lifeonmars

1 hour ago, Telescope40 said:

Frank. Good you got there after a wait. Mine didn’t seem to hesitate and re connected to the mount without any assistance??!!  With this sort of stuff I am usually waiting for things to fail. 🥲👎
 

While I’m here. A question I do have. Recently added the Rowan “handle” to my AZ100. 
Get the impression it may fowl on the mount if I go for a target with a high altitude. I know you can set limits to where the mount will slew. May I ask if you have done this, what limits/ settings eg 70” altitude you may have input into the mount. 
Regards. John 

Hi John

Presuming you have the saddle on the right of the mount John , I have the Rowan mount atop a skywatcher 200mm pillar and is attached to a Berlebach Planet the end of the panhandle as you approach the zenith could do with being 15mm shorter.

I can live with that at the minute  so I haven't set any limitations to the slewing of the mount.

Thanks very much for all your help on that one,it updated ok in the end ,just seemed strange.would have expected the reboot  dialogue just to finish automatically,thanks again panic over!

Now when is the rain going to stop and the skys clear is the next question.

Cheers Frank

Hi John

Thanks for the heads up on that ,just doing mine now it downloaded the file  and the progress bar came up and updated to 100%.The green reboot dialogue bar came up in green but still rebooting after 30 minutes.Not sure whats going on how long did it take yours to reboot.

Probably me being impatient.

Cheers Frank

Could I please ask for some info regarding the panning handle and eyepiece balance weight clearance with the azimuth motor housing as it moves in altituide.

Is it possible for  the  pan handle it to collide with the motor housing anyone with this set up any practical hands on experience with this.

Any info greatly appreciated.

Ta Frank

Hi  John 

I think if I have this right there is a option somewhere to reset your start position to another point.

At the moment my start position is horizontal and facing south and when the app is initialised the current south field of view displays  the stars in the southern part of the sky.

Have a look in the configuration menu have a look at page 7 of your instructions 4th item from the bottom of the page Titled 'Initial AZ position 'hope this helps.Good Luck.

Frank

Doing a two star align in AZ100 app and switching to SS no problems with subsequent goto's

I dont use the joystick( I did when I first used the motor kit update and found after a while it was quite intuitive)but still find it easier to manually nudge the scope to centralise the two alignment stars in the eyepiece so that's my method now.

If I try and align in skysafari when I tap my first alignment star and centralise in my eyepiece ,then press align it slews off somewhere random maybe 5 to 10 degrees  away very odd.

Now Aligning on AZ100 app and switching to Skysafari then everything is fine.

Cheers Frank

33 minutes ago, Stu said:

Interesting. When you say won’t do a two star align in SS, it’s just a matter of pointing the scope at a chosen start, then pressing align and the doing a Goto to the second object and repeating. That is not necessarily the official advice but work for me I think. Let me check next time out though. It may be an Android vs iOS difference in SS??

Thanks Stu

The way I carry out alignment is

1.set scope level and south switch on Rowan control box, connect to WiFi hotspot,switch on motors on Rowan webpage.

2.Switch to SS

3. Select a star lets say Rigel point the scope and centre in eyepiece.

4 Tap Rigel on my Tablet touchscreen to select then press align.

5.  Repeat step 3 with second star and press align.

Moving between stars for alignment I manually push the scope but the motors are running and the encoders are counting.

If I  remember correctly on pressing align the Ist time, for some reason  the scope starts slewing,rather than allowing you to move to  a second alignment star. 

1 hour ago, Stephenstargazer said:

This may be significant, I have mine set to come on automatically (for the benefit of a Quick Start). I'll try the other way. 

I switch the motors on via the button on the rowan AZ100 webpage and if I go straight to SS it will not do a two star alignment.

If  I switch motors on and 2 star align via the rowan webpage its spot on.

I can then switch to SS and it will go to objects no problem.

My starting position is pointing south and level(well level by rack of eye).

I am running Android.

I have resigned myself to aligning in the Rowan app and switching over to SS

Hope this helps

I have had the Rowan motor kit now for a month or so and the two star alignment on the Rowan app is simple to do(even for a Dinosaur like me).

What I am struggling with is using Skysafari to do a 2 star alignment.

If I do a two star alignment on the Rowan app and switch to sky safari it works fine.

If I  initiate the motors via the Rowan app and switch to skysafari to do a two star alignment its not accurate at all.

I am obviously  doing so something wrong.

The method I use is as follows

1   Select a star in  Skysafari by tapping it ie Rigel then press goto ,the skysafari app slews my telescope to Where it thinks Rigel is.

2   I then  move my scope to centralise  Rigel in my  reticule eyepiece.

3. I then tap Rigel again and press Align,the Skysafari app then asks me if I  wish to use Rigel as a alignment star which I accept.

4.  I then use the same procedure for the second star ie Castor.

Can anyone clarify the correct procedure step by step in skysafari as I am doing something wrong.

Thanks in advance for any help

Cheers Frank

Very sad news indeed- RIP John,he was a avid poster on this forum  and passed is in depth knowledge to many a beginner on this forum.

He will be sadly missed.

Condolences to you and all the family

Frank

Great thanks for the reply Dek,think I have tried clicking the scope icon .I must say the layout of the Rowan webpage its quite intuitive and works very well.

I'm not that familiar with Sky Safari  app so I am on a learning curve  with that ,so it could be me but I can connect to Sky Safari 3 or 4 times and then for some reason the next time it fails,but like I say it could be me!

Frank

Hello Stu

Thanks for the reply,yes I have checked all the settings in SS and altered the settings in scope set up page as per Rowan Instructions.

The only  thing I can think of,is I may have had my phone and tablet connected to the hotspot at the same time ,dont know if that could cause a problem no expert at these sort of things,but overall very pleased with motor upgrade.

Cheers Frank

On 30/11/2022 at 09:51, Stu said:

The Motor kit comes with its own controller which creates a Wi-Fi hotspot, so there is no need for a Nexus of any kind. I used the Rowan app to connect and turn the motors on and did all my alignments in SkySafari which seemed to work very well.

So you can just switch the motors on in the Rowan app and  switch over to SS and do a alignment?

My method was to do my alignment in the rowan app with two alignment stars ,switch the motors on and then switch over to SS ,having aligned in the Rowan app.

On a few occasions I have switched over to Sky Safari from the Rowan app and  SS would not connect and I haven't  the foggiest idea why.

Cheers Frank

1 hour ago, Saganite said:

I took my AZ100 to Rowan Engineering yesterday as planned and had the motors fitted, while I enjoyed chatting with Derek, Dave, and James with refreshments supplied.  Living as close to them as I do, it is an easy trip and worthwhile, they are such great guys.

I managed to set up for about 40 minutes of observing, that evening, before the clouds rolled in, and it was worth every moment. I pointed the scope roughly South and got the telescope roughly level, flicked the on switch and settled down to observe Jupiter, the GRS and shadow transit to be exact. This was a big deal for me because I have been without tracking for two long years and at high mags, as we all know , it is a right pain without it.  I was using 171 X and it held the planet dead central during most of that time, absolutely superb, and totally silent in operation. 

The set up as shown is rock steady on my pier, and will soon have an observatory  around it all , at which point I will connect the Nexus DSC, and conduct a proper  star align !

Nice report Steve,good to hear it works well.Have you tried the Rowan AZ100  Planaterium App out by any chance if so what's the verdict.

Nice set up by the way.

Cheers Frank

Thanks for that Stu shame the handle wasn't the same diameter all the way down.

Frank

Can I ask does the counterweight slide over the handle end of the panhandle ie the larger diameter of the panhandle thankyou.

       Frank

Hello could someone please elaborate how the motor controller box fastens to the front of the mount please,does it require the tray the  Nexus DSC utilises? Many thanks in advance

Frank

Would repeat what budgie says,but I think there should be a thrust washer between the underside of the tripod hub and the step on the  shaft that you are hand tightening ,from your photo you can see a gap where the washer should be  good luck with it patience and perserverance  will pay off.

Hope this helps

I presume it will fit on a EQ6 tripod hub, not just the Rowan tripod hub?

Thanks for the pics John

1 hour ago, Speedmaster said:

the riser looks nice and could be a nice addition indeed. Hope price will be friendly 😉

 

do you have any issues with the slo mo cables? and the slo mo in general?
 

- alt axis doesn’t stay in place when turned using the flexible. it keeps moving the axis a few degrees when I let it go.  seems like the flexible is maybe too « flexible » or not enough. Using the shorter az flexible works much better even if I have some issues as well.

 

 

- I have some stuttering on both axis sometimes when the adjusters are set to the 0 position (almost tight). When I fully tight both, the stutter is gone but I get a small dead zone where I turn the slo mo wheel but I get no movement. Could it be balancing issue?

 

thx

I  think your alt problem is play between worm and wheel,it just needs adjusting out as per instructions supplied with mount.I have the same problem developing but will adjust it out shortly

The stuttering  is due to imbalance but can be damped out with the damping knobs,if I remember correctly the instructions  don't explain the function of the damping knobs but I worked it out by trail and error.

Its a great mount and I really enjoy using it  especially with nexus dsc it works really well.

Hope this helps

Ce

Looks like a good solution, does the clamp mark the legs on your uni tripod?

Do you think this solution would work on a Planet tripod.

The Monkeygrip looks a great idea but way to expensive

Looks like a great alternative solution.

Frank

26 minutes ago, Dek Rowan Astro said:

HI LOM,

The AZ100 interface can turn the motors on/off to enable the mount can be steered manually.

I do this on the initial alignment, push to and simultaneous GOTO with motor on  to chosen star, then motors off and  centre the star precisely using slow mo to  sync star1.  Repeat for star 2.

But, there is increased drag and you do feel the magnetic detents from the motors.

The mount can be moved manually, GOTO or a combination of both with the motors on by slipping on the clutches, nudged onto position and it immediately begins to track. Sky Safari does have the jog buttons too.

Ultimately with the motors fitted to the mount it is  no longer a 'truly manual mount' but it's a 5 min job to simply take the belts off and the mount is returned to fully manual if so desired.

Something John and Stu will be able to test to determine when, or if it's necessary and  how practical the mount is using slow motion controls.

ATB

Derek.

Hello Derek

Thanks very much for your detailed explanation about the slo motion aspect of the driven mount ,looking forward too see it develop and ultimately go on general sale.

 Many thanks Frank

Looking forward to following this thread John,interested to see if you can still use the slo mos manually.

Interesting Black Friday delivery!

Just purchased one of the above Powertanks ,charged it up (when fully charged the four red leds stay lit and dont flash when fully charged).

When you check the state of charge  by pressing a seperate button only three of the four leds light up before I even use it!

Anyone had this problem with one of these powertanks? think it may be going back.

Any help would be appreciated cheers.

Seeing not bad up here in South Manchester Io's shadow quite distinct,and a prominent barge in the NEB but struggled with the GRS,cloud started to move in so time for a Beer with the other half!