around £4000 !

I'd seen the mount, but not seen that cut-away diagram before, Malc. Looks like there are two belts in the DEC drive there. Or is that just me?

James

I believe soft pencil lead is supposed to work reasonably well as a thread lubricant. Never tried it myself though.

James

Ah, yes, that's a good point. There is a time-limit on editing too.

James