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@Carbon Brush that is really useful information and has helped me understand a bit more how I could make what I want to do work. I do not have any experience in building so thanks. @Naughty Neal I have started to understand there is no exact answer that I was hoping to get but the answers I have had have definitely given me a lot to think about. It is going to be interesting and hard work to build and hopefully it will work out.

I have been looking into how to do a base for this and came across info that it does not need to be to wide but does need to be deep the dimensions were 15 inch wide by 5 foot deep, the depth seems a bit excessive to me. Does this seem correct?

Thanks for the info I will keep it in mind.

@bosun21 I have used the mount in AZ but I am trying to use Ascom and CdC with varying degrees of success and as I found in an earlier topic post I made the rooky mistake and was struggling to get it lined up, so it is at least for now in EQ mode.

@M40 I had looked at the Todmorden pier and have not yet ruled it out for the reason of being able to adjust the hight, but if I do go with a raised platform I am not sure it would be the way to go.

@mikeDnight that is a very nice set up you have. At only 5' 9" I would of needed a stepladder to reach the eyepiece in your first set up. The info from your pier set up now is really interesting and answers another one of my questions that it is personal preference as well as including how tall you are. The photo from outside with your scope just peaking out of the top has raised another question for me. I was planning on making a raised decking platform of about 1m high, the reason being I have a railway fence at the rear of my house and at that hight the top of the fence would be just above the horizon giving me as much sky as possible. Am I expecting to much from a scope to be looking low in the sky even in good seeing conditions?

Hi @Carbon Brush thanks for the reply. It seems like a lot in this new hobby I have found, its not straight forward. This is really good info though. At this moment I have a SkyWatcher 254x1200 dob mounted on a AZ EQ6 mount and tripod, when I read that it could put the eyepiece in odd positions I thought people were exaggerating but now I know they were not. I have a stepladder when viewing but there are some positions were I just have to admit defeat. So if I build the pier a bit shorter to cater for the dob it would be a good idea to have an extension for a refractor that I am sure to have at a later date while keeping in mind I may want to build a shed over it at a later date as well. Don't know anyone near me yet with a telescope but I do need to get round to joining my local club.

Hi all. I am thinking of building a viewing platform and having a permanent pier for observing but from what I have been able to find, I am not sure what hight the pier should be. Is there a rough setting for the hight of a pier? Does it make a difference what scope is used? Is it just personal preference? Are piers mainly used for AP not observing? If used for both is there a difference between them? Sorry if the questions seem a bit daft but I am still very new to this hobby. Thanks for reading.

Hi @WiltshireChris I cant help with what to buy but I read this thread the other day about the 130 PDS that may interest you, it is a very long read.

Hi @woldsman found this on line that may help http://www.vixenamerica.com/pdf/Control/VixenNorthAmerica_DD_1_Controller_Voltage.pdf

Thanks @bosun21 I have been trying this tonight and every thing seems to be working ok now, especially after doing the now obvious and put the mount in EQ mode.

Hello First thing is your multi meter is set to AC current that is what the two wavy lines mean. The straight line with the dashes underneath is for direct current. this will be why your reading is off. For testing your lead, if you mean the one at the edge of your photo the outside of the plug is one of the terminals.

Hi Malc-c Thanks for the info and it makes sense that the EQmod is for EQ mode on the mount (even if I hadn't thought about it until I read your post). But CdC has an ALT/AZ setting so I thought it would work, my mistake and another lesson learned. I will check the DEC axis tonight as well.

Hi Bottletopburly I am not using EQmod cable at the moment, I have had to send the cable back for testing because I could not connect through it. Ouroboros I should of mentioned that I am using it in AZ mode at the moment but I have tried it in EQ as well, but thanks for the info I will try this tonight and see how it goes. I have marked the floor from when I did the PA so it will be very close to being in the right place. I know this is not perfect but I have not seen any stars for weeks.

Hi all, Had a post not so long ago because I could not connect a laptop to the mount, this now seems to work ok. Still using a USB to serial through the handset at the moment (just waiting for FLO to check the EQdir cable that went back to them). The mount does not have a USB connector. Ascom connects now without fail and using CdC to control the mount. The problem I have now is the alignment is way off. Start from park position and ask it to slew to Alp Cma (Sirius) and it is way off, so far that when you adjust it to target it wont accept the new position. I was having a similar problem when I was just using the hand controller but I thought it was just me and still could be. Then after swearing at the mount I press park in Ascom and the DEC returns very close to where it was set but the RA is about 90 degrees out, I have tried this a couple of times now and where it returns to when asked to park seems to be all over the place. To be fair I am using planetarium apps at the moment to find objects because the cloud filled sky's not allowing the real thing, but that should not have any affect on returning to park. It is like the mount cannot remember or is sending duff info back. Or am I overthinking how it works? Does the mount remember the park position or would it be the handset if used or Ascom if used? If it would be the handset could this still be causing a problem with the cable connecting through it? I bought this mount second hand and in the back of my mind it has a fault, but again this may just be me. I am hoping to get things something like before the sky's clear. Any advise would be gratefully received.

Hello and welcome to SGL I am still a newbie here myself but there are a lot of friendly knowledgeable people on here and I am sure someone with more info than I can offer will be along soon. I would say though have you had a look on FLO's website for WI-FI capable kit so you don't need to run cables outside?

Hi Malcolm You are a star ⭐ I don't know why but for some reason I did not think that you could use Ascom via the USB to serial through the handset in PC direct mode but now I do. So tonight I set it up switched on the mount changed the com port in toolbox and clicked Ascom connect and it worked 😁 Now I will start learning how to set up and use CdC. It does now seem there is a problem with the EQDIR cable so hopefully FLO will be able to sort this, it was a 5 meter one so I do agree with them it may not be faulty just my laptop cannot handle such a long one. Thank you for taking the time and effort (and patience's) to help and explain thing so well, it is very very appreciated.

One of the many things that is confusing me is that if using the USB to serial through the handset (with the handset in PC mode) to update the drivers it can read and wright so is communicating. Before the update I could control the mount using Synscan pro but not after, the only thing that should of changed was the software in the controllers so does this not point to the mount being the fault at least with this way of connecting?

Hi and thanks for the detailed reply. I would never blame anyone else if I decided to follow any advice given, I am big enough and old enough to take responsibility for my own actions and accept my mistakes. But I understand the reason you put it in there. However I don't feel confident in carrying out this test (eye's are not that good up close anymore) so think I will accept FLO's offer to return the cable to them for testing. The new lap top has come very close to an unplanned rapid disassembly tonight. I have been through checking settings I did not even know existed and still getting nowhere. I did have an old desk top computer but when I down loaded Ascom, Microsoft said something else needed loading to run it (can't remember what it was called) then asked for a restart and has not started since so there is another job to do 😡 I am not giving up yet but the WI-FI dongle does sound tempting. Thanks for the help so far, it is very much appreciated.

Hi And thank you for the reply. Dose the mount not need to be the type with a USB port to use a WIFI?

Hi and thanks for the info, I had not thought of trying to update the motor controller using the EQDIR cable. So tonight that was the first thing I tried and the first image is the response. Then I went onto uninstalling all the comm ports and drivers with all cables disconnected as suggested, then Plugged in the EQDIR cable and powered on the mount, the driver loaded automatically and then tried again with the same result. Then disconnected the EQDIR cable and plugged in the USB to serial cable through the handset and switched the mount back on, the comm port and driver (prolific) loaded automatically. Then checked the farmwear version and the second image was the reply. Then went on to reinstall the firmware and third and fourth image are the result. But then when I run Synscan pro using the USB to serial through the handset I still get communication error. I then plugged the EQDIR cable and did as you suggested in Ascom tool box and still get the timed out error. I have thought there could be a problem on the mount mother board so opened the mount but apart from a few spots around the soldering for the ports I cannot see any real problems, photo below. (I have sent this same image to FLO and they are not concerned from what they can see) My next thoughts are to bring my multimeter home tomorrow and check continuity between the port on the front of the mount and the solder on the back of the motherboard, but I am not expecting to much of a problem. Any more suggestions would be greatly received and thankyou for your help so far.

Really easy to use, the photo on the link shows it set at 20v direct current which will be a good starting point. Black lead to negative red to positive, if you get it the wrong way round it would just read with a minus in front of the voltage on the screen.

Thanks for the reply. The reason for updating the drivers was because I cannot get communication through EQdir cable (Lynx astro from FLO) between Ascom and the mount. but before the update I could connect through the hand set using Synscan pro. The mount is the type without USB. When connecting through the handset comm 4 is set to 115200 baud using prolific 2303 version 5.2.6.2. and yes through USB to RS232 serial adaptor. EQdir is comm 3 set to 9600 baud and have checked it is set the same in Ascom. FTDI driver loaded when it was first plugged in. But regardless of which way I am trying to connect I get either communication error or timed out. Any ideas are welcome because I seem to have reached my tech limit. One other weird thing is I can still reflash the drivers through the handset or at least it runs through and says complete at the end. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the older firmware files.

Hi and thanks for the reply. The mount works ok with the hand controller and have checked the baud and correct comm port, I even uninstalled and reinstalled the comm port.

Hi Don't know if it would help and I do not have the controller that you are talking about but I use a bench PSU to power everything with a cigarette lighter adapter, you can wire it centre positive or negative and set the voltage and amps to what ever you need.