Gasman

Update ! Sorry Peter had second thoughts about Win 11 now, after all the obligatory updates my laptop has now slowed down to a snails pace making it almost unusable. Win 11 does look quite snazzy and with the right resources it should fly but maybe a good reason why some hardware is not supported. Steve

So I did the Rufus thing today and all went fine on my oldish 7th gen i5 laptop with 8gig ram. I chose the clean install option rather than the update and all seems to be running fine ATM maybe a little faster than my old Win 10 install which to be honest did have quite a lot of crap installed. One thing I did note while on the MS site is that non supported PC's running Win 11 may not get future updates but Win 10 updates will stop before long anyway so will have to see if and when they are available??. Just pondering trying it with my i7 desktop but everything running ok on that so might wait for now!. Steve

This looks easier with a few different options!. Haven’t tried it myself but will do tomorrow. Steve

Just my bit 😉. Do it ..even if just for the enjoyment of designing something unique to you. I've made many, parts,adaptors etc for my microscopes (don't do astro nowadays!) and hang my Nikon DSLR on them with no probs at all. C threads, T mounts and such like all seem fine and fit how they should. Obviously long exposures not needed with micro so flex/tilt not a problem for me but for astro not so sure😗. Steve

I used my Alpy quite extensively a while back but never had the calibration module as I just used a Relco starter bulb mounted in a frame at the end of my Esprit 120 refractor and it served me well. I gather it's the same bulb used in the calibration module!. I bought my Alpy 600 just before the BAA were offering grants for it so missed out there🤔. Steve

Thanks for that Steve, yes I did wonder if PI had anything non-astro to add to the party!. I do have Affinity Photo among others which as you say would be better for everyday stuff than PI. Thanks again Steve

Slightly off topic but does anyone use PI for anything other than astro?. I have a license for PI but never really got into it when I did astro but now I mainly do microscopy and wondered if it could be useful with 'normal' short exposures jpegs and Raws?. Also had a thought about now using darks and flats for microscope shots although with short exposures noise is not really an issue. Thanks Steve

I haven't bothered with the constraints just used it for 3d printing which seems accurate enough for my designs 🤭. Steve

Have you tried DesignSpark Mechanical at all? It's a freebie cad app for Windows and very intuitive. If I can learn Cad with it anyone can 😏. Steve

Ah right I think 800mm might be a bit too big for yer average lab 😳

Steve maybe just give this a quick look? Tells you better than I could👍. Extensive UI , colour etc etc also manual bed level tools. Hth Steve

Have you tried local universities? A nice chat with the lab tech at my local uni got my 8inch home ground mirror aluminised many moons ago , if I recall it could have been coated in whatever I wanted even gold 😁. Just cost me a nice bottle of single malt! Steve

Use the Jyers firmware for the ender3 V2 no brainer!

Are threads straight forward to design/ print Peter? Not tried threads yet Steve

Designed and printed some of these for a few of my microscope lenses. Have you tried the freebie 'Designspark mechanic' cad software Chas? Absolute doddle to design things like this! Steve

Don't like adding to your woes guys but there are 18 companies at that postcode, no mention of 'Home Observatories UK' unless trading under a different name?. https://suite.endole.co.uk/explorer/postcode/nr16-2qn 🤔

Cura , Prusa which slicer peeps? Just curious ,trying to suss out which best to use!

Haven't read all ths replies so apologies if it's been mentioned before but a trip to your local astro society would give many answers to your questions with maybe the chance to look through the clubs scope too without parting with any hard earned dosh first!. Steve

Re the 'disable the steppers' and moving the feeder! It's my understanding that you can quickly fry your motherboard moving the x,y or z axes while the steppers are disabled as they can generate current apparently🤷‍♂️. +1 for the Ender3 v2 excellent printer 👍. Steve

Shame you have to wait so long for the Espirit!. I bought my Espirit 120 quite a while ago ( maybe when FLO first sold them I think) and would buy it again In a heartbeat !. Steve

Took an expensive Atik ccd to bits once thinking it was faulty only then realised flip mirror was in wrong position !! Doh!

Hi peeps Just a quick update and well pointed out by Astrosharkey hate to admit it but it was the damn usb lead 😱. changed the lead and it connected fine. A bit jerky but a strip and clean with some isopropanol alcohol and it's as good new 🤞. Note to self - always start with the basics lesson learned. Excellent comms from Vince at Atik too. Cheers guys Steve

I'll try a full uninstall/reinstall later, I read on another forum it worked for a few . I cant even get to the Ascom part as it won't recognise the FW when plugged in. Strange that it worked when the old drivers were loaded which implies the FW is working ok but next time switched pc on didn't like it ?? Thanks Steve

Cheers Skip yes I have twice but emailed Atik see if they can suggest anything, thanks Steve

Mmmm lost it again now buggar! I'll email Atik and see if they have any up to date Win 10 drivers for this filterwheel. Ruddy Windows 😕